Meet Our Staff

Role & Responsibility: 

I serve as the Managing Director and Regional Social Worker for IFS of Arkansas.

My areas of expertise include international adoption and the cultural distinctions associated with child placement, child welfare and development, as well as issues related to adjustment and attachment. I earned my Masters in Social Work at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) in 2002, and have been active with children and families both professionally and philanthropically for over 15 years. I am also a Foster Parent Trainer for MidSOUTH Training Academy (the community service unit of the UALR School of Social Work) and have a background in both community-based social work and behavioral medicine.

Family: I was raised in Arkansas (Conway/Little Rock area) and have live in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the last 15 years. I have two sons, one with Aspergers (an autism spectrum disorder) and one who is adopted. I feel God has used these experiences in many ways to make me a more compassionate and empathetic person and social worker. Both of my sons are active, healthy boys, who love to be into everything from sports to hunting to working with dad on the farm and playing with friends. They also have a love for books, movies, and history. My husband Lance works for Jennie-O Turkey, a branch of Hormel, where he manages their Walmart and Sam’s retail accounts.

Part of the IFS Team Since: 2009

Little Known Facts About Me: It was my own adoption that brought me into this field. The social worker who did my home study for our adoption got onto me for not being active in the profession. At the time I was staying home with my older son and volunteering with Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and I had let my Social Work license lapse. It was her prodding that got me to go retest for renewal of my license. She called me out of the blue about two months later and asked if I’d ever renewed. I told her I did and she said, “GOOD, because I love adoption, but I never want to do another Hague home study again! If you’ll come on board, I’ll train you in how to do them and send you all the referrals I get from now on.” She introduced me IFS and here I am.

In my free time I enjoy spending time outdoors on the lake, floating the river, or on our family land/farm in Kansas, and always with my husband and kids. My favorite sport is baseball, and I love going to games in the summer, taking walks, and practicing yoga.

My faith and pure gratitude for God’s grace in my life, along with the incredible way I’ve witnessed his goodness and faithfulness in my life and professional endeavors, is what keeps me going.

Contact Information:
rebekahp@me.com