Social Welfare Faculty at UAlbany-SUNY

Over the years, School of Social Welfare faculty members have built a significant record of accomplishment: they have written papers for the United Nations, won prestigious awards for research excellence, served as principal investigators on intergenerational studies, conducted research on five continents, led national organizations, published seminal books, and edited the profession's respected journals. Together, their efforts have made UAlbany-SUNY one of the top U.S. schools in research on social welfare policy and practice. Learn more about them here.

Katharine H. Briar-Lawson, Dean & Professor

MSW (1968), Columbia University
Ph.D. (1976), University of California, Berkeley

E-mail: kbriarlawson@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5324

Specialization: Child and family welfare, poverty and unemployment, community collaboration and service integration

Katharine Briar-Lawson is an experienced academic administrator and national expert on family focused practice and child and family policy. Among her books (co-authored) are Family-Centered Policies & Practices: International Implications (2001), and (co-edited) Innovative Practices with Vulnerable Children and Families (2001), Evaluation Research in Child Welfare (2002), Charting the Impacts of University-Child Welfare Collaboration (2003), Social Work Research (2010), Social Work Practice Research (2010), and Globalization, Social Justice and the Helping Professions (2011). She co-chairs the Gerontological Task Force for the National Association for Deans and Directors and served as a past president. In addition, she is a Co-PI of the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute.

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Nancy Claiborne, Associate Professor, and Director of Evaluation
Social Work Education Consortium

Ph.D. (1999) University of Houston, Houston, TX
M.S.W. (1982) University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

E-mail: nc@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5349

Specialization: Human Service Organizations and NGO design and delivery of service systems that integrate empirical care and build capacity.

Nancy Claiborne is a management specialist whose research interests include human service organizational functioning and change, as well as teambuilding/collaboration and program evaluation. She is specifically interested in service system design and delivery, including the system facilitators and barriers to innovative services that achieve results. Settings she has researched and facilitated change include child welfare organizations and health systems. She is particularly interested in studying models that attempt to integrate empirically based care and outcomes measurement into services. These interests include investigating the impact of organizational factors on the delivery of services, management system functions, and the adoption of innovation and engagement in teams and collaborations. Her experience includes 17 years as a clinician, clinical director, community linkage agent, and senior administrator in inpatient and outpatient health and mental health settings. .

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Anne E. Fortune, Associate Dean & Professor

A.M., Social Work (1975) University of Chicago
Ph.D. (1978) University of Chicago

E-mail: rfortune@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5322

Specialization: Short-term Treatment and Social Work Education

Anne E. Fortune teaches research and social work practice at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research is in the areas of task-centered practice, termination of social work treatment, aging, and field education. She is editor of Task-Centered Practice with Families and Groups (1985), and co-author (with William J. Reid) of Social Work Research (1998). She is past editor of The Journal of Social Work Education and current editor of Social Work Research.

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Rose Greene, Public Service Professor
Director, Center for Human Services Research

MA (1979), University at Albany

E-mail: rgreene@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5774

Specialization: Children and Family Services, Program Evaluation, Service Integration

Rose is the Co-Director for the Center for Human Services Research, which conducts multi-disciplinary program evaluations and special studies for governmental agencies and other service providers. She has received numerous grants and contracts from federal, state and local agencies for research in the areas of child abuse prevention, children's mental health, legally-exempt child care, and systems integration.

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Jan L. Hagen, Distinguished Teaching Professor

M.S.W. (1972) Washington University
Ph.D. (1982) University of Minnesota

E-mail: hagen@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5336

Specialization: Social Welfare Policy, Women and Social Policy

Jan Hagen has research interests in public welfare, welfare employment programs, and battered women. Her publications encompass the subjects of welfare employment programs, welfare "reform", income maintenance workers, battered women, and homelessness. She holds a joint appointment in the Public Policy Program and an affiliated appointment in the Department of Women's Studies. In 2003, she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Social Work Research from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Dr. Hagen serves as consulting editor for several social work journals. She has also been active in NASW, including serving on the Association;s Blue Ribbon Panel on Economic Security and as President of The New York State Chapter (2000-2002).

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Eric R. Hardiman, Associate Professor

M.S.W. (1993) University of Georgia, Athens
Ph.D. (2001) University of California, Berkeley

E-mail: hardiman@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5705

Specialization: Mental Health

Eric Hardiman is interested in mental health peer support, consumer-provided mental health services, psychiatric recovery, self-help, mental health service delivery, homelessness and the history of social welfare institutions.

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Julia Hastings, Assistant Professor

M.S.W. (1993) University of Washington
Ph.D. (2000) University of California, Los Angeles

E-mail: jhastings2@albany.edu
Telephone: SPH Office: (518) 402-0293

SSW Office: (518) 591-8751

Specialization: Poverty issues among ethnic minority populations; Mental health and welfare participation dynamics; African American health and mental health disparities; Program evaluation.

Dr. Julia F. Hastings is assistant professor in the Schools of Public Health and Social Welfare at the University at Albany, SUNY. Globally, her research interests cover health and mental health disparities among ethnic minority populations, African American mental health, welfare participation dynamics, and ethnic minority women’s health issues. Her research projects focus on the interrelationships between race, mental health outcomes, health conditions, risk and protective factors, and poverty. Dr. Hastings has published on culturally competent research methods within African American communities, welfare participation, depression, and body weight. Her research grant portfolio includes funding from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, NIMH, the Ford Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Heather K. Horton, Assistant Professor

M.S. (1991) University of Arizona
A.M. (2000) University of Chicago
Ph.D. (2005) University of Chicago

E-mail: Hhorton@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5331

Specialization: Mental health, schizophrenia, deafness.

Heather Horton's research centers on cognition and schizophrenia. She studies how neurocognitive factors, such as attention and memory and social-cognitive factors, such as facial affect processing and theory of mind, influence adaptive outcomes among people with serious mental illness. She is also interested in issues related to language and thought in the context of a dependence on visual-spatial information and linguistic processing.

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Candi Griffin-Jenkins, LMSW, MA
Acting Assistant Dean Graduate Admissions

M.S.W. (2012) University at Albany

Email: cgriffin-jenkins@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 591-8769

Specialization: Youth development and leadership, program development, addictions counseling and trauma informed mental health care.

Candi is the former Director of the Liberty Partnerships Program at the SSW (2001-2011). In this capacity, she was responsible for the management and implementation of a dropout prevention program for at-risk youth who attended school in the city of Albany. In 2010, Candi entered the M.S.W. program to research her interest in trauma informed mental health and addictions care.

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Lani V. Jones, Associate Professor

M.S.W. (1992) Boston College
Ph.D. (2000) Boston College

E-mail: ljones@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5167

Specialization: Evidenced Based Practice, Psychosocial Competence, Group Work and Mental Health in Urban Communities

Lani V. Jones has research interest in the area of evidenced based practice with a focus on Psychosocial competence, group work and positive mental health outcomes with families and their children in communities. Her current research projects entail: an evaluation of a culturally, specific group intervention aimed at enhancing Psychosocial competence among Black women and; the exploration of factors that contribute to the achievement of Psychosocial competence among Black women with psychiatric disabilities who utilize peer support services in mental health settings.

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Shirley J. Jones, Distinguished Service Professor

M.A. (1954) New York University
M.S.W. (1964) New York University
Ph.D. (1977) Columbia University

E-mail: sjones@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5330

Specialization: Planning, Policy, Group Work, and Community Organization and Development

Shirley Jones' interests include housing policy, rural social work, minorities, and community organization and development. She is the editor of Sociocultural and Service Issues Working with Rural Clients (Rockefeller College Press, 1992), and co edited with Joan Levy Zlotnik a book on Preparing Helping Professionals to Meet Community Needs: Generalizing from the Rural Experience (Council on Social Work Education, 1998). She has written two papers for the United Nations on housing policy and several papers on the needs of rural families and the role of women and minorities in development. She is presently looking at global, rural, social and economic development and its implications for social work.

