Faculty

Johanna Greeson is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice where she is the Director of the Child Well-Being & Child Welfare Specialization (CW2) for advanced year MSW students. She assumed the role of Managing Faculty Director in spring 2020. Her published work includes scholarly articles and book chapters on natural mentoring, evidence-based practices for older youth in foster care, including independent living programs, residential group care, intensive in-home therapy, and interventions that target education, employment, housing, health/mental health, and relationships. She has also published on low-income homeownership, child/adolescent traumatic stress, and domestic minor sex trafficking. Her work has been cited over 3,000 times in the scientific, peer-reviewed literature. Dr. Greeson has developed a theory-based and research-informed intervention for older youth in foster care, Caring Adults ‘R’ Everywhere (C.A.R.E.), focused on the cultivation of resilience through the development of supportive adult relationships for older youth in care. She received her PhD in Social Work from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2009.

Cindy W. Christian, MD holds the Anthony A. Latini endowed Chair in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Christian serves as Assistant Dean for Community Engagement and the Director of Interprofessional Education at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Christian graduated from the Albany Medical College and completed her pediatric residency and child abuse pediatrics fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she has spent her 40+-year career. Dr. Christian is a past Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, and past chair of the sub-board on Child Abuse and Neglect for the American Board of Pediatrics. She served as the first President of the International Ray E. Helfer Society. From 2010-2015, Dr. Christian served as the first medical director for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, leading the development of policies and strategies to improve the health of Philadelphia’s dependent children. Dr. Christian has written and lectured extensively on topics related to all forms of child maltreatment and has worked extensively both nationally and internationally to improve the recognition, evaluation, care and protection of abused and neglected children.

Kara R. Finck, Esq., is a Practice Professor of Law and Director of the Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic, which focuses on the legal needs of children and families. Students enrolled in the clinic engage in direct legal representation on interdisciplinary teams, while also working on systemic reform projects in the areas of child welfare, child health and Family Court. Before coming to Penn Law, she was the Managing Attorney of the Family Defense Practice at The Bronx Defenders, where she created a groundbreaking holistic legal practice for parents involved in the child welfare system.  The Family Defense Practice represented thousands of parents in Bronx Family Court through interdisciplinary teams of attorneys, social workers and parent advocates. Her areas of specialty include child welfare, parents’ rights and interdisciplinary practice focusing specifically on law and social work collaboration. She has presented on best practices in child welfare and dependency cases, the collateral consequences of child welfare involvement and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her recent scholarship includes: Social Work Practice and the Law, co-authored with Dr. Lyn Slater, PhD (Springer Publishing, 2011).

Dr. Sara Jaffee is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Jaffee is a a developmental psychopathologist who conducts research on at-risk families and children. She is interested in how stressful environments exacerbate underlying genetic vulnerabilities to affect children’s development, with a special interest in children’s antisocial behavior. Her work combines longitudinal, epidemiological methods with genetically-informative research designs to better understand how risk and protective factors operate in children’s development.

Meredith Matone is Scientific Director of PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Research Institute and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Matone’s research interests include child maltreatment prevention and maternal health. In her work, she partners with community organizations and public systems to evaluate programming for families of young children. She received her Doctor of Public Health, specializing in child and adolescent health and development, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Matone is a former Stoneleigh Fellow and an alumna of the Doris Duke Fellowship for the Promotion of Child Well-being.