Meet the Morgan County DHS Team: 100+ Years of Dedication and Expertise

Morgan County Department of Human Services has a wealth of knowledge and experience in their Department of Human Services (DHS) staff. Combined, the director, two supervisors and two managers have a total of 119 years of casework experience serving Morgan County. Meet this group of five professionals who are dedicated to their field and the community they serve.

Jacque Frenier

The director of Morgan County DHS since 2016, Jacque Frenier started with the department shortly after graduating from Colorado State University and has been with the department for 48 years. Jacque started her career working with developmentally disabled children, youth and adults. Throughout her years with the department, she went on to work with youth in residential facilities, families involved in child welfare, foster parents, and children and youth in foster care before moving on to supervisory and administrative roles. Over her career, Jacque has seen casework practice take a softer approach where caseworkers come in to see how they can help families. Jacque attributes the supportive and flexible work environment at Morgan County and her trusting and collaborative relationships with state staff and community partners to her longevity with the department.

“I love working with people. I was kind of talked into being a supervisor to begin with because I loved working with the clients, but as I grew as a supervisor I’ve found that teaching and coaching workers is rewarding also. And just seeing change, and seeing growth is rewarding. You learn as a case worker that you look for the small things and you celebrate those small steps, the small accomplishments.”

Angela Sneddon

Ongoing manager Angela Sneddon has been a social worker with Morgan County DHS for over 25 years. Starting in 1999 right after graduating from Colorado State University, Angela returned to her hometown to work for Morgan County DHS so she could be close to her family. During her time with the county, Angela has worked with kids in out-of-home care as an ongoing caseworker and as an on-call caseworker. She has been the ongoing manager since 2016. Angela noted seeing positive changes in child welfare over her career with families being offered more services so children can stay at home with their families. Angela says she enjoys her career because she is able to separate her home life from work and enjoys the flexibility that Morgan County offers its employees.

“I really enjoy working with the families. Seeing the success stories makes it really worth it. I love when kids get to go back home and things just get better with parents. I also really love adoptions and that side of it too. I love working with people just in general. I like working with the attorneys and all the different providers, the schools, I’m really just a people person.”

Susanne Brown

Intake supervisor Susanne Brown has been working for Morgan County DHS for over 25 years. After having several jobs working with kids, Susanne took her first role with the county working on the sex abuse treatment team where she worked her way up to ongoing supervisor and then intake supervisor. She has been the intake supervisor working with staff who investigate referrals for about 20 years. Susanne always felt like working with kids was her calling but said that view has expanded to include working with families to support them and help them navigate the system. Over the course of her career, Susanne has seen child welfare evolve to be more supportive of families taking a more relaxed approach to act as a service to families. Susanne credits her longevity and growth with the county to the excellent training and support she has received from the leadership, the flexible work environment, and the close relationships she has made with the child welfare team as well as with staff throughout the department.

“The staff here are really wonderful. I think we really are like a family, so it’s just really nice. The department has a morale-boosting club and so, we meet together and sometimes we have potlucks. For St. Patrick’s Day, we do a potato bar for the entire building, not just child welfare.”

Shantel Nelson

Core Services Manager Shantel Nelson has been with Morgan County DHS for 11 years. She started working in home-based services and sex abuse treatment and eventually moved to work in core services. Core services provides intensive services to families, meeting with them weekly or more frequently, so kids can remain in their homes whenever possible. Shantel says doing casework is always challenging but she credits the supportive staff and management team at Morgan County with her longevity in the field. She also noted the positive changes she has seen in child welfare keeping families together and keeping kids out of residential facilities.

“I think keeping kids with families is really the right thing to do in most cases. Our role is to help keep kids where they belong, with their families. If we work with the families well enough, then we can actually help make them stronger and more stable. It’s about education rather than punishment.”

Carrie Schmeeckle

The manager for adult protection and the foster care and kinship certification programs Carrie Schmeeckle has worked for Morgan County for nearly 10 years. Carrie has spent much of her career working with vulnerable adults in adult protective services investigating allegations of mistreatment and neglect. As a supervisor, Carrie enjoys teaching and learning alongside her team and taking on new challenges because every day is different and her work is never boring. Carrie is thankful to have a knowledgeable team of experienced professionals around her she can always go to if she needs to seek guidance on a problem. Carrie likes how the department has grown to collaborate on their work by going out into the community to raise awareness about the department’s programs and services.

“I think just getting our presence out there as the department as a whole is a good thing for the community to see that we have a lot of great services and we’re not only here for bad things. We have a lot of other opportunities and strengths that are here for our community.”