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Lara Kaye, Assistant Research Professor and Research Scientist

M.S.W. (1995) Hunter College
Ph.D. (2001) University at Albany
Post Doctoral Fellow (2006) University of California at San Francisco

E-mail: lkaye@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 591-8615

Specialization: Mental Health, Mindy-Body Connection, Program Evaluation, and Research Methods

Lara completed her M.S.W. at Hunter College, her Ph.D. in Social Welfare at the University at Albany, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Services Training Research at University of California, San Francisco. Her research interests span a number of social science disciplines including health, behavioral health, education, public health, social work and psychology. Her research portfolio includes studies on barriers to food stamps, the need for child psychiatric services, depression and gender, depression and physical activity, nutrition and nutritional education, hope and educational achievement, implementation of reading programs, social work field satisfaction, and coping skills and learning. She is skilled at quantitative and qualitative analysis. She has coordinated and facilitated large events, written and received grants, developed and presented trainings, published in peer-reviewed journals, and presented at national and international conferences.

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Heather Larkin, Assistant Professor

M.S.W. (1994) Boston University
Ph.D. (2006) The Catholic University of America

E-mail: hlarkin@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 591-8779

Specialization: Restorative Integral Support (RIS), adverse childhood experiences (ACE), healthy environments and relationships that support (HEARTS), Service Outcomes Action Research (SOAR), Post-Trauma Wellness

Heather Larkin facilitates the implementation of “Restorative Integral Support” (RIS), which draws on Integral theory (Wilber, 2000) for a comprehensive, whole person response to “adverse childhood experiences” (ACE). This involves the intentional development of “Healthy Environments and Relationships That Support” (HEARTS) within which individually-oriented evidence-supported interventions (ESIs) and emerging practices can be integrated. “Service Outcomes Action Research” (SOAR), developed by Duffee (2010), evaluates the effectiveness of ESIs and brings emerging practices to research within complex agency contexts.

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Catherine K. Lawrence, Assistant Research Professor

M.S.W. (1997) University at Albany
Ph.D. (2003) University at Albany

E-mail: CLawrence@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 437-3692

Specialization: Social Welfare Policy, Poverty and Disparity, Cultural Competency, Mixed Methods Research Design

Catherine Lawrence is a poverty researcher with a social justice framework for scholarship.  She is interested in the distribution of social goods and the causes and consequences of inequitable distribution.  Her work has focused on U.S. income maintenance policy and changes to economic support for families with children since passage of the 1996 welfare legislation. This research includes exploration of the family formation and sexual reproduction agenda in the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996 and the subsequent marriage initiatives of the Bush Administration.  She currently directs a Children's Bureau Training grant project to develop training for culturally competency family-centered child welfare practice.  Dr. Lawrence's research perspective reflects a pragmatic approach to social science.  She is committed to exploring useful ways to apply mixed methodologies to research questions when appropriate. 

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Hal A. Lawson, Professor

M.A. (1967) University of Michigan
Ph.D. (1969) University of Michigan

E-mail: hlawson@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5355 or (518) 442-5088

Specialization: School-Family-Community Partnerships, Child Welfare, and Interprofessional Collaboration

Hal Lawson works with school-family-community university partnerships in the United States as well as in other nations. This work encompasses school reform and systems reform in child welfare, and it involves interdisciplinary collaboration, action science, and action learning.

For more information click here: http://www.albany.edu/~hlawson

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Eunju Lee, Assistant Professor

M.A. (1990) University at Albany
Certificate (1997) Women and Public Policy, University at Albany
Ph.D. (2003) University at Albany

E-mail: ELee@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5773

Specialization: Child Welfare, Immigration, and Program Evaluation

Eunju Lee received her bachelor’s degree from Ewha Women’s University in Korea and studied issues related to gender equity, family policy, race and ethnicity, and immigrant adaptation in the Sociology department of the University at Albany. Since 1999 Dr. Lee has been conducting evaluations of programs and policies related to child welfare with the Center for Human Services Research using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Currently, Dr. Lee’s research focuses primarily on two funded projects: A randomized trial of the effectiveness of a child abuse prevention program and a process and outcome evaluation study of the collocation program to address parental substance abuse in the child welfare system.

