THE FOUNDER

Advanced Doctoral Study, Counseling Psychology (Howard University)  ·  MA, Community Counseling (GWU)  ·  Trauma-Informed Practitioner  ·  Author  ·  Speaker

Hermoine Hamlin

Hermoine Hamlin is a child welfare practitioner, trauma-informed training consultant, and author with nearly two decades of direct practice experience across child welfare and community mental health systems in Virginia, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC. She is the founder of H. Montinique Consulting and H. Montinique Publishing.

Her commitment to protecting vulnerable people is not something she arrived at through a career. It is something she has lived. In the spring of 2007, Hermoine donated a kidney to a stranger through a kidney swap program so that her mother, who had been on dialysis for nearly four years, could move to the top of the transplant list. That winter, her mother received a cadaveric kidney. That experience shaped how Hermoine understands caregiving, advocacy, and what it actually means to show up for someone.

She describes herself as a Double Dutch Caregiver for her mother. She jumps in when a medical crisis calls for it: staying at the hospital, advocating for her mother's care and pain management, providing transportation, and making sure her mother's voice is heard in rooms where it might otherwise be overlooked. When the crisis passes and her mother's independence returns, she steps back. It is a rhythm she knows well, and it informs everything she does in her elder care training work.

Hermoine is a Reiki Master. That practice does not show up on a training agenda, but it shapes the quality of attention she brings into every room. It informs how she holds space for people who are carrying a great deal and how she creates conditions where honest, meaningful learning can take place.

She is an AdoptUSKids MPLD Fellowship alumna, where she developed a trauma-informed coaching model for foster, adoptive, and resource parents. She is the author of the forthcoming Gentle Roots and Double Dutch Caregiving: Keeping the Rhythm Without Losing the Time, the creator of the Brave and Belonging illustrated storybook series for foster youth, and the ABCs of... coloring book series. Her writing and her consulting practice share the same foundation: that healing-centered care is possible, but only when the people doing the caring are genuinely equipped and supported.

Newport News Dept. of Human Services, VA Family Services Supervisor 2017–2026

Dept. of Children & Families (DCF), MA Social Work Supervisor / Social Worker 2014–2017

LUK, Inc. / South Bay Mental Health / Dimock Head Start, MA Community Mental Health & Care Coordination 2010–2014

Boys Town / Ascensions Community Services, DC Clinical Support & Therapy 2005–2010

AdoptUSKids MPLD Fellowship Fellow (Alumna), Trauma-Informed Coaching Model Development 2022–2023

H. Montinique Consulting Founder & Principal Consultant Current