SOCIAL WORK - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Alumni Relations, Social Work & Law
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- LCSW, Is an Associate Professor
Ann Marie Garran, PhD, MSW, LCSW, is an Associate Professor.
Research Interests
Power, privilege and oppression as it pertains to social work education, including field instruction and advising
Anti-oppressive social work practice, particularly anti-racism
Intergroup dialogue
Curriculum Vitae
View Ann Marie Garran's CV
Selected Publications
Garran, A.M. & Rasmussen, B.M. (2016). In the line of duty: Racism in health care. Commentary. Social Work. http://sw.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/29/sw.sww006.full.pdf+html
Goggin, E., Werkmeister Rozas, L. & Garran, A.M. (2015). A case of mistaken identity. Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2015.1100596
Garran, A.M., Aymer, S., Gelman, C., & Miller, J. (2015). Team teaching anti-oppression with diverse faculty: Challenges and opportunities. Social Work Education: The International Journal, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2015.1062086.
Werkmeister Rozas, L. & Garran, A.M. (2015). Towards a human rights culture in social work. British Journal of Social Work. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcv032
Garran, A.M., Kang, H., & Fraser, E. (2014). Pedagogy and diversity: Enrichment and support for social work instructors engaged in social justice education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 34(5): 564-574. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2014.952868
Garran, A.M., & Rasmussen, B. (2014). Safety in the classroom: Reconsidered. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 34(4): 401-412. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2014.937517
Garran, A.M. (2013). Lessons learned: Racial enactments in the treatment process. Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community, 27(3): 305-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2013.818945
Garran, A.M. & Werkmeister Rozas, L. (2013). Cultural competence revisited. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 22(2): 97-111. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2013.785337
Miller, J., & Garran, A.M. (2007). The web of institutional racism. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 77(1), 33-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J497v77n01_03
Job Titles:
- Director of the Office of Student and Academic Services
Carlton Jones, MS, LPCA is a dedicated, passionate, and enthusiastic higher education professional seeking to assist in the growth and development of students across all disciplines. For over ten years, Carlton has worked in various higher education functional areas such as student affairs, admissions, and academic advising to advocate for students, help guide them on their professional goals, ensure they are on track with completing major requirements, and to lend an ear to students in need. Carlton is a member of National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), an association of professional academic advisors in higher education. He was the president of UConn's African American Faculty and Staff Association (AAFSA), an affinity group at the university to promote better understanding among black faculty and staff, and to bring the perspectives of members to UConn.
Carlton holds a Master of Science degree in Counseling, with a concentration in Student Development in Higher Education, from Central Connecticut State University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Connecticut. Carlton also holds a Professional Counseling Associate license through the State of Connecticut.
Job Titles:
- Educational Program Assistant II
Job Titles:
- Professor and Interim Co - Director, PhD Program
Cristina Wilson, Ph.D., (publishes as Mogro-Wilson) is a Professor and a faculty member in the Puerto Rican and Latin@ Studies Project.
Cristina is a recognized Latina scholar and expert in health disparities and cultural humility working with Latino families. Her research has made substantial contributions to improving the lives of Latino families by identifying modifiable factors associated with parenting and how culture influences parenting in Latino families. Cristina has added to the knowledge on what makes individuals and family units more effective at prevention of substance use, and what protects individuals and families that are at-risk or have high intensity needs. Cristina's work informs culturally responsive practice and education regarding under-studied ethnic and racial minority populations. Her most recent work focuses on engaging Latino fathers in understanding how fatherhood is important, particularly during times of great stress and uncertainty. Cristina is interested in generating models for family-focused sustainable interventions for Latino families that include the needs of fathers. As a social worker, she is committed to focusing on individuals' strengths, and empowering at-risk groups. Her work focuses on understanding the factors that promote resilience. She has centered her focus on strengthening Latino families, and in creating environments where children and youth can thrive.
In 2022, Cristina was named Editor-in-Chief of Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, a core journal in social work research for over 100 years. Launched in 1920, the journal built a knowledge base for the first systematized approaches to the practice of social work and has been stewarded over the years by the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities. Families in Society is published in partnership with SAGE Publishing.