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Barry Loneck, Associate Professor and
Chair, Ph.D. Program in Social Welfare

M.S.S.A., Social Work (1978), Case Western Reserve University
Ph.D. (1985) Case Western Reserve University

E-mail: loneck@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5340

Specialization: Alcohol and Drug Dependence Treatment, Mental Health Treatment

Barry Loneck conducts research on therapeutic process in alcohol and drug treatment, as well as mental health treatment, with a primary focus on engaging and retaining clients in needed services. He has examined the effectiveness of the Johnson Intervention in outpatient alcohol and other drug treatment and was a National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors' (NASMHPD) Research Fellow from 1991 to 1993. As part of the Fellowship, he has been studying therapeutic process of dual diagnosed clients in psychiatric emergency rooms through the New York State Office of Mental Health. Current plans include the development and testing of non-linear dynamic modeling (NLDM) methods for therapeutic process data. Before coming to SUNY-Albany, he served as a clinician for eight years in a chemical dependency rehabilitation center in Ohio.

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Elisa Martin, Assistant Director & Coordinator for Undergraduate Field Education

M.S.W. (2000) New Mexico Highlands University
B.S., Social Work (1999) Bridgewater State University

E-mail: emmartin@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5361

Specialization: Social Work Education/Field Education, Service-Learning, Community-University Engagement, Self-Care

Elisa Martin has experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, residential support services, and children with special health care needs, in direct and administrative roles working with state and local nonprofit organizations. She considers herself a systems thinker and applies that mindset to her research interest, which include service-learners in the nonprofit workplace, human service employee motivation, and workplace stress.

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Philip McCallion, Professor

M.S.W. (1981) University at Albany, State University of New York
Ph.D. (1993) University at Albany, State University of New York

E-mail: mcclion@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5347

Specialization: Aging and Developmental Disabilities

Philip McCallion, Ph.D. ACSW is Professor in the School of Social Welfare at the University at Albany, a Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar and Mentor and is Director of the Institute for Social Services Research and Development. Within the newly formed institute Dr. McCallion directs the Center for Excellence in Aging Services and the NIDA-funded Child Welfare, Drug Abuse and Intergenerational Risk Research Center.

Dr. McCallion's research is focused on caregiving issues, particularly the interaction of informal care with formal services, collaboration across service systems, and the experiences of multi-cultural families. His work has included evaluation of non-pharmacological interventions for persons with dementia, the development of innovative demonstration projects designed to maintain aging persons with intellectual disabilities in the community and system design work on creating aging prepared communities.

Dr. McCallion's research has been supported by grants and awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the U.S. Administration on Aging, the John A. Hartford Foundation, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Foundation, the Alzheimer's Association, the Agency for Health Quality Research, the Health Research Board of Ireland, the Irish Hospice Foundation and New York State's Department of Health, Office for the Aging, Office for Children and Family Services and Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

Dr. McCallion has over 70 publications on interventions with caregivers of frail elderly, persons with Alzheimer's disease, and persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities. He is co-editor of Grandparents as carers of children with disabilities: Facing the challenges , co-author of Maintaining Communication with Persons with Dementia and has produced videotape and cd-rom based training and self instructional materials on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia and on End of Life Care for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Dr. McCallion has also written on management issues for the providers of human services. He is co-editor of Total Quality Management in the Social Services: Theory and practice.

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Mary McCarthy, Lecturer,
Director, Social Work Education Consortium and
Assistant Dean for School Advancement

M.S.W. (1982) University at Albany, State University of New York
Ph.D. (2003) Memorial University of Newfoundland

E-mail: mccarthy@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5338

Specialization: Child Welfare and Political Social Work

Mary McCarthy's practice experience as a caseworker and administrator in child welfare and education frames her interest in public policy for children, families, and oppressed groups.

