National Resource Center for Youth Services

Karyn Schimmels, B.A.

Founder, Kindred Matters

Karyn Schimmels has lived and worked in Oregon for the past 30 years and is recognized locally and nationally as an expert in her field, and she is most often described as a passionate service/servant leader and trainer. She is a frequent public speaker, trainer, inspirer, volunteer.

Karyn has spent her entire career in public service, non-profit management, and in health and human services. She began working in state service for Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) in 1989 as a child welfare caseworker. Her skills led her to serve in a variety of roles at ODHS with her child welfare practice expertise as a Supervisor, Consultant for 14 counties, Trainer, and statewide Child Welfare Training Manager for over 17 years. In this role, Karyn led statewide training implementation efforts for a division of ODHS that employees over 3500 staff. Karyn ihas spent the past three years dedicating her time and expertise to a smaller division of 800 staff within ODHS Behavioral Health called the Stabilization and Crisis Unit.

Karyn is regarded as a subject matter expert in Sibling Issues in child welfare and fought tirelessly to raise awareness about this often-overlooked topic. She has testified as an expert witness in Oregon about sibling separation and was instrumental in writing the sibling policy and sibling bill of rights that exists in Oregon today. She wrote the sibling curriculum that is being taught to all Oregon caseworkers every year since 2011.

Karyn holds a B.A. in Sociology from Washington State University and earned her master’s degree in public administration from Lewis and Clark College in 1992. She and her husband Charley are the founders of a non-profit organization in Oregon called Kindred Matters. The mission of Kindred Matters is to create positive outcomes for disadvantaged children by shaping strong family relationships in the absence of a traditional family. She and her husband of 33 years volunteer hundreds of hours every year, and they are happy empty nesters after raising 4 children.  
 

Close