Dr. D. Crystal Coles
In this episode, our guest Dr. D. Crystal Coles discusses her research pertaining to privatization within child welfare and the trajectory of experiences of children in the foster care system. She describes the different levels of privatization between and within state foster care and how these multisystemic variances can impact service delivery. Dr. Coles stresses the need for stakeholders to work together to understand the implications of privatization and to develop new and innovative ways to enhance service delivery.
D. Crystal Coles, PhD, LCSW, is a faculty member in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas. Her scholarship interest and practice experiences lie in the public child welfare arena. More specifically, she concentrates on child welfare and the intersection of the African-American/Black diaspora through the lens of health disparities in rural and urban communities, focusing on the child and maternal well-being as a preventative method of children transitioning into the foster care system. Dr. Coles is committed to addressing the needs of society through her work and its emphasis on social justice, systematic inequalities, policy development, and assisting social change within the area of health and child welfare for children and families.
Interviewer: Todd Sage, MSW
