Nationally Recognized Child Welfare Researched To Join Child Trends

Washington, D.C. – Rob Geen, one of the nation’s leading child welfare researchers, will join Child Trends as Vice President for Public Policy and Director of a new Child Welfare Research Area.  Mr. Geen’s appointment was announced by Carol Emig, Child Trends’ incoming President.  Emig and Geen will both join Child Trends in September.

 

Geen is currently Director of the Child Welfare Research Program at the Urban Institute, as well as a William T. Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He directs evaluations of two nationwide programs to encourage adoptions from foster care, the Dave Thomas Foundation’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program and the Freddie Mac Foundation’s Wednesday’s Child Program.

 

Geen is a nationally recognized expert on child welfare financing and kinship foster care.  His research has also focused on adoption, child abuse and neglect investigation and substantiation, family preservation and support, and the effects of welfare reform on child welfare.  He has authored or co-authored more than 40 articles and reports on child welfare issues and has presented his work in Congressional testimony and before major public and private sector institutions and organizations.

 

“Rob Geen is a wonderful addition to Child Trends’ senior staff,” said Carol Emig.  “His record of outstanding research in the child welfare field will enable Child Trends to launch a major new area of research, and his public policy expertise will strengthen our ability to communicate research effectively to policy makers.”

 

“I am pleased to be joining one of the nation’s preeminent research institutions and look forward to advancing its mission of improving outcomes for children through high-quality research.” said Geen. “Child Trends’ exclusive focus on children and its strong commitment to communicating its research to policy makers and practitioners will enhance and extend my own work in the child welfare field.”

 

About Child Trends – Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center with a staff of 50, serving those dedicated to creating better lives for children and youth. For more information on Child Trends, visit www.childtrends.org.