Events & Outreach
Our Staff
CASCW staff invite your questions and participation in working to improve public child welfare. A list of staff members with their areas of expertise are listed below. The Center is located on the second floor of the University of Minnesota School of Social Work in room 205 Peters Hall.
Tracy Crudo - CASCW Director of Outreach
Tracy graduated with her MSW in Community Practice from the School of Social Work in 2005. More recently she worked as a Public Policy Analyst and Collaborative Services Coordinator at Chisago County Health & Human Services. She will be advising IV-E students and working on other projects through the Center. Tracy is in the office Monday - Friday and can be reached by phone at 612-625-8121.
Scotty Daniels - Assistant to the Executive Director
Scotty provides assistance on both the MSW Title IV-E program and the BSW Title IV-E program.
Her work includes assistance with both professional education and
outreach functions of the Center. In addition, a portion of her time is
devoted to the evaluation of comprehensive family assessments project
with
Nancy Johnston - IV-E Scholar Program Coordinator
Nancy works part-time as the IV-E Scholar Program Coordinator. She organizes required MSW IV-E seminars and the Center's annual satellite conference. She also assists with IV-E student recruitment. Areas of expertise include: MSW or PhD IV-E curriculum/requirements, IV-E field placements, and the MSW IV-E job search process. Nancy's office is in 205E Peters Hall. She can be reached at (612) 624-3779.
Traci LaLiberte - CASCW Director
Traci received her bachelor degree in Therapeutic Recreation & Municipal Recreation from Mankato State University and her MSW from the University of Connecticut. Traci concentrated her Master’s studies in casework and administration as well as received a certificate in Mental Health. Traci then returned to Minnesota and completed her PhD in Social Work with a certificate in Disability Policy and Services here at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. For the past ten years Traci has been a passionate advocate in the area of children and parents with disabilities. This is evidenced in her dissertation: Child Welfare Workers’ Perceived Competency in Working with Parents with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities as well as her work with the Institute of Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota. Traci has authored research and training regarding children in the child welfare system and a range of issues related to people with disabilities. Traci is looking forward to her work with CASCW.
She has worked at the School of Social Work as community faculty focusing on Child Welfare Policy and as a guest speaker for many courses. Traci sees this as an opportunity to continue her ongoing work with children and families.
Traci's work space is located in 205C Peters Hall. She can be reached by phone at (612) 624-2279.
Mary Kaye LaPointe - Project Assistant
Mary Kaye assists Esther Wattenberg, the Coordinator for Special Projects. Mary Kaye's office is on the West Bank Minneapolis campus (within the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 330 Humphrey).
She can be reached at (612) 625-6550 or welle003@umn.edu
Anita Larson - Minn-LInK Coordinator
Anita joined the Center in early 2005 as the Minn-LInK Coordinator. The Minn-LInk project is a unique resource for students and faculty who want to do research on child welfare using administrative program data. Minn-LInK's objectives include informing policy, practice, and adding to current knowledge about how children and families are faring who use Minnesota systems. Current studies focus on adolescents and early disability identification in young children. Prior to coming to the University, Anita worked for 16 years in direct human services practice, policy analysis and planning, and public and non-profit agency consulting. She has an MA in Human and Health Services Administration. Her office is in 212 Peters Hall and can be reached at 612-625-8169.
Jim Reinardy - Principal Investigator
Jim Reinardy is the Director of the School of Social Work and the Principal Investigator on the Center's Title IV-E Program.
Scholarly interests: Long-term care issues, assessment of older adults, decision making and care planning, social welfare policy, community organization
Elizabeth Snyder - Coordinator
Starting in early November, the Center has hired Liz Snyder as a Fulltime Program Coordinator. Her responsibilities include coordinating the BSW Title IVE Program as well as the Center’s new publication, CW360. Liz will also spend part of her time working as a contract researcher with Gamble-Skogmo’s new project, implementing and evaluating a comprehensive family assessment model in Ramsey County. Liz is a 2006 graduate of the University of Minnesota MSW program with a focus in community practice. Her previous work experiences include community organizing around the issue of violence prevention for the Sexual Violence Center of Minneapolis and working for Outfront MN doing community organizing concerning the issues of voting and legislative advocacy. Liz is currently a part-time student in the PhD program at the School of Social Work. Liz's space is 217 Peters Hall and can be reached at 612-626-3831.
Esther Wattenberg - Special Projects Coordinator
Esther Wattenberg serves as the Center's Special Projects Coordinator. Esther is responsible for the publication of Practice Notes - CASCW's semi-annual practice digest. She also coordinates in-service training through county supervisor forums, bag lunch presentations, lectures, and seminars. Esther's office is located on the West Bank Minneapolis campus (within the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 330 Humphrey). Esther can be reached through her assistant, Mary Kaye LaPointe, at (612) 625-6550.
Mike Baizerman - Affiliated Faculty
Professor
Office: 105 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-4912
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Velmer Burton - Affiliated Faculty
Professor
Office: 211 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)625-4297
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Jeff Edleson - Affiliated Faculty
jedleson@umn.edu
Publications & Research
Professor
Director, Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
(Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison)
Office: 170B Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-8795
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Scholarly interests: Social work research methods, family violence, electronic provision of information.
Colleen Fisher - Affiliated Faculty
Assistant Professor
Office: 269 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-3658
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Priscilla Gibson - Affiliated Faculty
pgibson@umn.edu
Publications & Research
Associate Professor
Interim Director, Ph.D. Program
(Ph.D., University of Denver)
Office: 265 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-3678
Mailing Address: 105
Peters Hall
Scholarly interests: Culturally Sensitive Services to African American Families; African American Grandmothers as Kinship Care Providers, Families with Children who have Developmental Delays, Qualitative Research Methods.
Jane Gilgun - Affiliated Faculty
jgilgun@umn.edu
Publications & Research
Professor
(Ph.D., Syracuse University)
Office: 267 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-3643
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Scholarly interests: Child welfare, child sexual abuse, development of violent behavior, resilience.
David Hollister - Affiliated Faculty
Professor
Office: 105 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-3695
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Helen Kivnick - Affiliated Faculty
Professor
Office: 105 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-6773
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Elizabeth Lightfoot - Affiliated Faculty
elightfo@umn.edu
Publications & Research
Associate Professor
Director, Ph.D. Program
(Ph.D., Indiana
University-Bloomington)
Office: 285 Peters Hall
Phone: (612)624-4710
Mailing Address: 105 Peters Hall
Scholarly interests: Public policy, public management, comparative politics, disability policy
Yat-Sang (Terry) Lum - Affiliated Faculty
tlum@umn.edu
Publications & Research
Associate Professor
(Ph.D., Washington University)
Office: 287 Peters Hall
Phone: (612)624-4722
Mailing Address: 105
Peters Hall
Scholarly interests: Social gerontology, long-term care, social policy, quantitative research methods, evaluation
Ron Rooney - Affiliated Faculty
Professor
Office: 105 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-3712
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Jerry Stein - Affiliated Faculty
Senior Fellow
Office: 79 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)625-2224
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall
Susan J. Wells - Affiliated Faculty
susan.wells@ubc.ca
Publications & Research
Professor, Joint Appointment
Psychology and Social Work
University of British Columbia Okanagan
(Ph.D., University of Southern California)
Office: Arts 333
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7
Canada
Phone: 250-807-8163
Scholarly interests: Child welfare policy and practice with special interests in risk assessment and screening, decision making, service coordination, and promoting research-based practice
Oliver Williams - Affiliated Faculty
Professor
Office: 105 Peters Hall
Phone:(612)624-9217
Mailing Address: 105 Peters
Hall