Deborah A. Ausburn, J.D.

Debbie Ausburn is a member and trial attorney at Chalmers Adams Backer & Wallen, LLC, who has spent more than two decades defending and advising youth-serving organizations on child protection matters. Her practice covers state licensing issues, mandated reporting of child abuse, internal investigations of sexual abuse incidents, and child protection policy development. She speaks frequently on these issues at conferences and conventions nationwide.

Earlier in her career, Debbie served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of North Carolina, prosecuting child abuse, sex offenses, civil rights violations, and violent crimes. She was designated as the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Coordinator for the district. Before her legal career, she worked as a caseworker in Georgia’s juvenile justice system.

During her years as a foster parent in Asheville, North Carolina, she served children with special training for sexually abused children. She is the author of Raising Other People’s Children: What Foster Parenting Taught Me About Raising a Blended Family (Hatherleigh Publications, 2021) and co-author with Tom Rawlings of Protecting Other People’s Children: 120 Days to Create a Strong Child Safety Policy (Hatherleigh Publications, 2024).

She is a member of the Board of Directors with Connections Homes, Inc. She has served on the boards of the Cherokee Child Advocacy Council, Hillside Inc., and Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, among others.

Tom Rawlings, J.D.

Tom Rawlings is a member of Chalmers Adams Backer & Wallen, bringing thirty years of legal experience in juvenile justice, child protection, and capacity-building to his work at YSO Insights. He concentrates his practice on advising and defending youth-serving organizations, with particular focus on vulnerable populations including children and families, juveniles, and individuals living with poverty and food insecurity.

Before entering private practice, Tom served as Director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services and as Director of the Office of the Child Advocate. He was the first full-time juvenile court judge in Georgia’s Middle Judicial Circuit, overseeing juvenile justice cases in five counties.

Internationally, Tom has served as Guatemala country director for International Justice Mission, building and leading a team of professionals who worked with government prosecutors and courts to protect child sexual abuse victims and prosecute offenders. He has trained child welfare, justice, and human rights professionals across the United States and in Armenia, Romania, and Thailand.

Tom holds a Master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford and is certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children as a Child Welfare Law Specialist. He is a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Law and co-author with Debbie Ausburn of Protecting Other People’s Children: 120 Days to Create a Strong Child Safety Policy (Hatherleigh Publications, 2024).

Amber Jewell, LSCSW

Amber Jewell brings more than fifteen years of experience in educational and family-focused human services to her work at YSO Insights. She currently serves as a K-12 School Social Worker and Curriculum Coordinator, providing counseling services to students for social, academic, and psychological needs and collaborating between home, school, and community.

Through her practice Finding Hope, LLC, Amber trains and educates professionals and parents on the needs of diverse populations, drawing on evidence-based research to develop presentations tailored to specific communities and environments.

Amber is a foster care alumna and a current foster and adoptive parent. She draws on her personal experience with the child welfare system alongside her clinical training to write about the intersection of trauma, resilience, and family — for both the organizations serving children and the families raising them. She is the author of Finding Hope: The 12 Keys to Healing Hardship, Hurt & Sorrow (Hatherleigh Press, 2021).

She holds a Master of Social Work from Wichita State University and is a member of the National Foster Parent Association.

Donna Caudell, Ed.D.

Donna Caudell is a professional educator and counselor with more than twenty-nine years of experience at the elementary, middle, high school, and university levels. Her career has spanned classroom teaching, school counseling, guidance department leadership, and higher education, giving her a broad and practical understanding of how children develop, how schools function, and what families and educators need to support children from hard places.

Donna spent more than two decades as a professional school counselor and guidance department head, serving students from elementary through high school. She has extensive experience in crisis management, career guidance, and student support. She subsequently served as an assistant professor of psychology, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in human development, counseling, abnormal psychology, and related fields.

She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and brings both clinical training and long classroom experience to her writing on child and adolescent development, family dynamics, and the educational needs of children who have experienced adversity.

Gena Hood, Ed. S.

Gena Hood spent more than twenty years as a building-level administrator in Georgia public schools, serving as principal of multiple elementary and middle schools in Cherokee and Gordon County school systems. During her administrative career she led significant academic improvement initiatives, hired and trained dozens of educators, and developed curriculum and staff development programs at every level.

Since founding Hood Educational Services, LLC in 2011, Gena has provided contract training and professional development for educators and organizations. She served as a part-time instructor at Kennesaw State University, supervising student teachers and teaching courses in curriculum, assessment, and reading. She has been a founding member of YSO Academy since 2021.

Gena holds an Education Specialist-equivalent certificate in Music Education, Administration and Supervision from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, along with Georgia endorsements in gifted education and reading. She was named Outstanding Principal of the Year by the Cherokee County Council PTA.