Foster Care Staff

Lillian E. Sass, MA, Program Coordinator
Lil Sass came to Citrus College on February 2, 2002 as the Early Childhood Career Ladder Supervisor; in June 2005 she transferred to EOP&S as the Interim EOP&S/CARE Supervisor/Coordinator. She joined the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) Consortium team as the Program Coordinator on April 1, 2006. Prior to working at Citrus College she was the Outreach Manager for the WINGS (Women In Need Growing Strong) a domestic violence agency. Lil obtained her Bachelor and Master degree in Experimental Psychology at California University, Fullerton and has taught as an Adjunct Professor since 1996. Lil is highly involved in the community; she has served on the SGV-YWCA Board of Directors as secretary, VP-Fund Development, President and is currently serving on their Finance and Personnel Committee. In Lil’s spare time she enjoys scrapbooking, sci-fi movies and photography.

Emmy Madrid, Program Assistant
Emmy has been a part of the FKCE & ILP program since July 2002. After honorably discharging from the U.S. Army in 1989, she returned home to Bethlehem, PA to work for CONCERN: Children & Youth Adoption Agency.  In 1991, Emmy relocated to California working a variety of office positions but found it most fulfilling to work in a field helping to improve the lives of children.  Emmy is responsible for the schedule of classes here on-line, web site updating, training contracts, special projects/workshops and assists with all department program duties including FKCE, ILP-YESS/YESS-LA and PS-MAPP. In her spare time, Emmy enjoys singing, family getaways, scrapbooking and the holiday season. She and her husband of 7 years have been serving as youth leaders at their family owned church in Covina.

Karen Cash, LCSW
Karen Cash has worked with the San Gabriel Valley Consortium as a Facilitator, Trainer, Independent Living Skills Instructor and MAPP/PRIDE Instructor for the past 18 years.  She is currently focusing on Adoptions as well as the Family to Family approach that DCFS is currently moving forward with.  Her field of expertise is in Anger Management and Domestic Violence Prevention.  Karen is also knowledgeable in a variety of other topics and welcomes all opportunities to meet the training needs of others in the community.

Karen Dixon, MS
Karen Dixon has been a facilitator/trainer with the Foster Kinship Education Program for over ten (10) years and is also certified to teach P.S. MAPP, PRIDE, KEPS, ILP, and D-rate classes. She has a Masters degree in Social Work Administration from Columbia University in New York City and has been the director of foster care programs for over 15 years.  Recently, Ms. Dixon opened the “Gateway to Life Transitional Housing Program” for youth who have been emancipated from the foster care/probation system providing them with a supportive environment that offers resources in education, career exploration, employment and life skills. She states her motto in life is that “Our youths are not defined by their past, but by the choices they make for their future.”

Kate Meurer, MA
Kate's career in education spans nearly 30 years and includes teaching within district high schools and district adult education and previously held the position of ILP Facilitator/Coordinator for Citrus College.  She has been a Facilitator and Trainer for all of the major FKCE programs at Citrus & Rio Hondo Colleges and is now the Foster Youth Program (FYP) Specialist for the Citrus College YESS (Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success) Program.  She earned her Master's degree in Human Development and is passionate about issues concerning foster youth.  Her advocacy and efforts on behalf of youth and relative caregivers has become a major source of personal satisfaction.  At one time, Kate and her husband were relative caregivers.

LeeAnn Paddock, Adoptive Foster Parent
LeeAnn is committed to educating herself, her family and community about the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure.  She and her husband John have been foster parents for 18 years serving medically fragile and developmentally disabled children in which they have adopted a sibling family of 5.  The Paddocks also have 3 grown-up children of their own.  LeeAnn serves on the Pomona/San Gabriel Regional Center Vendor Advisory Board and is the President of the Parent Advisory Board at the Fairplex Children’s Development Center.  She conducts trainings on F-Rate, The Regional Center and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.  When LeeAnn is not busy raising 5 small children, attending college evening classes and serving on boards, she spends her spare time volunteering as an Adoption Ambassador for the LA County DCFS Department.  LeeAnn has always loved children and the unique way they can bless a life.  She continues to teach caregivers to be “strong advocates” for their children and strongly believes that "every child deserves to have a forever family."