Board of Directors

Raini Bowles is a seasoned parent of 15. In 2015 Raini and her husband were suddenly called upon to become the legal guardians and permanent home to five of their grandkids. Though they had parented kids with SED and/or trauma, and other mental health and physical issues, they had never done so permanently. They quickly learned much about foster care from a new perspective. In 2018 Raini began working with Idaho foster care families for the Family Resource Training Center as a co-trainer of foster parents and a Resource Peer Mentor to foster parents and kinship families. As the parent of numerous children with trauma, special needs, mental health issues and other challenges, Raini has directly utilized the services of FYIdaho and sits on various State Committees for the YES Program, where she is learning much about YES and the ICANS. She is a strong advocate and cheerleader for children, youth, young adults and their families and foster families who are utilizing any of the systems of care available now and in the future.

Brian Bethke has practiced law in Northern California and Boise for 28 years and concentrates on business and commercial matters. Brian attended the University of Kansas for his undergrad and business graduate school and then attended Gonzaga University for his law degree. After 12 years with a large corporate client, Brian started his own law practice and has been providing legal services to business clients ever since. Brian and his wife Jan have an adopted son and have experienced some of the mental health issues that may accompany adoption and lack of prenatal care. Semi-retired, Brian joined the FYIdaho Board to help support mental health services for children in Idaho.

Morgan Knab has a background in accounting and is the Controller of a local manufacturing company. This allows her to bring extensive accounting and finance experience to the Board of Directors since 2016.  She is a parent of two children with SED, as well as having her own lived experience. Morgan and her husband were also foster parents from 2018 to 2022. All these experiences lead her to be part of FYIdaho because she understood the need for youth and families to get the tools they need to navigate the youth mental health system (and life).  Her work experience combined with her personal experience with the mental health system in Idaho, made the decision to join the FYIdaho Board an easy one.

Pat holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Public Health. Her work history includes work in child protection, developmental disabilities, clinic settings, a hospital consultant, compliance, Medicaid mental health policy, project manager for Children’s Mental Health for the State of Idaho, and program development at Families and Youth of Idaho. Her experience taught her that in terms of state run systems, micro changes can be effective for individuals but macro changes take an organized group with a focus on statewide impact. Pat has 20 years experience working in the field in various roles but her favorite roles have been as program manager and advocate.

Vanessa Morgan is the mother of four children ages 15, 8, 4, and 2, two of which have mental health needs. She has been involved in the Youth Empowerment Services (YES) project since its beginning and was the first chairperson of the Interagency Governance Team (IGT) for the YES project. Through lived experience, she has become an expert on early childhood trauma and attachment. She is determined to use her experience and voice to help other families going through similar life challenges.

In July 2016 Cheryl Mulvihill was elected to the Board of Directors of the IFFCMH. Cheryl is the mother of 3 daughters and a son whom they adopted. In 2005 she was told that their son could have some issues later in life as he had been exposed to drugs before, during and after his birth. He appeared to be happy and healthy until the onset of puberty. Cheryl’s family accessed all available resources and discovered that there really weren’t many options for children with mental health issues living in the State of Idaho at that time. Cheryle states, “Fortunately I found the IFFCMH [FYIdaho] shortly before we had exhausted all of our resources and needed to send our son out of the State of Idaho in order to receive the help he needed and deserved. The Federation was a lifeline for our family when we got here and I now feel that I can manage our situation and still be a resource to others.”

Raelynn North became a board member for FYIdaho in 2022. She has a master’s in accounting from Kaplan University and is a certified government financial manager (CGFM). Raelynn has over eight years in governmental accounting and leadership. Raelynn was recently appointed to the Director of Finance for the City of Caldwell. Raelynn’s passion lies in mental health and has grown from watching and helping family members throughout the years struggle with mental illness and the lack of direction sometimes with solutions and support around mental health.  In her personal time, Raelynn spends time with her husband and daughter as well as you can always catch a book in her hand.