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Congratulations to the 2022 MPLD graduates!

13 members of the fourth cohort of the AdoptUSKids Minority Professional Leadership Development program
13 members of the fourth cohort of the AdoptUSKids MPLD program

In September, the fourth cohort of the AdoptUSKids MPLD program graduated. The ceremony was held in Washington, DC, over three days.

This was the culmination of a yearlong fellowship that promotes professional leadership development of emerging leaders working in child welfare.

Fellows complete research projects that inform the field

A key part of the fellowship is the completion of an action research project that addresses an issue in child welfare and is related to adoption. In DC, fellows presented the results of their projects and reflected on their participation in the MPLD program.

Graduates completed research about topics ranging from kinship care to transracial adoption and youth engagement

Congratulations to the 13 graduates of this year’s MPLD cohort! See a list of the graduates, along with the titles of their action research projects, below.

  • Greta Archbold: “Kinship Overview: Keeping the Kin Connection”
  • Cordelia Cranshaw Skeete: “Young Adult Readiness”
  • Anisa Evans-Tucker: “Nothing about Us without Us: Older Youth Permanency Matters”
  • Renee Evelyn: “Connections without Boundaries”
  • Jarmin Fuentes: “Evidence-Based Practice in Child Welfare: Trauma-Focused CBT”
  • Angela Jenkins: “Increasing Permanency for Our Youth by Decreasing Congregate Care Placements”
  • Sarahi Juarez: “Acing ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)”
  • Mercedes O’Bryant Gruzeski: “Language Matters”
  • Christopher Poles: “Preparing Monroe County CPS Investigators to Be Culturally Competent”
  • Erica Slocum: “Transracial Adoption: Becoming Culturally Competent”
  • Devyn Taylor: “Transracial Adoption Conversations (TRAC) Coaching Model”
  • Jillian Williams: “The Value of Partnering with Youth in Foster Care”
  • Sandra Womack: “Helping Parents Support Their Children’s Social and Emotional Health”

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AdoptUSKids

AdoptUSKids

AdoptUSKids authors include experts in child welfare, communications, evaluation, and/or technology from across the United States. Together, they drive the AdoptUSKids project, as it supports foster and adoptive families, raises awareness about the nationwide need for more of these families, and provides resources to child welfare systems and professionals.