Virginia Strand (she/her/hers)

Virginia C Strand, DSW, holds a doctorate in Social Work from Columbia University, a MSW from Catholic University School of Social Work and a BA from Macalester College. Currently a Research Professor and Co-Director of the federally funded National Initiative for Trauma Education and Workforce Development at UNC School of Social Work, she has over 40 years of experience in practice, teaching, and research. Her focus in practice was on out-patient mental health treatment, working with traumatized children, youth, and families. In addition to providing mental health treatment, Dr. Strand was named to a NYC Board of Sexual Abuse Evaluators in 1987 and served as an evaluator of suspected cases of child sexual abuse and an expert witness for the NYC Family Courts until 2000. Her practice experience informed both her teaching and research. Dr. Strand was a professor at Fordham University School of Social Service from 1988–2020, where she directed the school’s National Center for Social Work Trauma Education and Workforce Development. Her research career has spanned workforce development in child welfare and more recently in children’s mental health. While at Fordham, she used an implementation framework to assess the organizational readiness of mental health agencies for the adoption of evidence-based trauma treatments. She also undertook a study to identify common trauma-informed practice elements in evidence-based trauma treatments. Results of that research inform the curriculum development underway with the new initiative at UNC to create both an online course for mental health practitioners and a 3-credit MSW course.