Meet Our Staff
Family Hope Connection
- JoAnn White, Director, Family Hope Connection
- Erin Barr, LSW, Foster Care / Adoption Caseworker II
- Deborah Kelly, Foster Care/Adoption Caseworker II
- Angelica Joy Miskanin, Foster Care / Adoption Caseworker
- Diane Stol, MSW, Foster Care / Adoption Caseworker II
JoAnn White
Director, Family Hope Connection
JoAnn White is the director of the Family Hope Connection (FHC). She is responsible for the overall operation of FHC, including supervision of all staff, development of programs, monitoring, evaluation of programs, maintenance of licenses (foster and adoption) and coordination of collaborative work with other adoption agencies.
JoAnn has been with FHC since the beginning of the program in September 1997. Prior to working at JF&CS, she was on the management team of Project STAR, the adoption and foster care program of the Children's Institute for 10 years. Prior to this JoAnn was the social worker for a large Early Intervention program in North Carolina for 8 years.
JoAnn has worked with children and their families in some capacity for 30+ years. Primarily her career has focused on working with families who have children with special needs. She has worked specifically in the adoption field since 1987.
JoAnn holds a master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from West Virginia University and a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Erin Barr, LSW
Foster Care / Adoption Caseworker II
Erin Barr is a Foster Care/Adoption Caseworker with the Family Hope Connection. She is responsible for preparing children for permanency, creating life books with children, writing child profiles and recruiting families for waiting children. She also participates in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Training and Support Network with several other agencies in the area to provide training to foster and pre-adoptive parents including 'Child Development' and 'Healing the Hurts: The Effects of Abuse, Neglect, and Sexual Abuse'. Erin also conducts orientation to adoptions meetings, writes home studies for families adopting both internationally and domestically, supervises the placement of children and provides post-permanency services to families who have finalized adoptions. She works in close collaboration with caseworkers from surrounding counties.
Prior to joining the Family Hope Connection, Erin was an intensive case manager for Mon Yough Community Services working with seriously and persistently mentally ill adults, connecting them with needed services and providing crisis on-call services. In addition to her current work, she is also the Senior Youth Group Advisor at Rodef Shalom.
Erin holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and religious studies from Allegheny College and a master's degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. Erin is a licensed social worker (LSW).
Deborah Kelly
Foster Care/Adoption Caseworker II
Angelica Joy Miskanin
Foster Care / Adoption Caseworker
Angelica Joy Miskanin is a Foster Care/Adoption Caseworker with the Family Hope Connection. She is responsible for preparing children for permanency, creating life books with children, writing child profiles and writing home studies for families adopting internationally, domestically and through the child welfare system.
Before coming to the agency, Angelica was the special needs program coordinator at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and a Habilitation Aid through Mercy Behavioral Health. She also served as co-facilitator and then director of the Gesher program, the JCC's Emma Kaufmann Camp's inclusive residential camp program for teens with special needs.
Angelica received a bachelor's degree in Costume Design from Point Park University.
Diane Stol, MSW
Foster Care / Adoption Caseworker II
Diane Stol is an Adoption/Foster Caseworker for the Family Hope Connection. She provides a continuum of adoption services, including working with families wanting to adopt, preparing home studies and providing adoption preparation training. She also prepares children for adoption, supervises placements of children within families, helps families after they have completed their adoptions and works with biological parents choosing to make an adoption plan.
Diane has worked in the adoption field for 20 years both here in Pittsburgh and the United Kingdom. She was an adoption supervisor for Children Youth and Families in Allegheny County and an adoption case worker for Project STAR, an organization committed to finding adoptive homes for children with severe and/or emotional challenges. In the United Kingdom, Diane worked in both Scotland and England specializing in Foster Care.
Diane holds a master's in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Glasgow (Scotland) and a master's in Psychology also from the University of Glasgow.
