Antonio Garcia

Antonio Garcia’s research trajectory is informed and enriched by his experience as a former Child Protective Services Worker and Supervisor in Washington State. Having broad inter-disciplinary training in Psychology, Spanish, Social Work, and Services Research, he is committed to and understands the salience of effectively engaging community stakeholders, relying on relevant theoretical frameworks, and implementing advanced statistical and qualitative methods to shrink the child welfare research to practice gap. Since he joined the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor in 2012, he has focused on understanding epidemiological trends related to children of color’s experiences in foster care. Most recently, his research has illuminated organizational and contextual factors that increase their odds of out-of-home displacement; and their lack of access to and use of evidence-supported interventions as compared to their Caucasian counterparts. Taking stock of his findings, he is currently capitalizing on what we know to be effective to address the mental health needs of at-risk youth and families in the City of Philadelphia. His long-term career goal is to develop effective dissemination and implementation strategies to promote the use of evidence-based or promising practices and policies for the racially/ethnically diverse pool of youth and families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

December 2016