The Social Work Education Consortium is a partnership between the New York State Deans of Schools of Social Work, the County Child Welfare systems and the NYS Office of Children and Family Services. The Consortium is working on professionalization and stabilization initiatives for the public sector workforce. This involves funding to support interagency collaboration, community development and the education and training of child welfare practitioners. She was the NASW Northeast Division 1992 Social Worker of the year.

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LuAnn L. McCormick, Senior Research Scientist

M.S.W. (1989) University at Albany
Ph.D. (1998) University at Albany

E-mail: lmccormick@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5731

Specialization: Children's Mental Health, Maternal and Child Health, Program Evaluation with Mixed Methods Research Designs

LuAnn McCormick has conducted program evaluations in many areas of the health and human services field, including children's and adult mental health, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, family homelessness, traumatic brain injury, and women's health. Dr. McCormick is Principal Investigator and the Evaluation Team Leader for the Albany County System of Care for Children's Mental Health, part of a national program funded by SAMHSA. Other recent research projects have included an evaluation of a federal Children's Bureau project to train New York State child welfare workers on culturally competent, family centered practice; the implementation of NYS OCFS Integrated County Planning; and an evaluation of NYS Family Resource Centers. Dr. McCormick is dedicated to bringing the authentic voice of families and youth into all aspects of program and policy development and implementation.

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Linda K. P. Mertz,
Project Coordinator, Internships in Aging Project

M.S.W. (1990) Boston College

E-mail:lmertz@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5327

Specialization: Geriatrics, Mental Health, Field Education

Linda Mertz is the Coordinator of the Internships in Aging Project -- one of several model programs in the nation for training of social workers to work with older adults. Her interests include gerontology, especially caregiving, wellness, intergenerational programming, mental health and community building.

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Robert L. Miller, Jr., Associate Professor

M.S.W. (1994) University of Pennsylvania
M.Phil. (1998) Columbia University
Ph.D. (2000) Columbia University

E-mail: rmiller@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5374

Specialization: HIV disease in African American populations; spirituality and social work practice, policy and research; faith-based health promotion and disease prevention collaboration.

Robert L. Miller, Jr., explores the intersection of spirituality, social welfare and public health. He has examined the meaning and utility of spirituality in the lives of African American gay men living with AIDS. He is currently exploring the decision making process of African American Clergy in HIV prevention efforts within their congregations; coping strategies for African American women over 50 living with AIDS; and health promotion and disease prevention collaboration efforts between faith-based institutions and health related community-based organizations.

Dr. Miller teaches Micro Practice One and Two; Cultural Diversity in Social Work; and Spirituality and Social Work Practice.

Dr. Miller is an active participant in the US - Africa Partnership for Building Stronger Communities.  

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Toni Naccarato, Assistant Professor

M.S.W. (1994) San Jose State University
Ph.D. (2005) University of California, Berkeley

Email: tnaccarato@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 591-8788

Specialization: Child welfare, economics and social policy with emphasis on analysis and reform

Toni Naccarato's research focuses on emancipation, welfare, and human capital accumulation of adolescents; social and economic policies and reforms; and, research methods for increasing social and political changes in the Social Work arena. Dr. Naccarato has direct practice experiences in California and New York, and applied research experiences at the policy level in Georgia, California, New York and Washington, DC. Dr. Naccarato is currently collaborating with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, to better integrate research and data management emphasizing child welfare practitioners.

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David Pettie, Assistant Coordinator of Field Education

M.S.W. (1983) Adelphi University

E-mail: pettie@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 437-3686

Specialization: Mental Health

David Pettie is interested in psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery, the impact of psychiatric disabilities on identity and roles, issues of aging and loss, clinical supervision, innovations in treatment and teaching methods. Recent publication: Illness as Evolution: The Search for Identity and Meaning in the Recovery Process.

