University of Missouri – Columbia (MU)
Dr. Childs’ research and scholarly activity primarily focuses on racial inequity in schools by examining two primary mechanisms: 1) teacher racial bias as a contributor to racial inequity and 2) school social workers as racial equity agents. Her secondary research area focuses how these mechanisms may contribute to inequities in access to child and adolescent mental health services and supports. Dr. Childs’ goal is to develop an intervention that reduces teacher racial bias in the classroom and leverages school social workers to lead interventions in schools.
Dr. Childs is involved in developing guidance for school social work practice with minoritized, racialized, or historically excluded student groups. Her participation on interdisciplinary research teams focuses on preparing social workers and other professionals to respond to mental health needs of children and adolescents. Dr. Childs prioritizes the translation of research into practice and has also published 45% of her peer-reviewed journal articles as open-access.