Katherine Russum
Discipline: Psychology
About: Katherine Russum is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, where she obtained a BA in psychology. This is where Katherine discovered her interest in family studies and child development. After graduating, Katherine worked as a behavioral health professional, and later, a child welfare social worker for nearly 8 years. Her role as a behavioral health professional allowed her to support her clients in learning new skills and joined in celebrating their achievements. She most fondly remembers witnessing her first client tie their shoe for the first time after hours of practicing.
As a Resource Specialist at Help Me Grow Maine, Katherine works to increase many families’ connections to services they need across the state. Being a Resource Specialist allows Katherine to support families getting connected to early intervention services, parental support, and other resources. Katherine’s favorite part of working with Help Me Grow is hearing when a family is finally connected to a service they have been waiting for and helping them overcome barriers they have experienced in accessing services. Katherine has a specific interest in legislative reporting and generating policies to ensure that all children’s needs are being met and advocated for. Through her participation in the NH-ME LEND Program, she is looking forward to increasing her knowledge about factors that contribute to gaps and barriers of service provision, and ways to minimize them.