Cristina teaches masters level courses in research methods and program evaluation and teaches in the doctoral program (Research Methods, Survey Methods, Multivariate Statistics I and II and Mixed Methods).
She is Co-PI on four federally funded five-year grants totaling over $20 million from the U.S. Department of Education (OSEP) and the Heath Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to train students at the MSW and Ph.D. levels to focus on children with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable and diverse populations. Each year the grants fund tuition and stipends for approximately six MSW and Ph.D. students who are trained to become professionals working to help serve the most vulnerable infants and young children in our state grounded in culturally responsive practice. Most recently she received an Equity Center grant that will focus on institutes of higher education that are training professionals who work with young children in special education to receive equitable services through policies focused on recruitment, retention, and training of diverse professionals and faculty.
Research Interests
Latino families and parenting in at risk environments
Substance use for Latino youth and adults
Intervention and prevention programs for substance use
Teen pregnancy prevention
Fathers in the Latino community
Family mechanisms and factors that play a role in at risk behaviors
Children, youth, and adults with disabilities
Curriculum Vitae
View Cristina Wilson's CV
Connect with Cristina Wilson
Google Scholar
Twitter
Twitter - Families in Society
Job Titles:
- Director of Policy and Financing and Assistant Extension Professor / Innovations Institute
Deborah Harburger, MSW, is Director of Policy and Financing at Innovations Institute and Assistant Extension Professor at the UConn School of Social Work. She has more than two decades of experience working in and with public child- and family-serving agencies, including serving as Director of the Ruth Young Center for Maryland. A trained Title IV-E worker, she served as project director and principal investigator on multiple federal- and state-funded contracts and grants and taught Children and Social Services Policy to social work graduate students. Ms. Harburger provides TA to states and communities on children's behavioral health service array and sustainable financing, including Medicaid and Title IV-E; child welfare systems and services; youth homelessness; strategic planning; and implementation of interagency initiatives. Ms. Harburger has developed Medicaid State Plan Amendments, a Title IV-E Waiver, FFPSA Prevention Plans, strategic plans, fund maps and fiscal analyses, white papers, and other technical documents. A summa cum laude graduate of The Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College with a BA in psychology, Ms. Harburger received her MSW with a concentration in management and community organization and specialization in families and children from the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
Research Interests:
Child Welfare and Homelessness
Child Welfare and Behavioral Health Services
Interagency Structures and Service Array
Medicaid Financing for Children's Behavioral Health Services
Job Titles:
- Director of the TA Network and Assistant Extension Professor / Innovations Institute
Denise Sulzbach, JD is faculty and Director of the TA Network at Innovations Institute. She has over 25 years of experience providing training and technical assistance in numerous states and territories with expertise in systems of care, data-informed decision-making, care pathway planning, and use of data analytics to inform cross-agency behavioral health system design and implementation. From 2013 to 2020, she provided and oversaw the delivery of high-quality, outcome-based technical assistance to states, tribes, territories, and communities across the nation for two SAMHSA-funded children's behavioral health technical assistance centers. As a former prosecutor with specialty in child abuse, sexual assault, and juvenile law, she has unique expertise in understanding the unmet cross-system needs of youth with complex behavioral health needs and their families. This expertise was expanded while serving as Deputy Secretary at the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and other high-level Governor appointed positions, including Director of Systems of Care and Interagency Policy at the Maryland Governor's Office for Children. She has authored numerous proposals, including successful Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) technical narratives, resulting in hundreds of millions in awards. Denise holds a JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law and a BA in sociology from Fairfield University.
Research Interests:
Mobile Response & Stabilization Services
988 Design & Implementation
Systems Reform
Care Pathways
Implementation Science
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut School
- Principal Investigator of a CDC
Dr. Caitlin Elsaesser is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. She is a licensed clinical social worker and completed her MSW and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. The overarching goal of Dr. Elsaesser's work is to partner with youth and communities to create health promotion efforts that are empowering and accessible. Dr. Elsaesser's work is guided by critical race and feminist theories. With an understanding that those with lived experience hold key expertise in health, her work draws on community-based participatory methodology. Her career as a researcher is built on a decade of direct experience working with adolescents and families in Chicago, first as a high school teacher and later as a social worker.
