February 2021 Newsletter

Fellow Spotlight: Kyndra Cleveland

Dr. Kyndra Cleveland, a psychologist and UCLA Research Scientist, examines the experiences of families navigating legal systems. She is particularly interested in parents’ legal understanding in child welfare cases, as well as their strengths and perceptions of justice. Kyndra recently published an article on these topics in Child Maltreatment.

In translating her research, Dr. Cleveland serves as an expert consultant for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the American Bar Association. She also trained over 130 investigators at the Children’s Law Center of California on the biopsychosocial and legal effects of domestic violence on children and families.

For Kyndra, the most meaningful part of the Doris Duke Fellowships is building connections and friendships with interdisciplinary scholars who are devoted to supporting children and their families. As Membership Chair for the Network’s Executive Committee, Kyndra is excited about the charge to expand the Network by welcoming more emerging scholars who are committed to child and family well-being.

Fellow Wins Article of the Year Award

Carly B. Dierkhising, Associate Professor at California State University, Los Angeles, along with her colleagues won Child Abuse and Neglect 2019 Article of the Year. This article focuses on children who have been exposed to multiple traumatic stressors and explores differences in their socioemotional outcomes. Congratulations to Carly and the research and writing team!

Fellowships Collaborative Publications

Annie Davis, Yonah Drazen, Gracelyn Cruden, Alysse Loomis, and Christina Padilla published a paper on preschool expulsion legislation in the Early Childhood Education Journal that stemmed from their small group project during the fellowship.

Lindsey Bullinger, Megan Feely, Kerri Raissian, and Will Schneider co-wrote a paper published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science on the social welfare policy landscape, opportunities for and barriers to creating systems synergy.

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Child Abuse & Neglect on Learning in the Context of Adversity

Carlomagno Panlilio and Catherine Corr are guest editing a special issue of Child Abuse & Neglect. They are seeking theoretical and empirical manuscripts that identify and test learning-related processes drawn from an interdisciplinary perspective. These topics include, but are not limited to, the role of stress physiology, self-regulation, and impact on self-regulated learning strategies; expressive and receptive language development and early reading problems such as phonemic awareness and later reading comprehension; behavior problems, school engagement, and school connectedness; and achievement motivation and graduation rates to name a few.

Submissions are due between March 31, 2021 and August 31, 2021.

Fellows Updates:

Wendy Ellis is joining the Advisory Committee for the National Academy of Medicine's Culture of Health Program, a multiyear collaborative effort dedicated to stewarding the growth, accessibility, and effective application of the science base to eliminate health disparities.

Scott Brown has a new publication for the Department of Labor on low-wage workers' experiences with the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Jennifer Geiger is a recipient of the 2020-2021 University of Illinois at Chicago Teaching Recognition Program Award.

Carlomagno Panlilio and J. Bart Klika published an OpEd in The Hill on February 19, 2021. The piece is focused on recommendations to expand COVID relief funding beyond physical safety related to the reopening of schools.