Kristina Famolare

Kristina Famolare is a child welfare systems leader whose career bridges the court system, state government, and higher education. As Project Director for the Catherine Cutler Institute’s Family and Child Welfare Education, Training & System Support (FACETS) team at the University of Southern Maine, she directs the strategic design and implementation of training, workforce development, and technical assistance initiatives that use implementation science and data-driven methods to improve outcomes for children and families. Her portfolio spans structured professional development systems, simulation-based trainings, e-learning curricula, and webinars, with a particular focus on centering and prioritizing the perspectives of system-impacted individuals in system improvement programs, training, and capacity building.

Kristina brings deep subject matter expertise in child welfare policy, court and governmental systems, and tribal-state governmental coordination. She currently serves as Principal Investigator on multiple initiatives, including the Maine Child Welfare Policy Revision and
Workforce Development Cooperative Agreement. In this role, she leads a team of 25 delivering trauma-informed statewide training to caseworkers, resource families, and Maine Child Welfare Field Instruction Program interns; oversees the Family Engagement and Child Protection Services (CPS) 101 & 201 For Parents, By Parents program; manages contract negotiations; and oversees fiscal and programmatic requirements. As a Court Systems Specialist for the National Tribal Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement (NTCWCIA), a national resource and technical assistance center that supports American Indian and Alaska Native
communities, she provides training materials for Tribal child welfare caseworkers navigating unfamiliar legal systems and technical support to improve state and Tribal court coordination and collaboration.

Before joining the Catherine Cutler Institute, Kristina spent a decade with the Maine Judicial Branch (MJB), where she built a strong foundation in strategic planning and program management. She managed statewide interpreter and language access programs and
developed the MJB’s first Language Access Plan. She secured and administered VAWA grant funding, collaborated with state and federal agencies, managed federal Title IV-E, IV-B, and IV-D funding and related programs; authored grant proposals and strategic plans; evaluated request for proposal submissions and produced continuous quality improvement (CQI) data
analyses guiding statewide child welfare and juvenile justice initiatives. Earlier in her career, she recruited, trained, and supervised Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer guardians ad litem, increasing volunteer engagement through targeted recruitment and retention strategies.

Kristina is committed to strengthening systems that serve underserved communities and has extensive experience designing and delivering effective training for judges, caseworkers, prospective resource families, guardians ad litem, interpreters, mediators, interns, service providers, and court staff. Her career reflects a consistent theme: infusing professional expertise with a thoughtful, multidimensional approach to create strategic, responsive, and well-managed programs rooted in best practices.