Caitlin is currently the Principal Investigator of a CDC-funded K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award. Working in partnership with Hartford violence prevention agencies as well as youth co-researchers, this project will design the core components of health supports for youth to navigate social media conflict implicated in offline violence. The work builds on Caitlin's past community-partnered research focused on cyberbanging, an emerging form of youth violence occurring on social media, also implicated in other forms of youth violence. In partnership with a Hartford-based youth development agency, she developed a measure of cyberbanging, critical to understanding the connection between cyberbanging and youth violence, as well as to identifying mechanisms for intervention.
A mindfulness practitioner since 2014, one of Caitlin's core interests is melding contemplative practice and social justice. Caitlin is currently a mindfulness teacher-in-training through the Teacher Training Program at iBme. Caitlin is the mother of two young children. Her perspective as a mother and mindfulness practitioner inform all parts of her work.
Research Interests
Adolescent well-being and resilience
Youth participatory action research and community participatory methods
Community, school, and family contexts of development
Victimization, violence, and perpetration
Role of technology in interpersonal violence
Mindfulness based approaches to well-being
Culturally specific health initiatives
Curriculum Vitae
View Caitlin Elsaesser's CV
In the News
CT Mirror: To end gun violence we need to address poverty
Job Titles:
- Associate Research Professor / Innovations Institute
- Associate Research Professor at Innovations Institute
Dr. Elizabeth Greeno is faculty and Associate Research Professor at Innovations Institute. She has direct experience and expertise with evaluation design and methodology and is currently involved in several projects that involve federally-funded evaluation research. Dr. Greeno is lead researcher for two Quality Improvement Centers: National Quality Improvement Center on Tailored Services, Placement Stability, and Permanency for LGBTQ+ Children and Youth in Foster Care and the National Quality Improvement Center on Family-Centered Reunification. Dr. Greeno collaborates with University of Maryland School of Social Work, where she is lead researcher on Title IV-E Education for Public Child Welfare Program. She served as principal investigator for Thrive@25, a Children's Bureau grant assessing and implementing an intervention to help youth in foster care successfully transition to young adulthood and prevent homelessness among all youth and young adults with foster care histories. She was lead researcher for a randomized control trial assessing the efficacy of motivational interviewing with child welfare students and standardized clients. Dr. Greeno recently collaborated with Delaware's Center for Families First, Inc. to evaluate programs providing perinatal addiction services. In addition, Dr. Greeno has experience in training motivational interviewing to child welfare students, training child welfare workers on instrumentation, and has clinical practice experience in the areas of therapeutic and case management services to children and families in the child welfare system and children diagnosed with comorbid mental health disabilities and substance usage. Dr. Greeno is also a private outpatient mental health practitioner in Harford County, Maryland where she specializes in adolescents, older youth, LGBTQ populations, family therapy, and family therapy reunification services for former foster youth. Dr. Greeno holds a PhD and MSW from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and a BSW from Salisbury State University.
Dr. Kelsi Carolan, Assistant Professor, is a licensed clinical social worker. She completed her PhD at the Boston University School of Social Work and received a Master of Social Work degree from Boston College. Her research investigates how systemic inequities degrade quality of life in the context of chronic disease and disability, with a particular interest in access to employment, social support, and disability-related stigma and discrimination.
As a medical social worker, Dr. Carolan saw firsthand how the social determinants of health shape individual and family experiences within and beyond medical settings. These experiences engendered a drive to pursue social justice through research and teaching that advances health equity and disability inclusion. A qualitative and mixed methods researcher, she values participatory approaches to research that position the expertise of community members at the forefront. Dr. Carolan teaches in the Individuals, Groups, and Families concentration.
