Shifting Child Welfare Culture to Inspire, Strengthen, and Fortify Families

Location: Online via Zoom and In-Person at the Okazaki Community Meeting Room (155) University of Utah College of Social Work
Date: Thursday, February 6, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (MT)

Overview

In order to achieve better outcomes for marginalized families in our communities, it is essential to intentionally learn and reorient our child welfare systems. During the 2025 Beeley Lecture, social worker, author, and educator Dr. Jessica Pryce will emphasize the role of courageous leadership in inspiring sustainable cultural shifts in child welfare organizations. Advocating for a paradigm that prioritizes the protection of children while strengthening their families, Dr. Pryce will both inspire and challenge child welfare professionals to become part of foundational shifts in how we understand power dynamics and engage families.

About Presenter

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. She also serves on the advisory board for the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, which specializes in the ongoing development of child welfare organizations across the country.