CSW General

This year, Kristel Avilus, a former “Pace girl,” was named the new associate executive director for the Pace Center for Girls Leon in Tallahassee, Florida. She is the first girl to become a director in the Pace Center for Girls 38 year history.

She is a licensed clinical social worker and earned her Master of Social Work degree (2018) from the FSU College of Social Work. She was previously the social services manager, representing the first Pace alumna to serve in a management role for the Leon Center. 

Citation metrics provide a potentially useful tool to quantify and measure the scholarly impact  a research article, a given scholars impact and even the development of research and ideas. A recent article in Research on Social Work Practice identified the Top 100 contributors to social work journal scholarship worldwide.

With educational, research and social work practice experience across three continents, including Africa, Europe and North America, Gashaye (Gash) Melaku Tefera considers himself an international social work researcher with a mission to improve the lives and representation of underserved populations. His research addresses concerns of immigrant, refugee and indigenous populations, focusing on underserved women and older adults.

From a small town in Pennsylvania, Xyla Payne was drawn to research while an undergraduate student at Penn State University, working towards a human development and family studies degree. As a young researcher, she participated in a study (SIESTA) examining children's bedtime routines and how co-parenting, maternal depression and household organization/chaos can impact children's transition into kindergarten.

Florida State University has chosen alumna Lisa Magruder as the next leader of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare.  

Magruder, the institute’s associate director of research since 2020, takes over the director’s role from fellow FSU graduate Jessica Pryce. Pryce, who served as director for six years, will lead the institute’s Alliance for Workforce Enhancement initiative.  

At the Florida Perinatal Mental Health Conference – Making a Difference Together, Sharon Ross-Donaldson received the 2022 Excellence in Perinatal Mental Healthcare Award.

The award recognizes an individual for their work providing excellent clinical care, training, advocacy, and leadership in perinatal health in Florida and nationally.

Florida State University’s

In September 2022, the Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities, Families, and Children (CFC Center) at the FSU College of Social Work was awarded a two-year U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant funding the creation of the Southeast Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Center (ROTA-RC). The new center serving eight states in the southeast region including Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

A new institute launched at Florida State University aims to improve the lives of children and their families who rely on out-of-home care. The Institute for Quality Children’s Services will be housed within the College of Social Work’s Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities, Families, and Children. The institute’s objective is to make scientifically supported strategies addressing urgent behavioral health needs accessible and implementable for service providers and child-serving systems.

In 2023, the National Association of Social Workers is celebrating National Social Work Month in March with a theme of “Social Work Breaks Barriers” that prevent people and communities from thriving. Social Work Month was first organized in March 1963 to encourage public support for the social work profession.