UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare

07/01/2026

We are pleased to welcome three new Senate faculty members, effective today: Assistant Professors Tess Abrahamson-Richards and Brianna Suslovic, and Associate Teaching Professor Yamile Martí. 👏

Their work spans Indigenous family wellbeing and data sovereignty, mental and behavioral health, trauma, and the intersections of criminalization and social welfare.

We look forward to their contributions to the Berkeley Social Welfare community.

We are pleased to announce three new Senate faculty appointments, effective July 1, 2026: Assistant Professors Tess Abrahamson-Richards and Brianna Suslovic, and Associate Teaching Professor Yamile Martí. Tess Abrahamson-Richards, MPH, earned her PhD in Social Welfare at the University of Washingto...

07/01/2026

Congratulations to Joyce Dorado on her promotion to Associate Teaching Professor, effective July 1, 2026. 🎉

Dorado serves as Associate Dean for Research-Practice Partnerships and Co-Founder and Director of the Center for the Healthy Development of Children. A nationally recognized leader in trauma-informed care, her work has helped shape trauma-informed practices in schools and communities across California and beyond.

Associate Dean for Research-Practice Partnerships Joyce Dorado has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor, effective July 1, 2026. Dorado is Co-Founder and Director of the Center for the Healthy Development of Children and a leading expert in trauma-informed care. For more than 25 years, she....

06/24/2026

Congratulations to doctoral student Michelle Zaragoza, who has been selected for the 2026–2027 CSU Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP) Fellowship! 🎉 The program supports future faculty working to advance educational opportunity and student success across the CSU system.

Doctoral student Michelle Zaragoza has been selected as a fellow in the 2026–2027 California State University Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP). The CDIP program supports doctoral students who demonstrate strong potential as future faculty members and a commitment to advancing educa...

06/17/2026

From youth crisis stabilization work to the path toward becoming a licensed therapist in California, Joymara Coleman (MSW ’17) reflects on her journey into social work in our latest alumni profile. An Emergency Psychiatric Clinician at the Alameda County Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit in San Leandro, she discusses how her experiences growing up in the foster care system, her time at Berkeley, and her work supporting youth and families in crisis have shaped her path.

Watch the full video and read the profile here: https://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/news/alumni-profile-joymara-coleman-msw-17

06/08/2026

Celebrating Pride Month with exciting news 🌈 A film series from the Aging with Pride and Authenticity project within UC Berkeley's Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services (CASAS) has received a 2026 Communicator Award of Distinction and a Bronze Telly Award.

A film series from the Aging with Pride and Authenticity project within UC Berkeley's Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services (CASAS) has received a 2026 Communicator Award of Distinction and a Bronze Telly Award.

Connected to research led by Professor Angie Perone and created in collaboration with filmmaker Beth Vitalis, the series translates community-engaged research into accessible storytelling through the voices and experiences of LGBTQ+ older adults.

Learn more about the project here: https://casas.berkeley.edu/research/project-spotlight/

05/29/2026

New research co-authored by Associate Professor Jamie Chang examines the sharp rise in homeless encampment sweeps in Oakland following the 2024 Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson.

The study found that encampment closures more than doubled after the ruling, raising important questions about displacement, public policy, and long-term solutions to homelessness.

Read more via Berkeley News:

In the first analysis of its kind since the 2024 Grants Pass case, UC Berkeley researchers found the number of encampment sweeps significantly increased and spread.

05/28/2026

Get to know our latest alumni feature: Jude M. Antonyappan, Ph.D., J.D., Professor Emerita at California State University, Sacramento.

Her work spans social welfare, law, and justice systems, with a focus on how policy, practice, and education can better serve individuals and communities.

From her doctoral experience at Berkeley to a decades-long career in higher education, she reflects on the role of empiricism, human-centered learning, and continuous reflection in shaping effective social policy.

Read the full feature:

For Jude M. Antonyappan, Ph.D., J.D., pursuing a doctoral degree in social welfare at UC Berkeley was “not simply an educational journey; it was both a beginning and a culmination of an expansive pathway of learning to integrate the different dimensions of social welfare.” A Professor Emerita at...

05/27/2026

Associate Professor Jamie Chang was recently featured in The Mercury News discussing the rise of vehicular homelessness in the Bay Area and the importance of safe parking programs as a support strategy for unhoused residents.

“If you’re experiencing homelessness, having a safe and legal place to be is one of the greatest challenges where your whole existence in and of itself is a crime,” Chang said. “In light of all of that, the safe parking programs are really an essential lifeline.”

Safe parking programs provide designated areas for unhoused people to sleep in their cars. West Valley cities, where unhoused residents are more likely to live in their cars, held a meeting last month to explore safe parking as part of a…

05/26/2026

Research from our Transition-Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub) was recognized during a recent congressional hearing on legislation supporting transition-age foster youth.

Representative Danny K. Davis highlighted the importance of research in shaping policy during discussion of H.R. 7655, the Support for Expectant and Parenting Foster Youth Act.

Read more and watch the hearing clip:

During an April 29 hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, Representative Danny K. Davis (Illinois) recognized research from the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare’s Transition-Age Youth Research and Evaluation Hub (TAY-Hub) during discussion of bipartisan legislation supporting t...

05/20/2026

👏 Congratulations to former dean Jeffrey Edleson and Dr. Emma Katz on their forthcoming publication in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence.

Jeffrey L. Edleson, former dean of the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, and colleague Dr. Emma Katz of the United Kingdom have had a new article accepted for publication in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence. The forthcoming article, “Protecting children from coercive control: A case for de...