Jennifer Allen for Montana House District 11 - About Me

I put myself through college at the University of Colorado, Boulder and graduated, summa cum laude, with a BA in Psychology, and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, in 1977. In 1987, after ten years working in the trenches of human services and raising a young family, I returned to school at Eastern Washington University and graduated with a Master’s in Social Work. 

I started my human service experience as a volunteer teacher for a year in Kenya at the age of 19. When I returned home for college, I volunteered and trained with one of the first suicide prevention hotlines in the US and discovered I loved the work. I believe strongly in the value of ‘service to others’ and over the many years of my professional career I have been serving others in the mental health and social work fields. I have worked in prisons, community mental health centers and residential and vocational programs for persons with severe mental illness. I have managed a geriatric mental health program, worked as a medical social worker in a large hospital, and been a therapist at a military mental hygiene clinic.  My favorite (and most difficult) job was as the Program Coordinator responsible for a large 24-hour, seven day a week mental health crisis intervention program in Spokane, Washington. When I moved back to Montana, I was a crisis interventionist in the Flathead Valley.  I moved on to work as a case manager for disabled clients with local attorneys. 

I have extensive experience and skill in leadership, teaching, training, program management and development, managing budgets, and building human service programs that are competent and accountable. I have provided Crisis Intervention Training to community police, risk assessment training to school staff and participated in legislative committees to develop laws that impact persons with mental illness. I have worked with stakeholders and task forces to design new programs, and gathered and analyzed data to help guide new social service policies. I have worked directly with the poorest and most vulnerable of our community members, often at their darkest hours. I know that I have two of the most important skills for making change – the belief that things can be better than they are now and the willingness to work for improvement.  

I  love to garden, quilt, read, play piano, hike, and walk with my dog Cricket. Following the death of my husband of 44 years after a 15-month battle with cancer, I am learning to recommit to  a positive and active retirement that includes my passion for progressive  causes.