Areas of expertise

Researched development of evidence-based practice for substance use disorder among people with intellectual disabilities with Dr. Marc Copersino of Maclean Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Convened working group on cannabis use among people with intellectual and developmental disability
Partnered with Canada’s PART program and University of New Hampshire’s START collaborative to train behavioral health and disability system workers on substance use disorder prevention assessment, and treatment
Offered keynote address to National Association of Dual Diagnosis on substance use disorder treatment and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Conducted groundbreaking national population-based research on access to substance use disorder treatment for people with intellectual disabilities

Developed and implemented curricula on disability-affirming practice for various social service, juvenile/criminal justice and health care settings
Harnessed national administrative datasets to document patterns of disproportionality for the children and parents with disabilities involved in child protection systems with a focus on service referrals, placements, and case outcomes
Consulted with Big Brother/Big Sister in Moscow, Russia regarding the empowerment of orphans with disabilities in the child protection system
Designed a post-master’s education curriculum on disability justice in child protection practice for agency supervisors and managers with a focus on intersectional, “critically culturally competent,” anti-oppressive practice

Planned and implemented post-master’s curriculum on equity-minded practice in child protection for supervisors and managers with a focus on racial and ethnic disproportionality, disability justice, practice with immigrants and refugees and practice with the Queer communities
Developed and tested a theory of equity-minded social work practice with Drs. Lisa Johnson (Salem State University) and Lamont D. Simmons (University of the District of Columbia)
Formulated a process evaluation technique for assessing racial justice in grading practice for social work educators with Drs. Lisa Johnson (Salem State University) and Lamont D. Simmons (University of the District of Columbia)
Documented techniques for infusing research, evaluation and statistics courses with social justice-related data analysis activities