Dr. Virginia Strand, DSW is Professor and Founding Director of Children FIRST, a research and training institute within the Graduate School of Social Service. She currently has curriculum development, advisement and teaching responsibilities in the Doctoral Program, in the Clinical Practice concentration and in the Foundation area of the Masters of Social Work Program. Her research interests are in child welfare and children’s mental health and she has published most recently in the areas trauma assessment for children and transfer of learning programs for child welfare workforce development. Currently, she is PI representing Fordham on a new federal institutive, the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute.