Staff Spotlight: Katie Schulz
For nearly 21 years, Katie has been part of Family Service Rochester’s Family Access Center, providing a steady presence for families during supervised parenting time. She began with FSR in 2005, after moving to Rochester with her family and looking for part-time work that would allow her to continue serving children and families while also being present for her own young children.
Katie grew up in Winona and graduated from Winona Senior High School before earning a degree in sociology with a minor in corrections from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her early career included work in child protection in Carver, McLeod, and Anoka counties, giving her experience with families navigating difficult circumstances. When she came to Rochester, Olmsted County did not have part-time social work positions available, but they pointed her toward Family Service Rochester and the Family Access Center. It turned out to be a lasting fit.
The Family Access Center provides supervised parenting time for families, some participating voluntarily and others by court order. Katie describes the process as carefully structured: the non-residential parent arrives first, the residential parent brings the children later, and monitors help make the transition so parents who should not have contact with one another do not cross paths. During visits, monitors remain in the room, observe, document factually, and intervene only when needed. The goal is to give children and parents time together in a safe, respectful environment.
Katie is especially mindful of how uncomfortable supervised visits can feel at first. She tries to make the room welcoming, offering games, toys, activities, and choices so families can shape the time in ways that feel natural. “I just try and make it comfortable,” she says, recognizing that it can be difficult for parents to spend time with their children while being observed. Her approach is calm and practical: give families space, support the visit, and step in gently only when a policy or safety concern requires it.
Over the years, Katie has seen the program change in many ways. Documentation moved from handwritten notes to computers. The program has had different coordinators, used different spaces, and adapted through major disruptions, including COVID-19. During the pandemic, Katie helped provide virtual parenting time, with children, parents, and monitors all connecting from separate locations. As services reopened, visits resumed gradually, sometimes with one family at a time and sometimes using FSR’s south building before returning to more regular operations. Virtual visits, first adopted during COVID, have continued to be useful in some situations, especially when a parent lives out of state.
What has kept Katie at FSR for so long is both the flexibility of the work and the meaning of the service. The schedule allowed her to work while raising her three children, but the deeper reason is the chance to help families maintain relationships. She remembers one family that used the service for 15 years, allowing a father to continue seeing his sons as they grew up. “Without this service, he wouldn’t be able to see his kids,” she says.
Katie also appreciates that the role is focused and clear. Monitors are not case managers and do not make decisions about families. Their job is to observe, support safety, and document what happens factually. For Katie, that clarity lets her stay focused on the time parents and children have together.
After more than two decades, Katie still finds the work meaningful because no two visits are exactly the same. She likes the variety and the unpredictability of walking into a shift not knowing which family she will work with or what the visit may bring. Most of all, she values being part of an organization committed to families.
“I just feel good about working for Family Service Rochester,” Katie says. “That’s another reason I’ve stayed.”
