MALDI Faculty
Faculty for the Institutes includes prominent leaders in the adoption field from the Children’s Bureau, universities, public and private adoption agencies, legal/judicial organizations, and national advocacy organizations.
Ruth McRoy, PhD
Ruth McRoy is the Director of the Center for Social Work Research and is a Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, she holds the Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professorship in Services to Children and Families. A preeminent practitioner, researcher, and lecturer in the field of adoption for over 20 years, her professional interests include family preservation, open adoptions, adoption outcomes, trans-racial adoptions, racial identity issues and post-adoption services. Among her influential adoption-related research projects are, “Longitudinal Outcomes of Openness in Adoption (1997-2001),” “Changing Adoption Agency Practices: Mental Health Implications for Birth parents, Adoptive Parents, and Adopted Children (1999-2000),” and “Evaluation Study of Post Adoption Services (1994-1996).” She has written seven books, including: Special Needs Adoptions: Practice Issues and Openness in Adoption: Family Connections (with H. Grotevant), and numerous articles and book chapters on adoption.
Angela Cause, MSW
Angela has 25 years experience in the public and private sectors of the child welfare industry in Arizona, California and Oregon. She has worked in a variety of capacities that include protective services, out-of-home care and mental illness. Angela’s area of expertise is special needs adoption, in which she has more than 13 years experience as a case manager with the Arizona Department of Economic Security Child Protective Services, as well as in subsequent positions that include policy manager, administrator and mental health counselor.
Terry Moore, MSW
Terry Moore has managed numerous child welfare training and research projects for the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare since 1992. Mr. Moore has held several management positions in public and private agencies over the last 20 plus years with six years of direct practice in child welfare. He holds a master’s of social work from the University of Kansas with a concentration in social work administration. He has taught graduate courses in information management and personnel management.
In the last several years, Mr. Moore has specialized in performance measurement, management reporting, and the use of data in management decision making. Previously, he worked with Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services to develop and implement a child welfare outcomes measurement system, and to develop the Kansas Initiative for Decision Support that designed and implemented safety and risk assessment tools to aid in case decision making.
Tawara Goode, MA
Tawara Goode is an instructor for the Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC. She has been on the faculty of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD) for the past 27 years. She has degrees in early childhood, special education, and human development. Ms. Goode is Director of the National Center for Cultural Competence at GUCCHD, the mission of which is to increase the capacity of health care and mental health programs to design, implement, and evaluate culturally and linguistically competent service delivery systems. Ms. Goode has been actively involved in the development and implementation of programs and initiatives in the area of cultural and linguistic competence at local, national, and international levels.
As Associate Director for Community Planning of GUCCHD, Ms. Goode is responsible for short-term and ongoing programs for individuals at risk for and with developmental and other disabilities and their families. Ms. Goode’s duties include program development, administration, and teaching within the University and in the community. Ms. Goode also has administrative responsibility for the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service at GUCCHD, funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Dennette M. Derezotes, MSW, LCSW
Dennette M. Derezotes has over 20 years of child welfare experience working with children and families in direct care, therapeutic services, administration, training, program development and evaluation, community advocacy and collaboration, and agency consultation. She is the founding Executive Director of the Race Matters Consortium at Westat, a national multi-system initiative that promotes strategies that prevent, intervene, and eliminate adverse racial disproportionality and disparities in the child welfare system. Its members comprise a national think tank of concerned experts in research, social work practice, public policy, and philanthropy who critically examine the issues related to racial and ethnic disparities and influence policy and practice through education and consultation.
Ms. Derezotes currently travels the country addressing issues of racial disproportionality to numerous audiences. She is an author of and first editor of the book, Race Matters in Child Welfare: Examining the Overrepresentation of African Americans in the Child Welfare System, published through the Child Welfare League of America in March 2005.
