A Warm Welcome to Our New CPO

Hope Carbonaro, LCSW Joins Hoyleton Youth and Family Services as Chief Program Officer

After graduating from SIU Carbondale in 1989 with a Bachelor’s in Social Work, Hope Carbonaro, LCSW, started her career that opened the door to many future opportunities, both locally and nationally!  After taking a personality career assessment in college, she realized that her skill set was consistent with working with people and felt a sense of purpose in helping others. She chose to pursue a career in social work and soon continued her education, completing her Masters of Social work with a Child Welfare specialization, from SIU Carbondale.

Originally born in Altamont, IL, Hope spent her adult life in Mt. Vernon, and to this day, lives there with her husband of nearly 30 years, Mike, and their daughter, Hannah, 23 who recently received her Master’s from Eastern Illinois University.  They share their home with 3 furry family members, two dogs and a cat.

Hope brings with her years of experience in both the Government and the Private Sector.  One of her memorable experiences during her time in private practice involved a contract to oversee a Rural Gang Initiative program supported by the Federal Government.  Through her work with this program in Southern Illinois, she was selected as a member of a national consulting panel, traveling to new program sites to train in strategies to curb the spread of children engaged in gang activity. These sites included locations in California, Florida, Texas, and Ohio, as she worked with detectives, probation officers, and community members to aid in development of programming in high activity gang areas including mentoring, educating and finding alternative activities.

Her most recent position,  DCFS Deputy Director of Intact Services, involved serving in a statewide capacity, contributing to her knowledge of the DCFS system and leadership skills, while ultimately bringing her full circle to continue her career in an agency with local impact. When choosing a new agency for her career, she believed Hoyleton Youth and Family Services would be a great fit. She wanted to return to work in a faith-based setting, with a feeling of family, where she could make a difference in the lives of children and families. Hope shared, “My dream job is like that of any good social worker, I’m looking to increase permanency for children, enhance child and family connections, and look for growth opportunities for the agency to support our community needs and expand  prevention efforts  to avoid and heal trauma experienced in the lives of our youth and their families.”

In addition to looking forward to the New Year and the opportunity to join Hoyleton, Hope is looking forward to some wedding planning in 2021 for her daughter’s May wedding.  Hopefully, 2021 will also bring her the ability to continue her family’s tradition of visiting her husband’s family in New York City during the holidays.  She enjoys the lighting of the tree and ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center during Christmas with her family.

All of us at Hoyleton welcome Hope and look forward to her joining our family as we move forward with our mission.

For more information on Hoyleton, our leadership team, and general information, please visit Hoyleton.org