Portfolio
Selected Publications
Intersections Among Family Violence and Substance Use, author of Chapter 5 in the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division State Plan, Intersections of Substance Use Among Public Sectors and Health Disparities Populations: Implications for a System of Care, December 2022.
Strategies to Help CWS-Involved Parents Complete Substance Use Treatment and Protect Their Children in Hawai‘i, co-authored with Yoko Toyama Calistro, MSW, Hawai‘i Journal of Health & Social Welfare, December 2022, Volume 81, No. 12, Supplement 3.
Hawai‘i Statewide Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Framework: Collaborative Strategies to Strengthen Families and Create Safe, Stable, and Nurturing Relationships and Environments in Hawaiʻi, author of the evidence-based statewide Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Framework created for a multi-agency group facilitated by Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network, June 2021.
Title IV-E Prevention Plan – Family First Hawai‘i: Keeping Families Together, lead author for the Hawai‘i Family First Prevention Services Act Plan, developed through a team-based collaborative process with the Hawai‘i Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Services leadership, staff, external stakeholders, and a team of national consultants, June 2021.
Georgia Family Time Practice Guide: A Guide to Providing Appropriate Family Time for Children in Foster Care, author of an evidence-based practice guide for providing parent-child and sibling visits when children are in foster care or relative placements in Georgia, published by the Georgia Supreme Court Justice for Children (J4C) Project, June 2019.
Responding to the Needs of Adolescent Girls in Foster Care, co-authored with Karen Baynes-Dunning, J.D., 20 Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy 321 (2013), reprinted with permission, originally published in the Winter 2013 Volume XX, Number 2 issue of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy.
Psychotropic Meds for Youth in Foster Care: Who Decides?, published by the Georgia Supreme Court Committee on Justice for Children, January 2011.
What is Right for Children? The Competing Paradigms of Religion and Human Rights, edited with Martha Albertson Fineman, Ashgate Publishing, 2009.
Representing the Whole Child: A Juvenile Defender Training Manual, authors Amy Howell and Brooke Silverthorne; Karen Worthington Lead Editor and Assistant Project Manager. Published by the Southern Juvenile Defender Center of Emory University, May 2005.
Georgia’s Responsibilities Toward Children in Foster Care: A Reference Manual, author Danette Joslyn-Gaul; Karen Worthington Editor and Project Director, published by the Barton Clinic, February 2005.
Selected Projects
Researcher and Writer, Ramsey County Girls Project
Researcher and Writer, Ramsey County Girls Project: Through a contract with Justice & Joy National Collaborative, served as the lead report author and researcher for quantitative data collection and analysis resulting in a report on child welfare system-involved girls in Ramsey County, MN.
Coordinator, Safe Sleep Hawai’i Coalition
Coordinator, Safe Sleep Hawai‘i Coalition: Through a contract with Hawai‘i Department of Health, facilitated a statewide coalition focused on creating safe sleep environments for infants and reducing sleep-related deaths of infants.
Consultant, Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF)
Consultant, Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF): With PolicyCraft and Casey Family Programs, helped DCF improve child welfare practice by working with an internal team to review policies and recommend changes to streamline and better align agency policies with DCF’s strategic vision.
Researcher and Writer, Hawai’i DOH Safe Sleep Initiative
Researcher and Writer, Hawai‘i DOH Safe Sleep Initiative: Completed an environmental scan of Safe Sleep activities occurring in Hawai‘i for the Hawai‘i Department of Health Maternal and Child Health Branch Family Strengthening and Violence Prevention Unit. Wrote a research-based action plan, logic model, and final report to improve safe sleep activities and reduce infant sleep-related deaths.
Researcher and Writer, Hawai’i DOH Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) Initiative
Researcher and Writer, Hawai‘i DOH Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) Initiative: Served as the Hawai‘i Department of Health Maternal and Child Health Branch SBS Initiative Coordinator to design a research-based SBS public education initiative.
Coordinator, Ho’oikaika Partnership
Coordinator, Ho‘oikaika Partnership: Through a contract with Maui Family Support Services, facilitated a Maui County child abuse prevention coalition with responsibilities including communications, meeting planning and facilitation, strategic planning, project management, grant writing and management.
