Shana Rackmill, BA 2004, served as both the HDFS Undergraduate Committee president and treasurer while an undergraduate at UConn.  She received an MSW from Boston University in 2006, and has worked as a Clinical Director for the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Children and Families group homes in the Boston area.  Shana currently works as a school social worker in the Boston area.

Constanza Cabello, BA 2008, received her masters from CCSU and an EdD from Northeastern.  After prior positions at University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Bryant University, and Stonehill College, she will soon begin a position as Framingham State University’s first ever vice president for diversity, inclusion, and community engagement. Learn more about her here.

HDFS alumni Colleen Vesely (MA) and Mariana Guzzardo (PhD) recently published an NCFR Policy Brief on immigrant families and policy implications for their wellbeing.

2018 PhD graduate, Jia Li Liu, currently a postdoctoral scholar at University of Maryland, College Park, was a 2019 Recipients of the SRCD Small Grants Program for Early Career Scholars for her project: Ethnic Racial Socialization Among Low SES and Middle SES Chinese American Families

Christine Thiele Hoeffner, B.A. ’73, recently published a book, Finding Wisdom in the Jungle.  The book explores legal rights granted at age 18 that may create challenges for teens as well as their parents, that are often not taught by schools or parents.  The book intertwines a fictional adventure with factual information designed to inform, educate, and entertain.

HDFS graduate Cameron Froude, PhD, MA, LMFT – the Behavioral Health Program Manager of the John Muir Health Family Medicine Residency Program – has been awarded a $925,000 grant: 2018-2021 SONG-BROWN GRANT – Training family medicine residents in team-based, whole-person care.  Role: Principle Investigator; Project Coordinator. The goals of this project are threefold: to train residents in facilitating interprofessional group medical visits for patients at a local FQHC; to train residents in providing integrated biomedical and behavioral healthcare to patients treated on a mobile health van, and; to support one resident position for 3 years.

HDFS and Early Childhood alum Wheeler DeAngelis (2015) discusses his experiences as an early childhood educator and emphasizes the importance of infant-toddler teachers.  The post appears on a blog sponsored by the MA Association for the Education of Young Children, which highlights the strong training he received as an ECDE and HDFS student.