Subject Matter Expertise/Personal Statement
Experience with proposal development and project management
Current collaboration experiences with the Children’s Bureau, Capacity Building Center for States, universities, and child welfare agencies in 12 jurisdictions
Expertise in curriculum development, provision of training and technical assistance, and child welfare workforce development
Professional Positions
1995-1998 | Executive Director, California Social Work Education Center, School of Social Welfare,
University of California, Berkeley. Directed statewide consortium of 12 graduate schools of social work and child welfare agencies for educating MSW students for public child welfare employment and providing continuing education for statewide child welfare staff.
1998-2009 | Clinical Professor and Executive Director, Jordan Institute for Families, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Administered a program of interdisciplinary research, training, and technical assistance activities.
2013-2016 | Senior Associate, National Center on Evidence-Based Practice in Child Welfare
2008-present | Clinical Professor, University of Maryland School of Social Work
2008-present | Project Director, National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. Oversee a partnership of six universities to implement a 10-year Children’s Bureau-funded effort to build the capacity of the nation’s child welfare workforce.
Selected Honors/Relevant State or Federal Committees, and Advisory Boards
2011 | Peter W. Forsyth Award for Leadership in Public Child Welfare by The National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, American Public Human Services Association, Washington, D.C.
Selected Presentations, Training, and Teaching
Dickinson, N.S. (2016, April 26). Leadership in child welfare. Keynote address at the Annual Conference of the Coalition of Residential Excellence, Washington, D.C.
Dickinson, N.S. (2014, November 3). Child welfare in the global south: Implications for U.S. child welfare systems. Presentation at the International Social Work Lecture, University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, Md.
Dickinson, N.S. (2014, October 29). Workforce development in child welfare. Training and technical assistance for the Northern and Mt. Valley California County Welfare Directors’ Association (CWDA) Children’s Committee’s Annual Joint Meeting, Davis, Calif.
Dickinson, N.S. & Putnam-Hornstein, E. (2014, May 21). Building a professional workforce—To do what? Interrupt poor practices that lead to fatal and severe maltreatment of very young children. Keynote address at the 17th Annual Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium, Berkeley, Calif.
Dickinson, N.S. (2014, January 19). Leading change in child welfare: Results from a national evaluation. Symposium Organizer. 18th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, San Antonio, Texas.
Dickinson, N.S. (2013, June 19). Steering your agency through the permanent whitewater of change. Training workshop for The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center Leadership Academy, Gettysburg, Pa.
Dickinson, N.S. (2013, March 15). Transfer of learning. Webinar presentation sponsored by the Atlantic Coast Child Welfare Implementation Center, University of Maryland School of Social Work.
Dickinson, N.S., & Reed, D. (2013, January 31). Adaptive leadership: Practical application. Webinar presentation for the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute.
Dickinson, N.S. (2012, August 21 and August 22). Steering your organization through the permanent whitewater of change, Plenary address. Workforce development is right for children, youth and families, Master Class. Association for Children’s Welfare Agencies Conference, Sydney, Australia.
Dickinson, N.S., McCarthy, M., Davidson, H., & Testa, M. (2012, June 6). Rebuilding systems and organizational structures, webinar presentation as part of the Children’s Bureau Centennial Voices to Vision Facilitated Discussion Series.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications, White Papers, and Selected Reports
Dickinson, N.S., & Fisher, C.E. (2015, February). Leading change: Partnerships to improve the child welfare workforce. Policy & practice. Washington, D.C.: American Public Human Services Association, 73(1), 16-19.
Bernotavicz, F., & Dickinson, N.S. (2014). Guest editors’ introduction. Training and Development in Human Services; The Journal of the National Staff Development and Training Association. Special Issue: Leadership Development, 8(1), 4-8.
Dickinson, N.S. (2014). Guest Editorial: Child welfare leadership development to enhance outcomes for children, youth and families. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 38(2), 1-4.
Munson, S., McCarthy, M., & Dickinson, N.S. (2014). The child welfare workforce. In G. Mallon & P. Hess (Eds.), Child welfare for the 21st century: A handbook of children, youth, and family services: Practices, policies, and programs, 2nd Edition (pp. 624-642). New York: Columbia University Press.
Mildon, R., Dickinson, N.S., & Shlonsky, A. (2014). Using implementation science to improve service and practice in child welfare: Actions and essential elements. In A. Shlonsky & R. Benbenishty (Eds.), From evidence to outcomes in child welfare: An international reader (pp. 83-101). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bernotavicz, F., McDaniel, N., Brittain, C., & Dickinson, N.S. (2013). Leadership in a changing environment: A leadership model for child welfare. Administration in Social Work,37(4), 401-417.
Dickinson, N.S. & Barth, R.P. (2013). Lessons learned and the way forward. In K. Briar-Lawson, M. McCarthy, & N.S. Dickinson (Eds.), The Children’s Bureau: Shaping a century of child welfare practices, programs, and policies (pp. 1-19). Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.
Briar-Lawson, K., McCarthy, M., & Dickinson, N.S. (2013). The Children’s Bureau: Shaping a century of child welfare practices, programs, and policies. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.