Professors Collaborate In Interdisciplinary Study
Friday, Jul 18, 2025
Examining Guardians in the Foster Care System
A new peer-reviewed article co-authored by five faculty members has been published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, entitled Forming Relationships with Youth in Foster Care: Perspectives of Guardian ad Litems. The authors Heather Thompson, PhD, LCSW, associate professor in the Sandler School of Social Work (SSW); Morgan E. Cooley, PhD, LCSW, associate professor in SSW; Gabriel T Cesar, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Marianna L. Colvin, PhD, associate professor in SSW collaborated with Laura Backstrom, PhD, associate professor of sociology in the Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. The publication is a cross-sectional, qualitative study of 555 Guardians ad Litem from across the state of Florida that examines their perspectives on their relationships with youth in the foster care system.