Strengthening Child Safety and Wellbeing through Integrated Data Solutions
Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Ph.D.
Emily Putnam-Hornstein, PhD, is an Associate Professor of at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and Director of the Children’s Data Network, a university-agency collaborative focused on the linkage and analysis of administrative records. She also maintains a research appointment at UC Berkeley’s California Child Welfare Indicators Project and is a researcher-in-residence at California’s Health and Human Services Agency, helping steward several statewide data initiatives. Her current research is focused on the use of data analytics to prevent abuse and neglect. Her research has been supported by grants from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, HRSA, First 5 LA, and a number of other private foundations. Emily graduated from Yale with a BA in psychology, received her MSW from Columbia University, and earned her PhD in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. Prior to returning to graduate school, she worked as a child welfare caseworker in New York City.
Emily Putnam-Hornstein SlidesLawrence Berger, Ph.D.
Lawrence (Lonnie) Berger is Director of the Institute for Research on Poverty and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on the ways in which economic resources, sociodemographic characteristics, and public policies affect parental behaviors and child and family wellbeing. He is engaged in studies in three primary areas: (1) examining the determinants of substandard parenting, child maltreatment, and out-of-home placement for children; (2) exploring associations among socioeconomic factors (family structure and composition, economic resources, household debt), parenting behaviors, and children's care, development, and wellbeing; and (3) assessing the influence of public policies on parental behaviors and child and family wellbeing. His work aims to inform public policy in order to improve its capacity to assist families in accessing resources, improving family functioning and wellbeing, and ensuring that children are able to grow and develop in the best possible environments.
Lawrence Berger, Ph.D. SlidesChristopher Wildeman, Ph.D.
Christopher Wildeman is a Professor of Policy Analysis and Management (PAM) and Sociology (by courtesy) in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, where he is also currently the Provost Fellow for the Social Sciences, the Director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, and the Co-Director of the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). Since 2015, he has also been a Senior Researcher at the Rockwool Foundation Research Unit in Copehagen, Denmark.
His research and teaching interests revolve around: (1) the consequences of mass imprisonment for inequality, with emphasis on families, health, and children; and (2) child welfare, especially as relates to child maltreatment and the foster care system. He is the 2013 recipient of the Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology.
Christopher Wildeman, Ph.D. SlidesBridget Freisthler, Ph.D.
Dr. Freisthler is a professor and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at the Ohio State University in the College of Social Work. She runs a research program focusing on innovative approaches to study child abuse and neglect, including the study of drinking contexts related to the use of physical abuse and neglect, use of geographic information systems and spatial analysis to understand the spatial dimension of abuse and neglect, and the use of technology to improve the resource and referral process in the child welfare system.
She is an expert in the application of population-based geospatial research methods in understanding alcohol and drug-related problems (e.g., crime, child abuse and neglect) related to the availability of substances through drug various distribution systems. Her expertise includes the development of geographic information systems (GIS), and applications of spatial statistics and spatial econometrics (including Bayesian space-time models) to (1) understand how social problems vary across geographic areas, such as neighborhoods, (2) identify those areas in a community which are at risk for developing or already experiencing high levels of social problems related to specific social and environmental exposures, and (3) examine how locations of social service treatment facilities may ameliorate the growth of problems in neighborhood areas.
Bridget Freisthler, Ph.D. SlidesJoseph Ryan, MSW, Ph.D.
Joseph P. Ryan, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan and Co-Director of the Child and Adolescent Data Lab (ssw.datalab-org). The Data Lab is a partnership with State government focused on using data and data science to drive policy, inform practice and improve the lives of children and families. Dr. Ryan has more than 10 years of experience in the field and teaches graduate courses and publishes widely in the areas of child maltreatment, foster care, substance abuse and juvenile delinquency. Dr. Ryan is the PI on multiple longitudinal studies including the Title IV-E waiver demonstrations in Illinois and Michigan. Dr. Ryan was appointed to the Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice by the Governor and serves on the editorial boards of Child Maltreatment, Child Welfare, Social Work Research and Residential Treatment for Children and Youth.
Joseph Ryan, MSW, Ph.D. Slides