Welcome! I am an Associate Professor at the University of Washington, Tacoma in the School of Social Work and Criminal Justice. I am a writer, blogger and scholar interested in topics of adoption, foster care, child welfare, orphans and vulnerable children, race, disabilities, gender, and all the intersectionalities of the above. My dream class to teach would be to use film and popular media to analyze themes around foster care, adoption and child welfare. I would name this class “Beyond Juno.”

This website began as a blog in 2009 as a place to explore, discover, and think aloud about social work practice, research, ethics, theory, education and policy. As a self-described late-bloomer, I “discovered” social work in my mid-thirties.  I think a lot about social work history and current social work issues. I question whether my chosen profession is more about social control than social justice. I think a lot about race, ability, power, privilege and the impact “professionalization” has had on marginalized and oppressed populations. I also blog at Harlow’s Monkey. You can also follow my Facebook page here and my Harlow’s Monkey Facebook page and Instagram.