Schouten graduated from Oregon Health & Science University in 1981, and worked as a registered nurse until 2016.

[1] In 2016, she was elected to the House to succeed Tobias Read, who retired in order to successfully run for Oregon State Treasurer.

[2] In 2018, she was nominated for a second term and faced Independent Party of Oregon nominee Brian Pierson and Libertarian Katy Brumbelow in the November general election.

[1] In 2017, Washington County Commissioner Dick Schouten proposed to her on the floor of the Oregon Legislature.

[4] They were married on July 7, 2018, by Oregon Governor Kate Brown at the historic Belle Ainsworth Jenkins Estate in Aloha.