Lauren is a Certified Child Life Specialist with 4 years of experience working in various units throughout CHLA, including the Emergency Department (ED), dialysis, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), and as a house float. Lauren now works as the primary specialist on the med-surg unit, providing support to patients and families followed by neurosurgery, plastic surgery, orthopedics, and trauma.
Brittany is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Brittany has been a Certified Child Life Specialist for 11 years and began her work in the outpatient clinic in January 2020. She also has experience in the Emergency Department, Procedure Room, Pre-Op, General Pediatrics, and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Brittany enjoys providing procedural preparation and support to pediatric patients to help aid in their coping. She is a mom to 5 and ½ -year-old twins!
Samantha is the Certified Child Life Specialist at Shriners Children’s Southern California. Samantha graduated from Azusa Pacific University in 2022. She completed her internship at two local community hospitals and a women’s community shelter. She has 8 years of experience working with children in school, sports, and medical settings.
Alexis has been a Certified Child Life Specialist since 2014, with experience working in multiple Level 1 trauma centers. Alexis worked in a verified burn center for 6 years helping pediatric patients and their families cope through the burn care experience. In addition, Alexis managed the school re-entry program and youth and teen support groups.
Colleen achieved her MS Child Life in 2013 from Loma Linda University, and opened PlayWell Child Life Services, a private practice serving Orange County California. In addition, she has been certified by the Association of Death Education and Counseling as a thanatologist and grief counselor with the specialization for children and adolescents by the American Academy of Grief Counseling. Services provided by PlayWell include medical information and procedural escort, palliative, hospice and bereavement support for patients, siblings, and children of adult patients ages 2-24 years. In addition, she is an active stakeholder in professional organizations, local, state, and national initiatives promoting Child Life services in non-traditional settings throughout the community. Colleen presents at varied professional conferences and master level classes and has recently been awarded ‘Best Clinical Practice 2020’(ADEC), ‘Rising Star Alumni 2023’(Loma Linda Univ.).
Natalie is the Certified Child Life Specialist and volunteer coordinator at Shriners Children’s Southern California. She is also currently a part-time lecturer at California State University, Los Angeles for the Child and Family Studies department and California State University, Northridge in the department of Child and Adolescent development. Natalie currently published her article The Impact of a Child Life Video Preparation on Preoperative Anxiety and Post-Hospital Behaviors in the Journal of Child Life.
Mandy has spent most of her career working with children, specifically working in communities with underserved populations. She has worked in education and now works as a Program Coordinator for Literally Healing at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Literally Healing provides both Recreational titles and Therapeutic titles. Mandy oversees the day-to-day functions of the Therapeutic Library, which is a specially curated and thoroughly reviewed collection of books. These resources are available to CHLA clinicians and are utilized and gifted to patient families during interventions. Literally Healing has a long history of collaborating with various groups and individuals both hospital wide and externally. They have participated in various research studies and projects that include partnerships with Child Life Specialists, Palliative Care, Nursing, Social Work and so on. Mandy is very passionate about literacy, education, and working with children and continues to expand and grow the impact she has not only with CHLA staff but with patients and families.
Blanca is a Child Life Specialist at Kaiser Permanente Oakland. She graduated from UC Davis with her bachelor’s in biological sciences. She completed her practicum at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and her internship at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Blanca anticipates earning her master’s in child life from Eastern Washington University this year.
Chloe grew up in her mother’s preschool and has 15 years of experience as an early childhood educator. As a child life specialist in the playroom at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, she worked to promote therapeutic play opportunities for children and families. She has also worked in Radiology and Emergency Medicine and has a passion for bringing play to unconventional environments.
Sarah Miller has been a CCLS for 22 years. She has had a varied career taking Child Life outside of the hospital and into Early Intervention, supporting infants and toddlers with medical needs on California’s Central Coast. She now runs a mindfulness space in a K-8th grade school in Sacramento.
Alex is a Certified Child Life Specialist with 7 years of experience in Inpatient Rehab, Cardiovascular Acute (CVA), Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CTICU). Alex has also helped to cover throughout the various units at CHLA, focusing specifically in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICCU) Medical-Surgical Unit, and Infusion Center. Alex has worked with families during various aspects of the hospital admission, helping to navigate the sharing of information and advocating for patients to have knowledge over their current circumstances.
Erin is an INIR Research Grant recipient, Erin has been the inpatient Hematology Oncology CCLS at CHLA since 2015. Erin is currently conducting research on child life interventions to improve parent/legal guardian stress when explaining leukemia to school-aged children. When not at the bedside, Erin is engaged in various departmental and committees including Schwartz Rounds and planning child life hospital-wide events and distributions. Erin enjoys volunteering with Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times and acting as a Medical Representative for the Sunshine Kids organization.
Eliana is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Eliana has been a medical social worker for a little over 3 years and began her work in the pediatric outpatient clinics in January 2022. Prior to outpatient, she worked inpatient as a float social worker covering all adult and pediatric units throughout the entire main hospital. Eliana appreciates being able to connect with pediatric patients and their family and social systems as they navigate the complexities associated with lifelong medical conditions. Eliana enjoys spending quality time with her two nieces aged 6 and 1-week-old!
Shani s a Certified Child Life Specialist serving the Sacramento region in private practice. She offers in-home visits, phone/virtual consultations, caregiver workshops, and support to community programs, hospice agencies, and schools. Shani's expertise has been working with families coping with a terminal diagnosis, end-of-life support, and grief.
Jessica Vroman has been a Child Life Specialist for 16 years and is currently helping to build a pediatric palliative care program at Kaiser Permanente, Roseville. Four years ago, she began the process of becoming a foster parent and has since adopted two brothers from foster care. She is passionate about sharing what she has learned so that all kids can thrive.
Grace has been a certified child life specialist since 2013, establishing a child life program at a community hospital with expanding pediatric and burn services. Grace meets the needs of children and families throughout the hospital, provides education and resources to staff, students, and volunteers, and wears many more hats
Hillary is a Child Life Specialist in the Diagnostic Imaging Department at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Oakland. In addition to providing direct patient care, she relishes opportunities to build and support new programs that promote coping and emotional safety.
Kim has worked with the BMT and Hem/onc population for almost 19 years at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. She has a deep respect for the importance of therapeutic play in the hospital environment and strives to promote and maintain its value/role in all aspects of child life work.
