Esaa Mohammad Sabti Samarah is a doctoral candidate at the Florida State University College of Social Work. Esaa’s research interest is focused broadly on child welfare, with specific interests in the prevention of child maltreatment and child displacement. Informed by his practice experience as a Child Protective Investigator in the state of Florida, Esaa’s current research is aimed at improving clinical judgment and decision-making in child protection to reduce unnecessary child removal, address disproportionality in child welfare system involvement, and improve professional quality of life for child welfare professionals.

AREAS OF FOCUS

• Child Welfare
• Displacement
• Trauma-Informed Practice and Policy
• Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Minority Youth Outcomes in Child Welfare Settings
• Revictimization in Child Welfare Settings

EDUCATION

• MSW, 2019, Florida State University; Social Work
• BA, 2015, University of Florida; Sociology

ARTICLES PUBLISHED

Staras, S., Tauscher, J. S., Rich, N., Samarah, E., Thompson, L. A., Vinson, M. M., ... & Shenkman, E. A. (2021). Using a Clinical Workflow Analysis to Enhance eHealth Implementation Planning: Tutorial and Case Study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 9(3), e18534.

Conroy, M., Hetrick, A., Chastain-Gross, R., Samarah, E., Kinjo, H. (2019, October). BEST in CLASS Family Partnership Intervention: Preliminary Outcomes. Conference session presented at the annual meeting of Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders, Tempe, AZ.

Richardson, E., Komro, K. A., Samarah, E., & Staras, S. A. (2019). Increasing adolescent girls’ ability to identify STI-risk characteristics of sexual partners: A pilot study within an alternative disciplinary school. Sex Transm Infect, sextrans-2018

Staras, S., Rich, N., Samarah, E., Thompson, L., Muszynski, M., & Shenkman, E. (2018, March). Implementation planning of a mhealth vaccination tool: a workflow study in four pediatric clinics. In IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE (Vol. 13). 236 GRAYS INN RD, FLOOR 6, LONDON WC1X 8HL, ENGLAND: BIOMED CENTRAL LTD

Samarah E. (2015, May). Who has access to the medical home and how does it impact the family? A quantitative analysis examining families diagnosed with ASD. George A. Smathers Library. UF Undergraduate Honors Theses. http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00037453

SCHOLARSHIPS/GRANTS

• Legacy Fellow, 2021, College of Social Work, Florida State University
• Medal of Honor, 2015, Academic Achievement in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Criminology and Law, University of Florida
• Jessie Ball duPont/Alfred I. duPont Scholarship, 2014, Department of Sociology, Criminology and Law, University of Florida