Research Interests:
Chronic disease and physical disability
Social determinants of health
Access to employment
Disability stigma
Interventions to improve quality of life in the context of chronic disease
Curriculum Vitae
View Kelsi Carolan's CV
Elizabeth Manley, LSW is Faculty and Senior Advisor for Health and Behavioral Health Policy at Innovations Institute. Elizabeth is nationally recognized for her expertise in children's behavioral health, intellectual/developmental disabilities, and substance use systems design. She has a specific focus on innovation in policy, financing, and practice implementation with states and communities. Her over 30 years of executive leadership at the national, state, and provider levels in both the public and private sectors have given her a unique understanding of the complexity of systems and the impact of innovation. Elizabeth is the former Assistant Commissioner for New Jersey's Children's System of Care, where she led transformation and implementation of system innovations including building a trauma informed, seamless public behavioral health system with expertise in addressing the special needs of youth engaged in other child serving systems such as child welfare and juvenile justice. Elizabeth hold a LSW and a certificate in nonprofit management from Rutgers University.
Research Interests:
Youth Behavioral Health Systems Design
Customization of Youth Crisis Systems
Impacts of Residential Interventions
Suicide Prevention
Impacts of Policy and Financing in Public Systems
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor in Residence at UConn School
Ellen Smith, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Residence at UConn School of Social Work. She is the co-chair of the Individuals, Groups, and Families concentration. Ellen teaches the Human Behavior in the Social Environment course, as well as advanced practice with individuals, groups, and families. She also provides academic and field advising to master's level students.
Research Interests
HIV/AIDS
Mental health and psychosocial issues related to women's health
Postpartum mental health
Trauma
Feminist theory
Integration of theory and practice
Curriculum Vitae
View Ellen Smith's CV
Job Titles:
- Assistant Research Professor / Innovations Institute
Tony Bonadio, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor at Innovations Institute, University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Dr. Bonadio primarily focuses on the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based interventions in public behavioral health and child welfare systems. He works closely with the National Wraparound Implementation Center (NWIC) to support the implementation and evaluation of care coordination models across multiple states. Additionally, he brings extensive expertise in leveraging administrative data to support system redesign and outcome monitoring for public child-serving systems. He partners with states to provide technical assistance for evaluation planning, fidelity monitoring, and continuous quality improvement processes that help systems of care identify barriers and facilitators of implementation and support data-informed decision making. His research interests include the use of person-centered approaches to explore differential patterns of service utilization and outcomes across service arrays as well as the development and implementation of data-informed decision making in behavioral health settings. Tony holds a PhD in clinical psychology from Bowling Green State University.
Research Interests:
• Tiered care coordination
• Data-informed decision
• Care pathway analyses
• Measurement development
• Implementation science
Gio Iacono, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work. His areas of practice and research specialization are LGBTQ+ youth mental health, youth resilience, promoting diversity and inclusion within social work education, and mindfulness-based treatment approaches. Dr. Iacono primarily focuses on intervention and community-based participatory research.
Dr. Iacono has worked as a psychotherapist, clinical social worker, educator, community organizer, and researcher in a variety of health and community-based settings. His community development work has been focused on promoting the mental and sexual health of diverse and marginalized communities. Gio has also been a mindfulness meditation practitioner for many years, and integrates mindfulness in his work as an educator, researcher and clinician.
Research Interests
LGBTQ+ youth mental health
Youth resilience
Mindfulness and contemplative practice approaches
Community-based participatory research
Diversity and inclusion in social work education
Intervention research
Curriculum Vitae
View Gio Iacono's CV
Job Titles:
- Associate Research Professor
Hsiu-Ju Lin, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Professor in the School of Social Work, and a Research Scientist for the Research Division at the Evaluation, Quality Management & Improvement Division, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. She is the principal investigator or co-investigator of multiple federal and state funded grants focusing on mental health and substance abuse recovery service utilization and treatment outcomes, and assists in designing the research plan and overseeing the data analyses for all of these projects. Her areas of specialization include mental health and addiction disorders, criminal justice, and applied statistics in behavior health studies, i. e., longitudinal data analysis, multilevel modeling, and structural equation modeling.
