The late Jillian Jimenez held a PhD in American History and a PhD in social work, both from Brandeis University, in Waltham, MA. She received her MA in literature from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her MSW from San Diego State University. She taught American history at both Pitzer College, in Claremont, CA, and the University of California, Los Angeles. She joined the California State University School, then Department, of Social Work, where she taught social policy and research in the MSW program. She was he editor of Reflections, a peer-reviewed journal of narratives. She won numerous awards, including a Graves fellowship for teaching excellence, and a Silberman grant for research on the history of African American grandmothers. Her first book, Changing Faces of Madness, explored treatment of mentally disordered persons in the colonial period. Dr. Jimenez published widely on the intersection of history and policy in the areas of mental health, child welfare, HIV and AIDS, and social welfare. She lived and worked with her beloved husband, Dan Jimenez, to whom she dedicated the first edition of this book. Dr. Jimenez passed away suddenly and sadly in fall 2009. She is missed by all who loved and valued her.
Eileen Mayers Pasztor has a BA from Stanford University, a MSW from The Ohio State University, and DSW from The Catholic University of America. She has served as a public agency child welfare caseworker and supervisor, curriculum developer and trainer, and foster and adoptive parent. Prior to joining the faculty at California State University, Long Beach, Dr. Pasztor worked for the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), directing its national programs for family foster care, kinship care, and adoption. She is a principal designer and developer of resources for the development and support of foster and adoptive parents as partners in child protection, such as the
PRIDE Model of Practice and the
Collaborating With Kinship Caregivers Model of Practice, published by CWLA and used across the country and internationally. At CSULB, she teaches MSW courses in administration, child welfare, social welfare, and thesis advisement. Dr. Pasztor has published a book and journal articles on foster parenting and kinship care, and she guest edited a special 2011 issue of the J
ournal of Public Child Welfare on advocacy and public relations. She has received a number of local and national awards for her curriculum development and advocacy work. Dr. Pasztor has trained thousands of child welfare professionals and caregivers, delivered hundreds of keynote addresses and workshops domestically and overseas, and given numerous television, radio, and newspaper interviews, with advocacy always as a central theme.
Ruth M. Chambers, PhD, LCSW, is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach. Her specialty areas are child welfare, service delivery, service integration, and policy practice. Her primary research focuses on the child welfare system where she uses mixed methods to examine child neglect, poverty, services, and family outcomes. Dr. Chambers has conducted numerous research studies; published a book and several articles; and presented at national and international conferences, workshops, and community agencies on these topics. Prior to obtaining her PhD, she was a social worker who specialized in children, youth, and families and worked in a variety of settings such as residential treatment, community organizations, and public agencies for over 20 years. Dr. Chambers currently teaches bachelor’s level courses in direct practice and policy analysis, and master’s level courses in social welfare policy, policy practice, and thesis advisement. She also provides consultation to various advocacy groups, public agencies, and children’s rights organizations throughout the United States. She received her MSW degree from San Diego State University in 1989 and a PhD in social work from the University of Denver in 2006.
Cheryl Pearlman Fujii received a BA degree from Wellesley College, with a double major in anthropology and sociology. She also holds an MPA degree with a concentration in urban planning from California State University, Fullerton. She worked in the Boston University Development Office managing day-to-day operations for the Telefund Campaign, and for the City of Lakewood in both the public information and finance department, where she gained experience ranging from writing for cable television to insurance claims administration. In 1995, Ms. Fujii became the founding administrator of the University of California, Berkeley, California Social Work Education Center’s California Child Welfare Resource Library. Located at CSULB, the library serves California’s county public child welfare offices, schools of graduate social work education, and regional training academies. Ms. Fujii’s expertise is multifold: selecting cutting-edge materials for the collection; providing individualized consultations for faculty and students; editing CalSWEC curricula for publication; creating and maintaining the library website; managing the budget; and serving as a resource on state, national, and international levels.
