Podcast Season 6

Dr. Pecora has a joint appointment as the Managing Director of Research Services for Casey Family Programs, and Professor, School of Social Work, University of Washington – where he teaches courses in public policy, child welfare program design, and human services management. He began his career working at a neighborhood-based community center, a group home for runaways, and as social worker in foster care in Wisconsin. Peter consulted with social services agencies in Australia, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, South Korea, and the United States to design risk assessment systems for child protective services, refine foster care programs, and implement intensive home-based services.

Jess Hanak-Coulter is a Strategic Consultant with Casey Family Programs (CFP) serving Florida. Jess joined Casey in 2016, joining the CFP Technical Assistant team and served child welfare systems across the country. In January 2020, she had the privilege to join the strategic consulting team to serve in her current role.

Before she joined Casey Family Programs, Jess worked in South Carolina holding executive and case level roles in the public and private sectors, including case manager for child welfare agency and the State Child Welfare Director. She has experience leading teams to impact child welfare practice, using many known strategies including Implementation Science and Four Disciplines of Execution. She desires to help systems see the possibilities and develop pathways to those possibilities. Jess is a licensed Master of Social Work and Certified Addiction Counselor.

Pasqueal Nguyen lives in Youngsville, Louisiana and is a dedicated family advocate and mother of seven children. Pasqueal was involved with the child welfare system two times; first for substance use related to medical issues resulting from a car accident and second due to being in a domestic abuse situation and substance use. After becoming involved in a treatment program, she was able to successfully reunify with her children. Pasqueal and her children have continued to be involved in a recovery program because "we all have to recover, and we do recover!"

As a parent trying to provide the best care for her children, she got involved with several Family Resource Centers in Louisiana to seek assistance to escape poverty. Pasqueal subsequently became involved as a volunteer with the Extra Mile, a non-profit family support organization. She currently serves on the Extra Mile Parent Advisory Council and Is a Parent Partner Mentor there as well. In addition, she is also a member of two national networks - the Birth Parent National Network (BPNN) and the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership. She spoke at the 2018 Together We Can Conference and served as an expert panelist at the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) National Conference in 2019. In 2020, she presented a workshop at the QPI Virtual National Conference. She is also an Advisor for Youth Law Center, training future states in the Quality Parenting Initiative, and a Certified Peer Support Specialist for the Louisiana Department of Health and hospitals. Pasqueal is passionate about helping other families in accessing needed services and supports in her local community.

Dr. Melissa Radey is a Professor in the College of Social Work at Florida State University and is a scholar, particularly using both multilevel modeling and qualitative research to inform child welfare policies and practices. Dr. Radey is the co-Principal Investigator for the Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families. In addition to examining the challenges faced by parenting youth in and aging out of the foster care system, her current work examines social support among vulnerable populations, including low-income families as well as stakeholders across the child welfare system.

Shamra Boel-Studt, Ph.D., MSW is an Associate Professor at the Florida State University College of Social Work and a faculty affiliate of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. Dr. Boel-Studt received her MSW and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. She has over a decade of experience in child welfare practice, training/technical assistance, research, and program evaluation. Her research in the area of child welfare practice focuses on examining the effectiveness/efficacy of child welfare interventions, especially those that seek to enhance engagement, family-centered practice, and trauma-informed approaches and expanding the evidence-base and quality of research and practice in residential group care.

Mary Darrow is a parent advocate with Selfless Love Foundation and One Voice Impact. She provides insight and feedback for improvement within the Florida Foster Care System and was recently connected with the Florida State University and the Florida Institute for Child Welfare's study titled "Maternity Group Homes for Young Mothers in Florida: A Mixed Methods Examination". She is currently perusing a career in plant pathology with the University of Florida, and as a parent of two daughters, the family enjoys exploring playgrounds and the local beaches.

Diane's ultimate goal was to live the second half of her life with more spiritual purpose for her 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren. She began volunteering in the hospital and rape crisis center. During this time, she encountered many young pregnant teens and who were homeless and lost. They felt they only had 2 choices: the choice to adopt or abort and she thought why can't they parent? Being the oldest of 8 children she loved helping her mom and dad with the little ones so she thought if these young moms had high level support, they could parent. She founded a residential home Hands of Mercy Everywhere, 19 years ago offering mental health support, parenting, spiritual guidance, and school advocacy to homeless teen moms and their babies. Some of her achievements through the years have been raising 1505 teen girls!