Research Interests
Research method and statistics modeling related to longitudinal studies
Multilevel modeling/Hierarchical Linear Models
Structural equal modeling
Mental health and addiction problems
Criminal justice involved population
Health Psychology
Culture differences in preventive health behaviors
Curriculum Vitae
View Hsiu-Ju Lin's CV
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Research
Jennifer I. Manuel is an associate professor and the Associate Dean for Research at the UConn School of Social Work. She earned her MSW and Ph.D. from Columbia University School of Social Work, where she was funded by a NIMH T32 pre-doctoral fellowship. Dr. Manuel completed postdoctoral work at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, where she led a statewide initiative to develop, implement, and evaluate a model for transitioning clients from assertive community treatment to less intensive services. Dr. Manuel is a services and intervention researcher using quantitative and mixed method approaches. Her research broadly addresses health disparities and poor access to and transitions in care among youth, young adults and adults with substance use, mental health, and other critical needs (housing, employment, health, trauma). Most recently, she completed a NIDA-funded pilot study of Critical Time Intervention versus enhanced discharged services to reduce the risk of relapse and homelessness among individuals leaving long-term residential substance use treatment. Dr. Manuel's current work focuses on implementation research to optimize the delivery of evidence-based interventions for multiple contexts in community practice.
Research Interests
Substance use and mental disorders
Behavioral health systems and services
Services and intervention research
Implementation research
Curriculum Vitae
View Jennifer Manuel's CV
Job Titles:
- Research Scientist / Innovations Institute
- Research Scientist at Innovations Institute
Jill Farrell, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist at Innovations Institute, University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Dr. Farrell's background and research interests concentrate on improving experiences and outcomes for youth involved with child- and family-serving systems, particularly the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Dr. Farrell has served as a lead evaluator for many programs implemented with children, youth, and families, employing experimental and quasi-experimental designs. She served as a primary research partner to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services for almost two decades, collaborating on the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based case management practices, assessment tools, and programs for youth. Dr. Farrell was also a Co-Investigator for a statewide multi-agency data collaborative that focused on linking and leveraging administrative data systems to improve policy and practice. Prior to joining Innovation Institute, Dr. Farrell conducted applied policy research at the University of Maryland's Institute for Innovation & Implementation, Institute for Governmental Service and Research, Urban Institute, and Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy. She holds both a PhD and MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice from University of Maryland, and a BA with distinction in Psychology from Boston College.
Research Interests
Evidence-Based Programs and Practices
Implementation Science
Continuous Quality Improvement Approaches
Juvenile Justice
Child Welfare
Jon Phillips is an Assistant Professor. He is a licensed social worker with extensive practice experience working with children, adolescents, and families involved with the child welfare system. His research aims to further our understanding of effective interprofessional and interagency collaboration in the child welfare system, and to enhance collaboration in the system as a means of improving child and family well-being. He teaches in the Individuals, Groups, and Families concentration.
Research Interests
Interprofessional collaboration
Interagency collaboration and service integration
Improving child and family well-being in the child welfare system
Child welfare workforce development
Curriculum Vitae
View Jon Phillips's CV
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor in Residence at the School
Joy Learman, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in Residence at the School of Social Work. She finished her doctoral studies at The University of Texas at Austin where her research explored the role of gender-based violence and inequality on women's sexual and reproductive health. Joy is passionate about teaching social work students and her teaching is heavily informed by her professional experience in program planning, management, and development for non-profit organizations. Joy has taught a wide range of courses on topics including social justice, research, policy, human behavior, family violence, and ecofeminism.
Curriculum Vitae
Joy Learman's CV
Kate Sweeney, MSW, is an Assistant Extension Professor and Co-Director of the Parent, Infant, Early Childhood team at Innovations Institute, University of Connecticut School of Social Work. In this role she leads program development, project oversight, workforce development, and policy work related to Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health efforts. Ms. Sweeney is a licensed clinician with extensive experience providing and supporting the implementation of evidence-based practices in a range of disciplines that work with families, including home visitors, educators, early intervention providers, and primary care as well as specialty care medical providers. Ms. Sweeney served as Principal Investigator and Project Director of two federally funded grants to address the needs of transition age youth in Baltimore city who are experiencing substance use disorder and parenting needs (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), a project to support and engage incarcerated caregivers and their families (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention), and provided technical assistance to child welfare teams on substance exposed newborn policy implementation. She is a National Trainer of the Fussy Baby Network and a member of the ZERO TO THREE Academy Fellows. She holds an MSW from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, where she focused on maternal and child mental health and a Bachelors in Political Science from George Washington University.
