Wendy Wiegmann, MSW, PhD, is project director of the California Child Welfare Indicators Project (CCWIP).
Dr. Wiegmann's many years of experience includes the last nine years with CCWIP and other research projects, analyzing linked and unlinked administrative data to examine a number of different child welfare phenomena. In prior years with CCWIP, she has taken on a number of leadership roles — planning and managing research projects; collaborating with partnered research agencies; supervising aspects of the quality assurance process to ensure the accuracy of the project’s data; presenting data in many formats online, at national conferences and in print; and serving as a liaison and representative of the project. In addition, she has a number of specialized skills such as analyzing data from large national surveys and using propensity score methods to balance observational data.
Dr. Wiegmann also serves as a social welfare instructor, teaching courses on research methodology and substance abuse treatment for MSW students and introductory social work courses to undergraduates. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked as a child welfare worker in Alameda and San Francisco counties and has an expert understanding of the policies and practices of public child welfare agencies.
Formerly a foster youth and legal guardian to her younger siblings, Dr. Wiegmann uses her personal and professional experiences to inform her work as a researcher. Her research interests include reforms in child welfare and juvenile dependency courts, children with siblings in foster care, substance abuse among parents involved with the child welfare system and improving the efficacy of child welfare services to parents with children in foster care.
Research / Expertise
- Systems of Care for Children/Families/Elderly
- Reforms in child welfare and juvenile dependency court
- Children with siblings in foster care
- Substance abuse among parents involved with the child welfare system
- Improving the efficacy of child welfare services to parents with children in foster care
Grants and Awards
- Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of California, Berkeley, 2016
- Predoctoral Fellowship, Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA, 2014 - 2016
- Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, 2014
- Graduate Division Summer Grant, University of California, Berkeley, 2013
- North American Council on Adoptable Children Youth Advocate of the Year Award, 2006
- Board of Directors Member, North American Council on Adoptable Children, 2006 – 2013
- Technical Assistant, Annie E. Casey Family to Family Initiative, 2002 - 2007
Expanded Publications
Wiegmann, W. (2017). Luke. In J. D. Berrick (Ed.),The Impossible Imperative: Navigating the Competing Principles of Child Protection (Ch. 6). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Freisthler, B., Wolf, J. P., Wiegmann, W., & Kepple, N. J. (2017). Drug Use, the Drug Environment, and Child Physical Abuse and Neglect. Child Maltreatment, 22(3), 245-255.
Lery, B., Putnam-Hornstein, E., Wiegmann, W., & King, B. (2015). Building analytic capacity and statistical literacy among Title IV-E MSW students. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 9(3), 256-276.
Lery, B., Wiegmann, W., & Berrick, J. D. (2015). Building an evidence-driven child welfare workforce: a university-agency partnership. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(Suppl. 2), S283-S293.
Wiegmann, W., Putnam-Hornstein, E., Barrat, V. X., Magruder, J., & Needell, B. (2014). The Invisible Achievement Gap: How the Foster Care Experiences of California Public School Students Are Associated with Their Education Outcomes.
The Invisible Achievement Gap
Wiegmann, W. (2013). Social justice in political thought: Examining the rights of parents. In M. J. Austin (Ed.), Social Justice and Social Work: Rediscovering a Core Value of the Profession (Ch. 12). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Wiegmann, W. (2013). Procedural injustices in child welfare. In M. J. Austin (Ed.), Social Justice and Social Work: Rediscovering a Core Value of the Profession (Ch. 21). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Putnam-Hornstein, E., Needell, B., Lery, B., King, B., & Wiegmann, W. (2013). Using publicly available data to engage IV-E students in research and statistics: Instructional Modules.
Using publicly available data to engage IV-E students in research and statistics: Instructional Modules
Selected Research Presentations
Wiegmann, W. (2017). Disproportionality and disparity among young children in the child welfare system: What the data tell us. CalSWEC Symposium on Fairness and Equity Issues.
Wiegmann, W. (2017). The data train, Part 1: Bringing child welfare staff on board. Multiple counties throughout California.
Wiegmann, W. (2017). The data train, Part 2: Understanding the control panel – How to make the most of the CCWIP and SafeMeasures websites. Multiple counties throughout California.
Wiegmann, W. (2017). Using the CCWIP website to answer questions about key child welfare outcomes. California Department of Social Services. Sacramento, Calif.
Wiegmann, W. (2016). Impact of residential versus outpatient substance abuse treatment on child welfare outcomes: a secondary analysis of NSCAW II data. 20th Annual Conference on the Society for Social Work and Research. Washington, DC: January 13–17, 2016.
Freisthler, B., Wiegmann, W., & Price Wolf, J. (2016). Understanding the interplay between the drug environment, drug use, and child physical abuse. 20th Annual Conference on the Society for Social Work and Research. Washington, DC: January 13–17, 2016.
Wiegmann, W. (2015). Impact of residential versus outpatient substance abuse treatment on child welfare outcomes. 2015 Addiction Health Services Research (AHSR) Conference. Marina del Rey, Calif.: October 14-16, 2015.
Wiegmann, W. (2014). Child maltreatment recurrence: A theoretical analysis of child welfare’s approach to protecting children and assisting families. 64th Annual Meeting: Society for the Study of Social Problems. San Francisco, Calif.: August 15-17, 2014.
King, B., Wiegmann, W., & Putnam-Hornstein, E. (2011). Translating performance data to practice: Developing curricula to train research-minded MSW students. 58th Annual Program Meeting: Council on Social Work Education. Atlanta, Ga.: October 27-30, 2011.
