Where Healing Takes Root Session - From Removal to Reunification: Understanding WV Child Welfare Regulations

The presentation provides comprehensive insights for child welfare professionals and advocates to navigate the complex legal and social processes from child removal to reunification. Speakers Shanna Gray and Lorie Bragg share real-world perspectives focused on the child welfare timeline, rural service challenges, and trauma-informed youth advocacy. Viewers gain insights into practical advocacy and communication methods designed to ensure children in the foster care system are protected, accurately heard, and prioritized in legal proceedings.

Moderator

Ashley Martucci, Ed.D.

Director of the School of Education, WVWC

Ashley Martucci, EdD, serves as Director of the School of Education at WV Wesleyan College. Prior to this role, she held a range of leadership, coordination, and faculty positions at WVU, including service with the WVPEC Speaker’s Bureau, early childhood strategy lead for a CEC HOP grant, Director of the WVU Nursery School, program coordinator, and associate professor. Her work centers on accreditation, early childhood education, family engagement, professional development, and inclusive curriculum design. She holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from West Virginia University and is deeply committed to building strong, equitable educational systems through meaningful community partnerships.

Presenters

Shanna Gray

State Director, WV CASA

Shanna Gray is the State Director of WV CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, where she provides leadership and oversight for a statewide network of eleven local CASA programs serving children involved in abuse and neglect proceedings. In this role, she works closely with judicial, child welfare, nonprofit, and community partners to strengthen advocacy for children and families across West Virginia while supporting efforts to expand CASA’s reach so more children have access to a dedicated advocate. Her professional experience spans governmental, nonprofit, and private sectors at state, regional, and international levels, with a focus on organizational development, strategic planning, grant management, and cross-sector collaboration.

Shanna earned an Executive Certification in Children’s Law & Policy from Loyola University School of Law and holds dual bachelor’s degrees in International Trade and Business Administration from Southern Illinois University. She remains actively engaged in West Virginia’s child welfare system through service on multiple state and nonprofit boards and through experienced non-adoptive foster parents.

Lorie Bragg, MSW, LSW

Commissioner of the Bureau for Social Services

Lorie Bragg serves as Commissioner of the WV Bureau for Social Services, leading statewide efforts to strengthen child welfare, support families, and improve outcomes for children through innovation, collaboration, and community partnership.