N.C. A&T Alumna Leads as National Scholar on Kinship Care in Communities of Color

For more than two decades, Tyreasa Washington, Ph.D. ‘98 has worked in the field of social work and is one of the nation’s leading scholars who examine the social, academic and behavioral outcomes of African American children who reside in kinship care. 

In the African American community, kinship care has a long history in the family dynamic where a family member takes on the responsibility of caring for children who are not their own. 

“Growing up in Jacksonville, N.C., I was always concerned about the well-being of others. I was the kid in school who noticed a child not having enough food, or someone going through a bullying situation. I always found myself speaking up for others and trying to be supportive,” said Washington. 

“A few of my friends would jokingly call me ‘Mother Teresa’ and my classmates told me I was going to become a psychologist or someone who helps people. And now 20 plus years later, I am doing one of the things that I love most by helping people.” 

Washington followed her calling and studied social work at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She was a member of the Sociology and Social Work Club, Alpha Delta Mu Social Work Honor Society, and Golden Key International Honor Society. She graduated top of her class in 1998 and obtained her master’s degree in social work from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000.  

In the same year, Washington secured a position with Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services in the child welfare division as a foster care social worker and supervisor. Also, she worked as an adjunct professor at several universities including North Carolina A&T.   

“When I worked in child welfare, it helped me to gain a better understanding of the challenges children faced when being removed from their homes and how it affected their emotions, behaviors and grades. Many of these children who had better outcomes were placed with relative caregivers such grandparents, aunts or uncles,” said Washington. 

“Also, while working as an adjunct professor and a licensed clinical social worker in child welfare and mental health settings, it sparked a passion in me to train other social workers and to conduct research that can better the lives of people.” 

In 2010, Washington completed her doctorate in social work at the University of Illinois at Chicago and focused her dissertation on African American children in informal kinship care. 

“After I received my Ph.D., I moved back to North Carolina to care for my aging parents and to be closer to my brother, Marcus Washington ‘97, and his family,” she said. “I am grateful for the two years I spent with my father before he passed away.”  

Since 2011, Washington has worked at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as an associate professor in the department of social work, where she teaches in the A&T and UNCG joint social work program. Also, she is a faculty affiliate to the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis and a faculty affiliate to the UNCG Gerontology Program. In 2017, she became the founding director of the African American Families and Kinship Care Lab. 

In July 2019, Washington and her team of researchers were awarded a national grant of $445,334 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to study the family’s impact on the development of children who reside with kinship caregivers. The following year, she and her team were awarded another national grant from the National Institute of Health of $273,492 to examine the risk and protective factors of Alzheimer’s among kinship caregivers.  

“Through researching kinship families, you learn that a lot of factors play a key role on why family members may take care of children. For years, kinship care has been used to address economic and racial oppression. For example, it was utilized when enslaved families were separated and during the great migration to the north for work, and today, it could be due to child maltreatment, substance use, incarceration or death of a loved one,” she said.   

“Caring for others in many communities is nothing new but it is important that we advocate for resources and services for kinship care families to ensure successful outcomes for them.”  

In 2021, Washington accepted a position with Child Trends as a senior program area director and distinguished senior scholar in child welfare. According to the Child Trends press release, she will oversee a research agenda aimed at supporting children and families involved with, or at risk of entering, the child welfare system.  

To learn more about Dr. Tyreasa Washington, please click here.