Our Team
Meet the people behind LVA.
Decades of combined experience in foster care, adoption, and family support — and a shared commitment to walking beside every child and family we serve.
Sharon DiPietro
Sharon joined our team in 2009 and has over 40 years of child welfare experience that includes child protective services, general protective services, and all aspects of private and public adoptions. Sharon oversees all SWAN services at our agency and supervises 6 staff as well as several independent contractors.
Tracy Buchanan
Tracy joined our team in 2018 and has 20 years of experience in child welfare services. She has worked in direct care, supervisory, and administrative positions throughout her career, with extensive experience in foster care recruitment, approval, and training of resource families. Her vision is to continue improving programmatically so that children and families are provided with the highest quality case management services.
Sheila Maslo
Sheila joined our team in 2019 and has 15 years of child welfare experience. Her background includes both foster care and adoption work in direct care and supervisory roles. Sheila supervises 6 foster care caseworkers and is committed to ensuring the children and families we serve are provided with the quality care they deserve.
Charis Koch
Charis joined our team in 2018 and has 15 years of social work experience. Her background includes drug and alcohol counseling and mental health work. Charis supervises 6 foster care caseworkers and is our team expert in LVA's electronic case management system.
Jacqueline Eckenrode
Jacqueline has been employed by LVA for six years, providing case management to kinship families and completing numerous adoptions. She previously spent 20 years in the Scranton area delivering programs for children in the child welfare system. She coordinates the Post Permanency Program, an initiative offered through SWAN.
Trauma-informed
Every interaction grounded in compassion and clinical understanding.
Family-centered
Children, resource parents, and birth families supported as one circle.
Experienced supervision
Decades of child-welfare leadership behind every case decision.
Take the next step
Loftus-Vergari is here to guide you, every step of the way.
Ready to learn more about fostering, adoption, or support services? Reach out today — we'd love to hear from you.