Download PowerPoint Presentation: Race Matters
James S. Jackson, PhD
James S. Jackson is Professor and Director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Dr. Jackson is also Director of the Program for Research on Black Americans and Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research. Dr. Jackson’s research interests include experimental and survey methodology, cultural influences on mental health, social influence, attitude theory and change, aging and human development. Dr. Jackson directs the National Survey of American Life, a survey funded by the National Institute of Mental Health that is designed to document the physical, emotional, mental, structural, and economic conditions of African Americans at the beginning of the new century. Recent publications include “African Americans in a Diversifying Nation,” “Health in Black America,” and “Being black and feeling blue: the mental health consequences of racial discrimination.” Dr. Jackson also serves on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute on Aging.
James L. Mason, PhD
Dr. Mason is the Director of the Office of Multicultural Health for the Oregon Department of Human Services. He is the former Multicultural Development Officer at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at Portland State University since 1976 in the Graduate School of Social Work, the School of Urban and Public Affairs, and the University Studies Program. Dr. Mason is a Senior Project Consultant for the Georgetown University Child Development Center’s National Center on Cultural Competence.
Dr. Mason was an original member of the Georgetown University Multicultural Resource Committee that worked to develop and disseminate the CASSP cultural competence model. He has applied the cultural competence concept to a variety of service disciplines including public health, mental health, education, child welfare, maternal and child health, and alcohol and drug treatment. Dr. Mason has been involved in service delivery research since 1984 including directing two national research projects focusing on improving services to culturally diverse communities. He has spoken to, consulted with, and provided assessment and training services to a variety of agencies and bureaucracies across the country. He has lived and worked in Portland, Oregon, since 1975.
Download PowerPoint Presentation: Preparing for Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities in Child Welfare
Sharen E. Ford, PhD
For more than 17 years, Dr. Ford has been involved in child welfare services in the state of Colorado. Her areas of expertise include special needs adoption, concurrent planning, adolescent issues, adoption medical assistance and mental health issues. She currently serves as Manager of the Permanency Services Unit for the Colorado Department of Human Services. In addition to serving as the legislative lead for the Office of Family and Children’s Services, Dr. Ford has a great deal of experience in the areas of administration, fiscal development, program and policy development, and adoption training programs.
Peter Dahlin, MS
Peter Dahlin is a private consultant, based out of the San Francisco area, providing organizational development, training, and curriculum development services to a variety of organizations throughout the country. He is passionate about integrating creativity and fun in solving organizational challenges. He has created and taught supervisor, manager, and trainer courses and is a regularly invited presenter to regional and national conferences. Most recently, he served as the 2005 Chair for the 15th Annual West Coast Child Welfare Trainer’s Conference held in Portland, Oregon.
Among his clients are the State of Washington, San Francisco Municipal Railway, UCLA, State of Florida, State of New Mexico, Ventura County, Alameda County Superior Court, Frontiers Health System, and several campuses in the California State University system. Mr. Dahlin has also helped to develop mentoring programs in the State of Washington as well as the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Adoption, where he serves as a consultant. His style is energetic and engaging, and he infuses appropriate issues of cultural diversity and strong “transfer of learning” opportunities. He regularly works with a select group of associates who maintain expertise in mental health, child welfare, training and administration.
Mr. Dahlin is the Director of Grants and Contracts at California State University, Hayward’s Continuing and International Education Division, developing new professional development programs for government agencies, small non-profit agencies as well as private corporations. Additionally, he serves as the Training Director for the San Francisco East Bay’s Small Business Development Center and is the former Director of a regional training academy providing training, consultation, and organizational development services to 12 counties in the San Francisco Bay area. He has over 15 years of direct service, supervision, training and management experience in public social services.
Mary D. Garrison, LCSW
Mary D. Garrison has a master’s of science in social work from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She is also a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Tennessee. Ms. Garrison is an experienced clinician, supervisor, administrator, and trainer. She has over 10 years experience as a manager and over 20 years in the field. She has been responsible for a staff of over 100 people while managing budgets totaling over $3,000,000. In University appointments, she has assessed, designed, and evaluated training needs and wide-ranging programs. Additionally, she completed a comprehensive study with several Bay Area counties regarding recruitment and retention issues of staff.
