About

Elspeth Slayter, MSW, MA, PhD is a professor emeritus of social work at Salem State University. Currently, she coordinates a post-master’s certificate program in equity-minded practice, a partnership between the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and Salem State University School of Social Work focused on providing post-master’s continuing education for management-level social workers. Dr. Slayter was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award in 2024.

Dr. Slayter has practiced for over 25+ years as a forensic social worker, researcher, evaluator, trainer and educator. At the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Division, the Bronx Defenders and Community Resources for Justice, dhe has worked in child welfare, educational advocacy, juvenile justice, and public criminal defense. In all of these settings, she specialized in practice with the disability communities.

Her current research, evaluation and consulting centers primarily on disability, race and ethnicity in the child welfare service sector and disability-responsive treatment in addiction treatment.  She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and trade journal publications as well as offered juried presentations at a range of prestigious conferences locally, nationally and internationally. She has published two textbooks: A primer on practice evaluation: How to participate in evidence-based practice and Social Work Practice and Disability Communities: An Intersectional Anti-Oppressive Approach.

Dr. Slayter received her PhD and MA in social policy at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management, where she was supported on fellowships from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the American Association on University Women’s American Fellowship. Her MSW degree in social work was awarded from New York University and her BA degree in history was from Macalester College. Dr. Slayter is also a painter and printmaker, and is represented by Four Eleven Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts, US.

Curriculum vitae upon request (elspethslayter@gmail.com)