School of Social and Political Science

Background

Colleen Henry is a critical child welfare scholar and an expert in child and family policy. She is a faculty affiliate of the Mack Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and previously served as an associate professor and chair of social policy at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York.

Dr. Henry’s mixed-methods research leverages administrative data to explore, document, and better understand front end child welfare policy and practice and state intervention in family life. Her work systematically examines how child welfare systems define specific caregiver actions or omissions as child maltreatment, how these definitions evolve over time, and their impact on families. Findings from her theoretical and applied research have been published in leading social work, child welfare, and law journals and have informed both policy and practice in the United States and internationally.

Dr. Henry is the principal investigator for the Child Abuse & Neglect Registry Project, which examines the policies, procedures, and practices governing child maltreatment registries in the United States, as well as the consequences of registry listing for children and families. She earned both her MSW and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. After completing her MSW, she worked as a social worker in California’s public child welfare system before returning to graduate school.

Select Publications:

Henry, C., & Austin, M. (2021). Social work as a writing-intensive profession: Exploring the relationship between academic and practice writing. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 41(3), 230-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2021.1932015

Henry, C., & Lens, V. (2021). Marginalizing mothers: Child maltreatment registries, statutory schemes, and reduced opportunities for employment. City University of New York Law Review, 21(1), 1-34. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/clr/vol24/iss1/3

Victor, B, Rousson, A, Henry, C., Dalvi, H., & Mariscal, E.S. (2021). Child protective services guidelines for substantiating exposure to domestic violence as maltreatment and assigning caregiver responsibility: Policy analysis and recommendations. Child Maltreatment, 26 (4), 452-463. https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595211002639 

Henry, C., Victor, B., Ryan, J., & Perron, B. (2020). Substantiated allegations of failure to protect in the child welfare system: Against whom, in what context, and with what justification? Children & Youth Services Review, 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105091

Henry, C. (2020). Children and the welfare state: The need for a child-centered analysis. The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 47 (2), Article 8. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol47/iss2/8 

Henry, C., & Sonterblum, L., & Lens, V. (2019). The collateral consequences of state central registries: Child protection and barriers to work for low-income women and women of color. Social Work, 64 (4), 373-375. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swz025 

Victor, B.G., Henry, C., Gilbert, T.T., Ryan, J.P., & Perron, B.E. (2019). Child protective services referrals involving exposure to domestic violence: Prevalence, associated maltreatment types, and likelihood of formal case openings. Child Maltreatment, 24 (3), 299-309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559519843605

Henry, C. (2018). Exposure to domestic violence as abuse and neglect: Constructions of child maltreatment in daily practice. Child Abuse & Neglect, 86, 79-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.08.018 

Henry, C. Liner-Jigamian, N., Carnochan, S., Taylor, S., & Austin, M. (2018). Parental substance use: How child welfare workers make the case for court intervention. Children & Youth Services Review, 93, 69-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.07.003 

Henry, C. (2017). Expanding the legal framework for child protection: Recognition of and response to child exposure to domestic violence in California law. Social Service Review, 91(2), 203-232. https://doi.org/10.1086/692399.  Updated May 2024 Henry, Page 3 of 11 

Henry, C., Carnochan, S., & Austin, M. (2014)1. Using qualitative data-mining for practice research in child welfare. Child Welfare, 93(6), 7-26.