Associate Professor Annette Semanchin Jones joined the UB School of Social Work faculty in 2013. Semanchin Jones' research focuses on innovative approaches in child welfare that aim to strengthen child well-being and permanency. Her research and teaching are informed by her professional experience working with children and families. She partners with public and private child welfare organizations on projects such as promoting relational permanence for youth in foster care; strengthening supportive networks for vulnerable youth; identifying supports for families and children who experience chronic neglect; and building organizational capacity to implement evidence-based trauma treatments.

Dr. Schelbe serves as a co-Editor-in-Chief of the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. Dr. Schelbe received a Doris Duke Fellowship for the Promotion of Child Well-Being in 2011-2013. She earned her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 and her MSW from Washington University in 2001. Dr. Schelbe's primary research interest focuses on youth aging out of the child welfare system. She is interested in the experiences of youth as they transition out of the child welfare system and into adulthood. An additional focus of Dr. Schelbe's research is the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment.

Dr. Michael Henson completed a joint Ph.D. in social work and anthropology from Wayne State University in 2021, and also holds a BA in anthropology and an MSW. Dr. Henson is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Florida Institute for Child welfare. Dr. Henson's research focuses on workforce development issues in child welfare, with his dissertation examining social work training programs focused on child welfare. He has also worked on research outside of child welfare, including projects focusing on the Flint water crisis and chronic health conditions among older African Americans.

Dr. Hyunji Lee joined the Florida Institute for Child Welfare in 2021. She earned a PhD in social work from University of Pittsburgh, and her dissertation focused on key factors that connect the pathways from a history of childhood maltreatment to risk of IPV exposure in emerging adulthood. She is interested in promoting child and family well-being and enhancing child welfare workforce to improve outcomes of child welfare services and reduce caseworker turnover.

Dr. Lee's research interests include: child and family well-being; child maltreatment; and child welfare workforce development.

Diamond Whitley is 21 years old and has been in the system of care since she was 16 years old. She had a total of 3 placements before getting her own apartment and had 5+ case managers. Diamond will graduate from the University of Central Florida in Spring of 2023 with a bachelor's in clinical psychology. She has over 2 years of experience in child welfare through youth advocacy which she hopes to continue for the foreseeable future. Diamond plans to apply for both masters and Ph.D. programs in counseling psychology with the help of Dr. Michael Henson for the fall 2023 semester. One fun fact about Diamond is that she is a cat mom to three lovely fur babies, Gracie, Bennett and Winona! Diamond is also a triple threat; she used to dance, sing, and act.

Melissa Green is inspired by connection in all aspects of her life. Since graduating from UF law in 2006, she dedicated her legal career to providing a voice for children in foster care; and dreams of utilizing nonviolent communication and restorative justice to create equal, connected, and empathetic systems. Melissa has served as legal counsel for the Guardian ad Litem Program, the Department of Children & Families, and largely for dependent children themselves, as an attorney ad litem through Legal Aid. In 2018, Melissa began creating HOPE Court, a system-changing restorative justice program for teens in foster care. Currently, Melissa works at the FLITE (Fort Lauderdale Independence, Training, & Education) Center, where she serves as the Director of HOPE Court. Alongside Assistant Director Queira Jackson, she facilitates circles for youth and adults, fostering empathy, assisting youth in care to navigate the court system & plan for their transition to independent living; and works toward peace.

Dr. Angela Yehl is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor in the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice at Nova Southeastern University. She served as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on a number of research and evaluation projects in the health and human services, including projects evaluating community-based services/programs provided to children with developmental disabilities, programs serving military veterans and their families, and services provided within the child welfare system. Dr. Yehl's teaching and research interests include qualitative research and program evaluation and current areas of research include the use of restorative justice practices in dependency court, and mindfulness meditation.

Alyia is a dedicated and intelligent young woman. She is a senior at Stranahan High School and dual- enrolled at Broward College. She also takes AP classes and participates in many clubs and after school activities such as Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders, Key Club, Hip, Stranahan's step team and the Black History Showcase. Alyia is a brilliant student and has a 3.9 GPA. She has obtained all her high school credits and is ecstatic to walk across the stage in June, with hopes to attend Florida State University in the Fall or Summer.