UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CHILD & ADOLESCENT DATA LAB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor at Rutgers
Williams-Butler is an assistant professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in the School of Social Work. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan in the Joint Social Work and Developmental Psychology program. Her research agenda is informed by her practice experience as a residential counselor for adolescents with substance abuse and mental health disorders. After completing her MSW internship at the Children's Defense Fund in Washington DC, Williams-Butler became passionate about conducting research with both interventions and policy change in mind. Her research interests include understanding the developmental trajectories of children and adolescents in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. She is particularly interested in understanding the role that intersectionality plays in the overrepresentation of African American youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. She is also interested in identifying and understanding mechanisms to reduce racial disparities within these child serving systems.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor at the U - M School of Social Work
Brian Perron is an Associate Professor at the U-M School of Social Work. Perron received his Ph.D. in Social Work from Washington University and a certificate in Data Science from Johns Hopkins University. Perron has published over 100 scientific papers that have utilized a broad range of statistical procedures using a variety of data sources. Perron recently published a book on measurement and has taught numerous courses and workshops on data management and analysis. Perron also specializes in data visualization and has expertise creating interactive graphics and dynamic reports for non-technical users.
Job Titles:
- Doctoral Student
- Doctoral Student / Student Research Assistants
Brittani Parham is a graduate student in the Joint Social Work and Developmental Psychology doctoral program at the University of Michigan. She received her Bachelor of Psychology and African American Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 2016. Brittani comes to the Child and Adolescent Data Lab with experience working with vulnerable populations within criminal justice settings. During her time at VCU, Brittani engaged with the juvenile justice system as a Youth Counselor at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center. Upon graduation, she was hired as an Adult Probation Officer for the city of Richmond, Virginia for two years.
Her current research interests include:
The evaluation of state and federal policy impacting youth within vulnerable populations: to what extent are current programs feasible, effective, and appropriate for the populations we serve?
The intersection of developmental pathways of juvenile delinquency within the family context of African Americans: in particular the roles siblings play as a potential protective factor against aggression, delinquency, and lack of emotional regulation.
Bryan G. Victor, MSW, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Wayne State University School of Social Work. Dr. Victor's research examines child welfare policy and practice related to domestic violence and substance misuse. He specializes in the use of administrative records to better understand system dynamics and drive data-informed decision-making.
Dr. Miyoung Yoon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Welfare at Pusan National University, South Korea. Dr. Yoon received her MSW from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan. Dr. Yoon's research focuses on individual, family, neighborhood, and child welfare system factors that influence adolescent behavior problems. In particular, she examines risk and protective factors that can be targeted by interventions to address emotional and behavioral needs of adolescents in the child welfare system.
Dr. Rebeccah Sokol is a behavioral scientist who studies youth exposure to trauma. A developmental lens and public health framework informs her work, whereby she considers trauma prevention at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.
Dr. Sokol completed her doctorate in Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Through her graduate studies and predoctoral fellowship with the Carolina Consortium on Human Development, Dr. Sokol developed expertise in longitudinal and latent variable data analysis and developmental science. She applies these techniques to her present research focus area as a Postdoctoral Fellow-identifying changeable factors that can improve the health and well-being of children who have faced early adversity, specifically children involved in the child welfare system.
An overarching goal of Dr. Sokol's work is to apply findings from violence prevention research, developmental science, and machine learning to prevent early trauma exposure and foster positive youth health and mental health outcomes after trauma experiences.
Job Titles:
- Research Analyst
- Research Area Specialist Intermediate
Emily Piellusch received her MSW from the University of Michigan, and received a BA in women's studies and social work from the University of Michigan. Previous to joining the Data Lab staff, Piellusch completed her MSW field study as an intern at the Data Lab, assisting various research and data analysis projects. She is particularly interested in using analyses of textual data as a means for investigating problematic trends in state, federal, and international systems. Piellusch is passionate about drawing attention to the relevance of data security and privacy within the field of social work, as well as advocating for individual's control over the distribution and use of their personal data. Before beginning the MSW program at U-M, Piellusch was a case manager at a shelter for survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor at the UM - School of Social Work
- CoDirector
Joseph Ryan is an Associate Professor at the UM-School of Social Work. Ryan received an MSW from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Ryan worked in a variety of residential and community based programs serving adolescents involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. He is particularly focused on helping State agencies use data and information to drive policy and practice. Ryan has extensive experience conducting applied research in social service settings, with numerous studies focusing on child maltreatment, parental substance abuse, childhood trauma and juvenile delinquency. Ryan was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice and also serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals including Child Maltreatment, Child Welfare, Social Work Research, and Residential Treatment for Children and Youth.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor at Michigan State University 's School of Social Work
Keunhye Park is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University's School of Social Work. Park earned a PhD from the University of Chicago and an MSW from the University of Michigan. Park studies the connection between child welfare services and other systems of care serving marginalized populations. Park's research interests include child welfare services and policy, juvenile justice services and policy, educational experiences of marginalized youth, and the transition to adulthood among foster youth. Park's current work includes studies of justice system involvement among youth in foster care, and strategies for keeping those young people out of the justice system. Park's work builds upon her field practice in public schools, juvenile detention centers, state departments of children and family services, and research institutes. Prior to graduate studies, Park was a Michigan-certified elementary school teacher.
Sharanya Pai (MPP '21) is a Program Manager at the Child and Adolescent Data Lab. In her current role, she manages all phases of the SafeCare evaluation, including reporting timelines, data collection, and project deliverables. Pai's work is at the intersection of design, policy, and activism. Prior to working at the lab, she served as an Engagement and Communications coordinator at the Center for Racial Justice. She was a part of the visioning and development of the Center while managing accessible grants, advisory boards, and facilitation of conversations centering race and ethnicity. She specializes in framing and prioritizing marginalized identities through visual design, project management, and policy analysis. Her areas of expertise are economic development, complex systems and social structures, community engagement, and designing physical and digital experiences. Her ability to synthesize, process, and visualize data while providing concise contextual analysis is the result of her academic and professional achievements.
Job Titles:
- Member of the American Professional Society
Shawna J. Lee, PhD '05, is associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, where she is Director of the Parenting in Context Research Lab. Lee is a faculty affiliate at the Center for Human Growth and Development (CHGD) and at the Institute for Social Research, Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD).
Lee's research has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Lee has published more than 40 research articles and book chapters, with primary focus on child maltreatment prevention, fathers' parenting behaviors and father-child relations, and the effects of parental corporal punishment on child wellbeing. You can learn more about Dr. Lee's research and the Parenting in Context Research Lab at parentingincontext.org.
Lee completed a joint doctoral degree in social work and psychology at the University of Michigan in 2005, where she was a National Institutes of Health pre-doctoral trainee in prevention research. Lee completed her postdoctoral training at the Columbia University School of Social Work.
Lee is an active member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), where she is currently a member of the Prevention Committee and recently helped to write the APSAC Position Statement Against the Use of Corporal Punishment. Lee teaches courses on research methods, program evaluation, and social policy.