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Loretta Pyles, Associate Professor

M.A., Philosophy (1994) University of Kansas
Ph.D. (2005) University of Kansas

E-mail: lpyles@albany.edu
Phone: 518-442-5152

Specialization: economic justice, gender-based violence, disaster and social inequality, community organizing  

Loretta Pyles is an engaged scholar who is concerned with transformative social change. Her scholarship centers on the ways that individuals, organizations and communities resist and respond to poverty, violence and disasters in a policy context of neoliberal economic globalization and social welfare retrenchment. She draws from critical, social constructionist and feminist traditions to inform her research and utilizes a range of research methods including conceptual, qualitative, participatory action research, and quantitative. She is the author of Progressive Community Organizing: A Critical Approach for a Globalizing World (Routledge, 2009) and more than 30 articles and book chapters. In Progressive Community Organizing (second edition forthcoming in 2013), she introduces the pioneering transformative organizing framework, which affirms critical and compassionate inquiry into self and society. She is also a certified yoga instructor and is interested in ways that spiritual practices can facilitate change.

For additional information: http://lorettapyles.weebly.com/

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Blanca Ramos, Associate Professor and
Director, Baccalaureate Program

M.S.W. (1991) University at Albany, State University of New York
Ph.D. (1997) University at Albany, State University of New York

E-mail: ramos@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5365

Specialization: Social Work Practice, Mental Health, Cultural Diversity, Cross-Culture Social Work and Immigrants

Blanca Ramos' scholarly interests are centered on health disparities, cross-cultural social work, gerontology, and domestic violence with a focus on US Latinos. Dr. Ramos holds an affiliate appointment in the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Studies and is Director of the Education Core of the Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities. She teaches courses on clinical social work, diversity, immigrants, Hispanic cultures in the U.S., and research in Latino communities. Her international work includes partnership building with higher education institutions and communities and with the national association of social workers in Peru. Dr. Ramos serves on a variety of local, regional, and national boards and commissions and has extensive experience as a practitioner and community organizer. Blanca Ramos is past First Vice President of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and has served in the National Board of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research. She is a current member of the editorial board of Social Work and the NASW National Committee on Inquiry. She is originally from Piura, Peru.

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Barbara Rio-Glick, Assistant Director, Field Education

M.S.W. (1992) Hunter College, School of Social Work

E-mail: rio@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-3488

Specialization: Domestic Violence

Barbara Rio has extensive experience in the field of domestic violence in direct practice, administration, supervision, program evaluation, and training. Her other interests include international social work, the effectiveness of group work with different populations and diversity issues.

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Kenneth Robin, Assistant Research Professor and Research Scientist

Psy.D. (2005) Rutgers University

E-mail: krobin@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518)-591-8797

Specialization: Early childhood education, assessment, and program evaluation

Ken Robin worked for seven years at the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. His work included co-authorship of the annual State Preschool Yearbook, policy briefs on assessment, program duration, and program cost, and a randomized trial comparing the effects of half- and extended-day preschool. He also participated in several statewide program evaluations. Since joining the Center for Human Services Research in 2006, Ken's research has focused on volunteerism through AmeriCorps State programs, systems of care for children's mental health, and efforts to expand services available in the Albany City public schools.

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Crystal Rogers, Assistant Dean for Academic Programs

Ph.D. (2008) University at Albany, SUNY
M.S.W. (1998) University at Albany, SUNY

E-mail: carogers@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5322

Specialization: Child care, ethnic development and socialization, resilience.

Crystal Rogers' research interests are in the area of promotion of quality child care and child care regulations, childhood resilience, and children's ethnic development and socialization. She is currently working on research examining parental practices concerning the socialization of their children.

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Carolyn Smith, Professor

M.S.W. (1973) University of Michigan
M.A. (1986) University at Albany, State University of New York
Ph.D. (1990) University at Albany, State University of New York

E-mail: csmith@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5341

Specialization: Delinquency and high risk youth; child maltreatment and family violence.

Carolyn Smith's areas of research and publication are in the family etiology of delinquency and other problem behaviors, as well as the consequences of family violence. She is an investigator on the Rochester Youth Development Study, a national longitudinal and intergenerational study of delinquency that is ongoing since 1987. She is currently on the editorial board of Social Work Research. She has had fifteen years international practice experience in child and family mental health and delinquency prevention. Dr. Smith teaches in the areas of child and adolescent problems, social work theories, clinical evaluation, and social work practice with involuntary clients.

