New Director and Institutional Home
We are excited to announce the transition of the directorship of the CICW from the School of Social Work at New Mexico State University to the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley under the leadership of Dr. Kristina Lovato beginning January 2024. Over the last seven years in New Mexico, the CICW has been dedicated to resource development and dissemination, training and technical assistance, and original research on the various issues impacting child welfare system involved immigrant children and families, while also engaging local and state leaders and policy makers toward improving the well-being of children in immigrant families in New Mexico. We look forward to new opportunities for the Center to build upon its mission of improving programs and policies related to immigrant children and families involved in the public child welfare system at UC Berkeley.
Dr. Kristina Lovato, Assistant Professor of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley, will assume the role of director of the CICW. She has over 12 years of clinical experience serving diverse families as a bilingual child welfare social worker, child therapist, and school-based mental health clinician, and her current work focuses on enhancing Latinx child and family well-being particularly among immigrant families at risk of immigration enforcement and/or public child welfare involvement. She has also been a strong supporter and partner of the CICW’s work, including on several recent studies on how child welfare systems are serving immigrant children and families. With her rich professional experience and dedication to uplifting the voices and experiences of immigrant families in all facets of her work, we can’t think of anyone better to lead the CICW into this new chapter. Please join us in offering a warm welcome to Kristina as she assumes this new role!
