Council Member
Gretchen J. Russohas spent over 24 years working in the child welfare and juvenile justice field. Currently, she serves as the Judicial and Legislative Administrator for the Office of Children, Youth and Families at the Colorado Department of Human Services and is an appointed member of the Juvenile Parole Board. In her work, she focuses on policy issues across the various child welfare, juvenile justice systems. Prior to her current role she was the Permanency Manager for Division of Child Welfare and the Colorado Department of Human Services for just over two years where she managed several programs including adoption, foster care, kinship care, and other permanency programs. Gretchen spent over 7 years as a liaison between the Denver Juvenile Court and the Denver Department of Human Services. As the liaison, Gretchen worked closely with judicial officers, human service department administrators, juvenile justice stakeholders and the community to identify strategies to improve the outcomes for Denver’s children and families. Gretchen graduated with a Juris Doctorate, from Gonzaga Law School, in Spokane, Washington in 2004. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a nurse case manager for foster children in Utah. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Psychology from Weber State University.