Staff Spotlight: Laura Oursler
Since it's National Adoption Month, it is only fitting that we introduce you this month to Laura Oursler. As Family Support Services Director, Laura oversees all of our Permanency services, supporting families before, during, and after their adoption journey. Laura is passionate about equipping families to do the hard work of caring for children from hard places. As a TBRI practitioner, she is a wealth of knowledge and resources for parents in the trenches.
Laura is well known around our office for her kindness, generosity, and positivity. She is also famous for bringing us our office pets, miniature dachshund puppies Sophie and Sally! The girls are currently at home working on their big-girl manners but we are excited to have them spend more time in our office in the new year, serving as unofficial therapy dogs and mood-boosters for our team and any of our friends who come to visit us. They also have a goal to become official therapy dogs in their spare time.
Get to know Laura:
What is your role at The Salvation Army and what does it entail?
I'm the Family Support Services Director; I oversee permanency services and our evidence-based programs, like TBRI and HALO. I also get to plan events/activities that support our kids and families, it's a great job!
What drew you to a career in social work?
I've always been drawn to caring for others, particularly kids. Social work was a natural fit for me.
If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the child welfare system, what would it be?
Wow, that's a big question, I'm struggling to pick just one! I think I would say more preventative services for struggling families, so kids never have to enter the system to begin with. But if I could have a second wish, it would be to pay caseworkers better so they could maintain smaller caseloads and give the families and children more support.
What is one piece of advice you have for people considering becoming foster/adoptive parents?
Make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Fostering and adopting from foster care is beautiful and precious but it's also tough, messy, and full of big emotions. It's important to enter this process because you want to meet the needs of these amazing children, not the other way around.
What are you doing for self-care these days?
Trying to spend more time outside, taking more walks, and spending time with friends and family.
And just for fun...what are your favorite:
- Animal: dogs
- Color: blue
- Food: pasta
- Ice Cream Flavor: caramel or coffee
- Sport: walking
- Vacation Destination: the mountains
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