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Ronald W. Toseland, Distinguished Professor
and Director, Institute of Gerontology

M.S.W. (1974) Fordham University
Ph.D. (1977) University of Wisconsin, Madison

E-mail: toseland@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5353

Specialization: Gerontology and Social Work Practice

Ronald Toseland is interested in applied gerontological research and research on clinical social work practices and group work. He is the author and co-author of a number of books including Maintaining Communication with Persons with Dementia (Springer, 1998); Group Work with Older Adults and Their Family Caregivers (Springer, 1995); Effective Work with Administrative Groups (Haworth Press, 1987); Toseland, R., Haigler, D., & Monahan, D. (Eds.) (2011). Education and support programs for caregivers: Implications for practice, research, and policy. NY: Springer; and An Introduction to Group Work Practice, 7th edition (Allyn & Bacon, 2012). He has published over 100 articles and book chapters, many of which address issues related to developing and leading support groups for family caregivers and interventions for frail and chronically ill older adults.

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Lynn Warner, Associate Professor

M.P.P. (1987) Harvard University
M.S.W. (1994) University of Michigan
Ph.D. (1998) University of Michigan

E-mail: lwarner@uamail.albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 591-8734

Specialization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Policy

Lynn Warner's research focuses on understanding the relationship between substance abuse and mental illness, and identifying inequities in behavioral health service delivery to vulnerable populations such as low-income women and Latinos. Current projects emphasize environmental influences on the development and treatment of psychosocial problems, including organizational predictors of psychotropic medication use for youths, and country-of-origin influences on the risk for substance abuse among Latinos. She was a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, and her research has been supported by the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Dr. Warner is a member of the editorial board of Social Work and Mental Health.

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Estella C. Williamson LCSW-R
Assistant Dean and Director of Field Education

M.S.W. (2000), University at Albany

E-mail: ewilliamson@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 442-5334

Specialization: Mental and Behavioral Health, Sexuality Issues, HIV, Program Development and Quality Improvement

Estella’s past experience in social work leadership involved managing programs in child welfare, outpatient mental health and addictions, prenatal services and HIV clinical and preventive care.  Her management of clinical programming included the development and implementation of services; program monitoring and evaluation; and the procurement and management of State and Federal grants.   She has served as a field instructor, adjunct instructor and speaker on social work practice and theory.  Estella is also a therapist in private practice.

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Starr Wood, Associate Professor

M.S.W. (1990) Smith College
Ph.D. (2000) Smith College

E-mail: sawood@albany.edu
Telephone: (518) 437-3680

Specialization: Mental Health with Traumatic Stress focus, Substance Abuse and HIV

Starr Wood is interested in traumatic stress intervention and, in particular, how traumatic events impact human development along the lifespan in women and children. She has extensive experience and licenses in treating both mental health and addiction problems in the community. She advocates for the integration of dynamic, cognitive/behavioral and humanistic approaches. In addition to teaching in these areas of practice, Dr Wood has researched and published on challenges and innovations for delivering health care services to HIV+ substance abusers. She also assisted with writing the first national standards of care for providing health care and social services to substance abusers living with HIV and AIDS.

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EMERITUS PROFESSORS

Julie Abramson,
Associate Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. (1985) Bryn Mawr College

Neil Cervera,
Research Assistant Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. (1989) New York University

Donald Cohen,
Associate Professor Emeritus
M.S.W. (1950) Columbia University

Maureen C. Didier,
Associate Professor Emerita
Ph.D. (1967) Smith College

Hedi McKinley,
Director of Community Service Program
M.S.W. (1958) Columbia University

Steven I. Pflanczer,
Associate Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. (1967) University of Pittsburgh

Aaron Rosenblatt,
Professor Emeritus
D.S.W. (1965) Columbia University

William Roth,
Associate Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. (1970) University of California, Berkeley

Edmund Sherman,
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. (1967) Bryn Mawr College

Theodore Stein,
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. (1974) University of California, Berkeley
J.D. (1995) Albany Law School

Sheldon Tobin,
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D. (1963) University of Chicago