A researcher and professor of social work, she brings more than 15 years of experience studying public child welfare systems, focusing on program evaluation methodology, service effectiveness, compliance outcomes, and policy implementation. She holds a PhD in Social Welfare Policy, a Master of Social Work, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She currently serves as Professor of Social Work and previously held the role of Associate Director within a school of social work. Her work centers on evaluation and monitoring of child welfare programs, including family preservation services, differential response implementation, training evaluations for child welfare workers, and county-level children and family services programs. Her policy research also includes analysis of welfare-to-work sanction practices and compliance outcomes.

She has served as a policy analyst and evaluation consultant for county child and family services agencies, conducting monitoring and formal program evaluations, and has authored numerous professional evaluation reports addressing family preservation outcomes, child welfare training initiatives, differential response systems, and prevention-focused programs. Her peer-reviewed scholarship examines public child welfare training, recurrence and service delivery outcomes, physical abuse reporting, and implementation of differential response models within county child welfare agencies. Earlier direct practice experience includes foster care services, substance abuse counseling, family reunification programs, and medical social work. She is available to provide social work expert consultation in matters involving child welfare systems, family preservation programs, welfare sanction policy, cultural perceptions of child protective services, compliance outcomes, and evaluation methodology.