Dee Bonnick

Parent Consultant

Dee is a National Lived-Experience Integration Subject Matter Expert and Race Equity Social Justice Consultant. Her work has included co-leading the development of the Family Empowerment and Leadership Academy curriculum and serving as a subject matter expert for the Quality Contact Visits Product Suites, Congregate Care Product Development Brief, Levels of Prevention Product Development Brief and Race Equity Product Briefs. She’s a member of National Race Equity, Continuous Quality Improvement and Knowledge Management teams. Dee is part of the New England Regional Learning Collaborative where she leads the improving Constituent Engagement that is transforming the front door of child welfare.

She is also a member of the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance’s Birth Parent National Network (BPNN) and the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership (BFPP).

Dee’s lived and professional experience in child welfare spans most of her life. She grew up in kinship care with a grandmother who fostered and adopted children. As a mother herself, Dee has had direct experience with her local child welfare agency when seeking support and resources for her son who needed help for his mental and behavioral health. After that experience, Dee became a parent consultant in child welfare in Connecticut for more than 10 years. Currently, she is an education consultant with Connecticut State Department of Education and advocates for youth who are under the guardianship of Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families. Dee has an extensive background in the field of mental and behavioral health as well as macro-level systems change work.

Dee holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Southern Connecticut State University and a master’s degree in social work from New York University, where she was the 2017 Silver School of Social Work, Social Justice Award recipient.