Jess Vanatta, MSW-I

Jess brings a strong clinical foundation to her role, supported by a wide range of experience in both residential and inpatient settings.  Before stepping into her role at Alpine, Jess worked within Utah Youth Village as a Families First Specialist for two years and a Treatment Foster Care Consultant for three years. She also spent five years working as a psych tech and shift lead across various residential and inpatient facilities. Her background is further enriched by volunteer work with organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Rape Recovery Center. These experiences have helped shape her ability to provide consistent, structured, and compassionate support to youth and their families.

Jess is passionate about building meaningful connections with the youth she works with and loves to witness their growth across different settings. What sets Jess apart is her ability to sit with difficult moments without rushing them—she understands that progress doesn’t always look linear, and that meaningful change often comes in quiet, hard-earned breakthroughs.  She finds particular fulfillment in those breakthrough moments when a student feels safe enough to share openly.

Outside of work, Jess enjoys staying active and creative. She has four cats that bring chaos to her life in the best way, and she is an avid rock climber, volleyball player, photographer, and musician.  She also loves traveling, collecting plants (she has over 200!), and spending time with her family, including her husband and her two sisters, and her parents.

Credentials

• EMDR Trained
• 9 years experience in field
• 2x Teaching-Family Model Certified