Hines, Alice M

Hines, Alice M

Dean, Applied Science & Arts, College of Applied Sci & Arts

Email

Preferred: alice.hines@sjsu.edu

Telephone

Preferred: (408) 924-2915

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Univ Of Cal-Berkeley, 1993

Bio

Ph.D. University of California at Berkeley, 1993
M.S.W. University of California at Berkeley, 1986

Dr. Alice M. Hines has focused her scholarly work in three separate, but interrelated areas: substance abuse and risk of AIDS, particularly among ethnic and cultural minority groups; methodological issues in research especially as they pertain to diverse cultural and ethnic groups; and, research on child and family-related issues with a particular focus on examining family-based correlates of adolescent and young adult development.

In the area of family research, she is particularly interested in extending current research and theory to families from diverse cultural and ethnic groups, as well as to poor and disenfranchised families. Most recently, she has applied her work on family issues and child development to research in the area of Child Welfare with a particular focus on adolescents and young adults in the system. She is particularly interested in factors related to developmental risk and resilience among adolescents and young adults who have grown up in the foster care system. In 1999, with funding from the California Social Work Education Center, she designed and conducted the Pathways to College for Former Foster Youth study that consisted of qualitative and quantitative data on 400 former foster youth in college and two comparison groups consisting of low-income college students and foster youth who were not attending college. Findings from this study will not only bridge the gap in the current literature, but will also provide the field with valuable information that can be used to develop better programs and interventions for youth as they emancipate from the child welfare system.

From 1998-2001, she served as Principal Investigator on California’s Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project Evaluation housed in the Center for Child Welfare Services Research in the School of Social Welfare at U.C. Berkeley and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The purpose of the study was to examine the flexible use of federal funding so as to develop and implement creative and innovative child welfare services.

A continuing theme throughout her work has been a focus on cultural and ethnic minority populations. She has extended this emphasis to the field of child welfare by examining factors related t o the disproportionate representation of families and children of color in the child welfare system. In 2001, she was awarded a three-year grant aimed at examining factors related to the disproportionate involvement of children of color in the child welfare system in Santa Clara County. This topic is currently receiving much attention at the national level and the study in Santa Clara County is one of the few to examine these issues at the local level. The study has received national recognition and findings have been included in the Child Welfare Summit: An Examination of the State of Child Welfare and Recommendations for Action, a report published by the Center for the Study of Social Policy. Most recently, she has been awarded a grant from the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) to examine the impact of mental health services on outcomes for children and youth in the child welfare system. She has taught courses in research methods and social welfare policy to social work students at both the graduate and undergraduate level.


Selected publications include:

Merdinger, J., Hines, A.M., Lemon, K., & Wyatt, P. (2005). Pathways to college for former foster youth: toward understanding factors that contribute to educational success. Child Welfare, 84 (6), 867-896.

Hines, A.M., Merdinger, J. & Wyatt, P. (2005). Former foster youth attending college: resilience and the transition to young adulthood. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75 (3), 381-394.

Lemon, K., Hines, A.M. & Merdinger, J. (2005). From foster care to young adulthood: the role of Independent Living Programs in supporting successful transitions. Children and Youth Services Review, 27(3) 251-270.

Hines, A.M., Lemon, K., Wyatt, P. & Merdinger, J. (2004). Factors related to the disproportionate involvement of children of color in the child welfare system: a review and emerging themes. Children and Youth Services Review, 26(6), 507-527.

Links