Ms. Garrison has been responsible for training staff and ensuring risk management and quality assurance activities in multiple programs. She is an experienced monitor and reviewer for various organizations. Ms. Garrison has developed trainings and curricula for topics by organization’s request. She has provided multiple trainings to a wide variety of professionals and paraprofessionals. Ms. Garrison has been an invited trainer at regional and national conferences for the past seven years. She has been training on various topics for over 10 years. She is the sole proprietor of Garrison & Associates OD Consultants providing technical assistance as well as organizational development services to organizations in the states of Tennessee, Florida, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Washington in social services, medical and mental health fields.
Judge Stephen W. Rideout (retired)
Judge Rideout is the former Lead Judge of the Alexandria Model Court Project in Alexandria, Virginia, the winner of a 2003 Health and Human Adoption Excellence Award, and a 2004 CASA Judge of the Year. He is a judicial resource on ICPC and on court, agency, and community collaboration regarding juvenile and family court issues.
Jennifer Renne, JD
Jennifer Renne is an Assistant Director of Child Welfare for the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues. She brings the child representation perspective to this Resource Center through her eight years experience as an attorney for Maryland’s Legal Aid Bureau. She was a staff attorney for five years, and supervising attorney of the Child Advocacy Unit for three years. She also is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Ms. Renne received a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991 and her bacherlor’s of arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988.
Download PowerPoint Presentation: Permanency and the Courts
Carol W. Spigner, DSW
Carol W. Spigner joined the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work faculty in July 1999 as a visiting professor and joined the faculty permanently in September 2000. Prior to her arrival at the University, Dr. Spigner had been the Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) as Associate Commissioner. Dr. Spigner was responsible for the administration of federal child welfare programs. Dr. Spigner has received numerous awards including the University of Southern California’s Lifetime Contributor to the Development of Policies and Programs for Underserved Populations Award, the National Association of Black Social Workers’; Outstanding Contributors Award, and the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators’ Leadership in Public Child Welfare Award. Dr. Spigner has also served as a Senior Associate at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, Washington, DC and as the Director of the National Child Welfare Leadership Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Spigner held professorships at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Spigner has published a variety of articles in the areas of cultural competency, permanency planning and relative care. Dr. Spigner began her career working for the Los Angeles County Departments of Adoption and Probation. A native of Los Angeles, Dr. Spigner received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Riverside and her graduate and postgraduate degrees from the University of Southern California.
Download PowerPoint Presentation: Leadership in Adoption
Mattie L. Satterfield, MSW, LCSW-C
Mattie L. Satterfield is the Assistant Director of Child and Family Services which includes the Juvenile Detention Center for the city of Norfolk Department of Human Services. As Assistant Director, Mrs. Satterfield provides leadership in the advancement of program and practice knowledge in all child and family services with a particular focus on family centered practice. Her role encompasses policy and procedures, legislative involvement, court and community collaborations. Prior to her current position, Mrs. Satterfield was the Director of Kinship Care Services for the Child Welfare League of America. She provided national and international leadership in the advancement of program and practice knowledge in the area of kinship care services. Mrs. Satterfield continues to provide consultation to national, state, and local policy makers, providers, and caregiver organizations on kinship care policy, programs and practice.
Mrs. Satterfield has over 25 years of service in the area of public and private child welfare services. She has been a direct service social worker, and provided direct supervision for social workers in child protective services, foster care, adoptions and family services. Mrs. Satterfield held the positions of Director of Kinship Care, Foster Care and Adoption for Tennessee Department of Children Services, Office of Child Permanency, and also held the position of Acting Program Manager for Family Services with the Social Services Administration under Maryland Department of Human Resources both on the state level. With both of these positions, she was responsible for the oversight and statewide management of the following programs, Kinship Care, Foster Care, Adoptions, Intensive Family Services, Family Now, and Services to Families with Children. Mrs. Satterfield also administered the budgets for these programs. Mrs. Satterfield holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Community Planning. She is a licensed clinical social worker.
Download Power Point Presentation: Facilitating Successful Kinship Adoptions
