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Biography:
I am a native of southeastern Virginia, and I received my Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University in New Jersey and my Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Georgia. I became interested in adoption and foster care in an undergraduate psychology class at Bucknell University, and I began working in child welfare over 30 years ago. My interest in the needs of children has never wavered. I received my License as a Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) doing both group and individual counseling in 1988, with a specialty in counseling adoptive families. During the last 20 years I have been involved in social work supervision, program development, grant writing, program evaluation, and non-profit management in Virginia, Romania, and Georgia.
I have had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the world, and have lived and participated in the profession of social work in varied places. While living in Hong Kong for a year in the 1980s, I worked as a volunteer with International Social Services in international adoption and in early childhood development in a Vietnamese refugee camp. In 2000, I moved to Romania for a year where I worked under a USAID project directing a program developing Romanian child welfare practices and policies. I came to northwest Georgia in 2001 to be near family, and here I helped develop the Georgia Center for Resources for Foster and Adoptive Parents.
I am proud to be a professional social worker and have loved my career. I am pleased to be teaching at Dalton State College and promoting social work careers focusing on the needs of children and their families. I am especially excited about the IV-E Child Welfare education program and the opportunity to provide the Georgia Department of Children and Family Services with well prepared staff, and, at the same time, to provide rewarding employment for graduates of our program.