Child Welfare

Ellen is a graduate of the University of Kansas and has led the Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities, Families, & Children since its inception.  Under her leadership, the Center successfully implemented the Save the Children's Journey of Hope program following Hurricane Michael, and it created a revolutionary new disaster mental health intervention aimed at VPK students.

In addition, the Center has also received a grant from SAMHSA to update substance use curriculums across disciplines in Florida.

Machelle Madsen Thompson is a research and teaching faculty member with expertise in trauma, resilience, and child welfare. She is a Licensed Clinical Social worker and Qualified Supervisor for CSW and MFT. She has 12 years of non-accidental trauma intervention experience at Primary Children's Hospital affiliated with the University of Utah serving the intermountain region. She earned her Ph.D. from FSU from the College of Social Work with an Educational Psychology Statistics & Measurement certification. She became a U.S.

Jessica Pryce is a research faculty member and works directly with child welfare leaders through the Florida Institute for Child Welfare on organizational change through the Alliance for Workforce Enhancement under the institute’s GROW Center. She previously served as the institute's director from 2017 to early 2023. An alumna of the College of Social Work and a Florida native, she completed her MSW in 2009 and worked as a child protective investigator with DCF before transitioning to Washington, DC, to pursue her doctorate degree from Howard University.

Rachel is a doctoral candidate in the College of Social Work at Florida State University (FSU) and a graduate research assistant in the Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment, also at FSU. Her research is focused on socially vulnerable populations, with a special interest in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) populations in relation to health and social service delivery and engagement and social determinants of health.

Lisa Schelbe is a professor and associate dean for academic affairs at Florida State University College of Social Work and a faculty affiliate at the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. Lisa received a Doris Duke Fellowship for the Promotion of Child Well-Being (2011-2013). Her primary research interest focuses broadly on child welfare, child maltreatment prevention, and child well-being.

Melissa Radey is a professor and Agnes Flaherty Stoops Professor in Child Welfare with the College of Social Work and is a faculty affiliate of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. Her policy-driven, interdisciplinary research focuses on understanding how social environments contribute to the economic, social, and physical well-being of families. She examines those involved in public service delivery by (1) investigating the role of support systems in families’ survival and well-being and (2) considering the demands and well-being of frontline workers who serve them.

As a researcher at Florida State University since 1998, Karen has been the director of the FSU Institute for Trauma & Resilience Studies (formerly the Institute for Family Violence Studies) since 2007. In 2011, she was named an FSU Distinguished University Scholar. 

Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D., is dean emeritus, and Patricia V. Vance Professor of Social Work Emeritus. He served as a faculty member from 1981 through 2015, the last seven years as dean (2008-2015). He is a published poet, and the founding (1987) and continuing editor of the Journal of Poetry Therapy. He is currently serving a second term as president of the National Association for Poetry Therapy (2022-2024). He holds Florida licenses in clinical social work, psychology, and marriage and family therapy.

Carol Campbell Edwards is an associate teaching professor and director of the BSW Program and Professional Development with the College of Social Work. She is also a licensed clinical social worker and approved clinical social work supervisor with expertise in child welfare. She is a Florida Board Certified Child Welfare Trainer and certified as a facilitator by True Colors International. She is also a private consultant on foster care and adoption, child welfare training, and curriculum development.

Shamra Boel-Studt is an assistant professor with expertise in child welfare. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. Her research interests include interventions related to at-risk youth, family-centered practice, residential youth care, youth trauma and victimization, intervention research, social policy, improvement of measurement and evaluation of children’s services and quantitative methods.

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