Job Titles:
- Director for Systems Design and Implementation Strategies and Assistant Extension Professor / Innovations Institute
Kimberly Estep, MA is faculty and Director for Systems Design and Implementation Strategies at Innovations Institute. Ms. Estep is responsible for supporting and managing state, organization, and provider efforts around systems development/reform, health care reform, child serving system workforce development initiatives, wraparound implementation, tiered care coordination, mobile response and stabilization, peer parent support, and dissemination and implementation approaches for installation of evidence-based practices and improved quality of existing practices. Ms. Estep partners with states in analyzing current structures and care pathways for families to identify and plan around needed infrastructure including policy, procedures, financing, workforce development, electronic health records, data collection and analysis, continuous quality improvement, and more recently focusing on technology integrated care. She has extensive experience in providing individualized training and technical assistance (TTA) and partners with family and youth leaders in designing and delivering TTA, as well as incorporating youth/family/consumer voice in policy and practice. She also supports establishment of ongoing system level oversight processes that include comprehensive quality assurance measures for newly designed approaches to care pathways for youth and their families. She has trained and presented across the country on dissemination and implementation, system of care reform, and tiered care coordination installation with individualized, intensive, large-scale statewide support provided to over 20 states. This work includes identification of gaps in system design and practice leading to the development and adaptation of TTA workplans to include best practices for workforce development and increased cultural competencies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Kim holds an MA in clinical psychology from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Research Interests:
Tiered Care Coordination
Implementation Science
Wraparound,
Mobile Response and Stabilization
Care Pathway establishment implementation and monitoring
Job Titles:
- Dean and Professor
- Professor at the UConn School
Laura Curran (she/her) is Dean and Professor at the UConn School of Social Work. Dr. Curran's scholarship focuses on three areas: social work and social welfare history, particularly the history of social work interventions with low-income families and children; women's perinatal health and well-being; and social work education. Dr. Curran has an extensive record of peer-reviewed publications and her work has received funding from the New Jersey, Department of Health, the New York Community Trust, and the Association of Social Work Boards, among other entities.
Dr. Curran earned her B.A. from Barnard College, an MSW from Columbia University, and her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare. Dr. Curran was previously at Rutgers University-New Brunswick where she served as the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Rutgers University School of Social Work. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Curran practiced as a social worker in the areas of community mental health and child welfare. She is currently an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Social Work Education.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor in Residence
Lesly Sanchez-Villar, LMSW, is an Assistant Professor in Residence. She graduated from the UConn School of Social Work in 2015 with a concentration in Administration, with a focused area in Puerto Rican and Latin@ Studies in Social Work. She has served as a field instructor for the school since 2017. Her experience includes direct practice with Individuals, Groups, and Families in home and in different community agencies serving the Latinx population. Lesly is fluent in Spanish and is now part of Connecticut ¡Adelante! Cohort where her goal is to support Spanish-speaking students to strengthen their clinical skills in Spanish. She teaches courses in the Individuals, Families and Groups (IGFP) concentration.
View Sanchez-Villar's CV.
Linda Sprague Martinez, Ph.D. (she, her, hers), is Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Connecticut's School of Medicine, Director of the Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health, and Faculty Affiliate at UConn School of Social Work. Dr. Sprague Martinez has expertise in health equity and the social determinants of health; community based participatory research (CBPR) and youth led participatory action research (YPAR); photovoice; community assessment and mobilization; and qualitative research methods and analyses. Having formerly worked in municipal and state governance, and as an adolescent mental health provider, Dr. Sprague Martinez brings practical expertise in cross sector collaborations and resident engagement. She was a 2017 Boston Housing Authority, Center for Community Engagement and Civil Rights, Resident Empowerment Coalition, Resident Empowerment Honoree. In 2023, Dr. Sprague Martinez received the NIH HEAL Director's Award for Community Partnerships, for her work with the HEALing Communities Study. Her research has been funded by NIH, OBSSR and PCORI, as well as by local foundations.
Job Titles:
- Associate Research Professor and Co - Director of the Parent
Margo Candelaria, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Professor and Co-Director of the Parent, Infant, Early Childhood team at Innovations Institute, University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Dr. Candelaria has extensive research and clinical experience with early childhood development and mental health, parent-child interactions, and community systems. She has worked with children and parents in medical systems, community mental health agencies, early intervention agencies, Head Start/Early Head Start, school systems, and homelessness and substance use serving agencies. She served as Principal Investigator (PI) for several contracts with the Maryland State Department of Education with projects focusing on implementation, workforce development, and evaluation of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, and National Pyramid Model Practices to promote social emotional skills and address behavioral concerns in young children. She served as evaluation PI for the SAMHSA-funded TREE project, B'more SUCCEEDS, addressing youth who are substance using and housing unstable with an emphasis on addressing parenting needs; evaluation PI for the SAMHSA-funded BRIDGE early childhood system of care grant in Southern Maryland and E-SMART early childhood system of care grant in Carroll County, Maryland; the SAMHSA-funded Project LAUNCH in Prince George's County, Maryland; and the HHS Pregnancy Assistance Fund, Map to Success, focused on identifying pregnant and parenting youth and engaging them in parenting and other services to be successful. Across all projects, she focused on program evaluation and implementation science to improve programs for children and families in need by using data and engaging in continuous quality improvement processes. At Innovations Institute, Dr. Candelaria serves as PI for the HRSA-funded TREEHOUSE project which focuses on training and coaching pediatric providers to promote caregiver-child interactions within primary care and evaluation PI for the SAMHSA/NCTSN-funded FASTT project implementing and evaluating a fast-tracked, trauma-informed, clinical model addressing early childhood mental health needs. She co-leads the Parent, Infant, Early Childhood team and is working to expand the early childhood portfolio at Innovations Institute. Dr. Candelaria holds a BA in Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University and an MA and PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Research Interests
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
Parent-Child Interactions
Early Childhood and Family Serving Systems
Early Intervention
Promotion of Social Emotional Well-Being in Pediatrics
Job Titles:
- Associate Research Professor / Innovations Institute
- Associate Research Professor at the University of Connecticut
Marlene Matarese, PhD is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Connecticut, School of Social Work and the Deputy Director for the Innovations Institute. Dr. Matarese has over 20 years of experience working at the individual, county, state, and national levels. She specializes in content focused on evidence-based and evidence-informed intervention design; and best practices in implementation science within the context of the public child-, youth-, and family-serving systems as well as LGBTQ+/sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, workforce development; and systems of care. The focus of her work has been improving access to and the quality of systems and services for children and youth with public system involvement. Dr. Matarese is the Principal Investigator (PI) for the National Quality Improvement Center on Tailored Services, Placement Stability, and Permanency for LGBTQ+ Children and Youth in Foster Care, and the National Quality Improvement Center on Family-Centered Reunification funded by the Children's Bureau. She is also PI for the National Center of Excellence for LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity, funded by SAMHSA. Dr. Matarese serves as PI on other national, large-scale initiatives including the design, implementation, and evaluation of numerous best practices. Her prior professional experiences include providing technical assistance nationally on youth involvement and, in partnership with a group of young people, organized and developed Youth MOVE National. She continues to champion the meaningful inclusion of youth in all levels of system design. Dr. Matarese also brings years of experience working directly with youth and their families as a care coordinator, clinician, personal counselor, and aide for youth with behavioral health needs. She holds her PhD in Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, and her MSW and BA from Rutgers.
Michelle Zabel has over 30 years of experience working in and advising child- and family-serving systems, public and private sectors, at agency, local, and state levels across the nation. She has expertise in implementation science, service system design and sustainable financing, evidence-based and promising practices, tiered care coordination, residential redesign, and crisis response systems. Michelle was the founding director of Innovations Institute in 2005 and, today manages a team of more than 50 faculty and staff with 50 contracts, worth over $15 million annually, with the federal government, multiple state and county governments, foundations, and private organizations that span multiple years. Under Michelle's leadership, Innovations Institute has developed expert capacities in health and human services systems, crisis response systems, LGBTQ+ and early childhood populations, policy and financing, systems design research and evaluation, and workforce development, all to improve outcomes for children, youth, young adults, and their families. Michelle's work, and that of the Institute she leads, advances research-based, inclusive, culturally responsive, and transformative solutions for child-, youth-, and family-serving public systems, and supports the workforce within these systems.
Michelle has been Principal Investigator (PI) for multiple state and federal contracts including two CMS-funded demonstration grants. She participated in multiple state contracts that included evaluation and continuous quality improvement (CQI) centered around system redesign, service array development, and sustainable public financing. She has served as the PI and Project Director for SAMHSA's National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health, a $34 million multi-year task order with 13 subcontractors and more than 50 consultants. Under Michelle's leadership, a CQI process was developed utilizing standardized instruments and procedures to evaluate the effectiveness of technical assistance provided. The evaluation of the approach suggested the training and technical assistance resulted in improved implementation outcomes, including new partnerships with external organizations, scaling of evidence-based practices, and increases in access to services and innovative funding strategies.
She has also served as subject matter expert to the National Association for State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD); as a member of SAMHSA's Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch Council; and on expert panels for numerous national policy and planning initiatives ranging from infant to teen mental health. She continues to serve on numerous local and national committees and boards.
Michelle currently serves as the PI for Innovations' work with the Technical Assistance Coalition and the Transformation Transfer Initiative, both led by NASMHPD with SAMHSA funding; the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics Expansion Grants, led by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing with SAMHSA funding; and the Children's Crisis Continuum Project funded by SAMHSA. She earned her BA from Eastern University and her Master of Social Service, Clinical Track, from Bryn Mawr College. In 2022, Michelle was awarded the Mental Health Association of Maryland's Paula Hamburger Child Advocacy Award.
Job Titles:
- Director of Field Education
Nicole Campbell, DSW, LCSW has extensive experience in clinical operations management, program development, patient services, social work, training, and staff development honed from 16-plus years of valuable work experience. However, her passion is training and mentoring future human services field students, interns, and fellows. Nicole enjoy the opportunity to assist with training medical students, residents, graduate, and post-graduate students. She also enjoys working closely with other social workers in the role of a supervisor to assist others with strengthening their clinical and professional skills. Most importantly, as a Black woman, Nicole feels that she is a living demonstration that diverse mentors, leadership, and cultures assist in creating stronger communities and better outcomes for students and staff. Many of Nicole's accomplishments are centered on the successful design, development, and delivery of healthcare systems that bring outstanding results to program participants. She has consistently thrived in evolving workplace settings characterized by long-range goals, metrics, and even high pressure. The skills and expertise that Nicole has gained from such experiences have encouraged her to continue providing significant contributions to dynamic and growth-oriented institutions.
Job Titles:
- Professor and Dean Emerita
- Professor at the University of Connecticut School
Dr. Heller is Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. She previously served as SSW Dean and Director and Co-Director of the Doctoral Program. She teaches clinical and behavioral health theory and practice courses in the MSW Individuals, Groups and Families concentration, and pedagogy and clinical theories in the doctoral program. Her research and scholarship are in the areas of suicide and suicide prevention, social work theory, integrative approaches to practice, and mental health. She is co-editor and author of several books Enhancing Psychodynamic Theories with Cognitive Behavioral Theory (1998); Social Work and Social Problems: A Mental Health Perspective (2010); and Beyond the Risk Paradigm in Mental Health Policy and Practice. She served as a consultant to the State of Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board, leading the development of the state suicide prevention plan and has served on several related statewide committees. Dr. Heller has worked closely with the CT Department of Children and Families, Office of Early Childhood, and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to establish and develop robust research and clinical partnerships. She was a member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Taskforce on Clinical Workforce Preparedness and is trained by the American Association of Suicidology as a psychological autopsy investigator. In 2019, Dr. Heller conducted forensic evaluation for asylum seekers on a social work/legal team at Berks Family Residential Center and York County Prison, Pennsylvania. She was a Co-PI on a three-year SAMHSA clinical training grant Transitioning Youth at Risk, a collaborative effort between the UConn SSW and the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and as PI on the CT State Department of Social Services Grant. Dr. Heller was a member of the Nominating Committee of the National Association of Deans and Directors of schools of social work.
Research Interests
Clinical Social Work
Social Work Practice & Theory
Suicide - Clinical Interventions and Suicide Prevention
Social Work Pedagogy
Psychosocial Aspects of Mental Illness
Curriculum Vitae
View Nina Heller's CV