About

Devon Brooks is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. He joined the faculty in 1999 and teaches human behavior and research methodology in the MSW program, as well as research methodology in the PhD program. His research and practice interests include the reduction and treatment of child maltreatment, with a particular focus on racial and ethnic disparities in the outcomes of children and families served by public child welfare agencies. His work encompasses risk assessment, assessment of formal and indigenous service needs and utilization, transracial adoption and racial matching policy, gay and lesbian adoption and foster care placements, family preservation, and child welfare innovations. Brooks regularly provides consultation and technical assistance in child welfare and presents at national conferences. He is the principal investigator of projects such as 'The SPIN Initiative' and 'Enhancing Positive Outcomes in Transracial Adoptive Families Following Implementation of the Multiethnic Placement Act and Interethnic Adoption Provisions.' He is actively involved in professional organizations including the National Association of Social Workers, the Association of Black Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education, and the Society for Social Work and Research. Additionally, he serves on the editorial board of Children and Youth Services Review and has published in various academic journals related to child welfare and social work.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Sociology
• Social psychology
• Clinical psychology

Selected publications

• Targeting services to reduce need after a child abuse investigation: Examining complex needs, matched services, and meaningful change

  Children and Youth Services Review · 2019-02-04 · 14 citations

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• Identifying families with complex needs after an initial child abuse investigation: A comparison of demographics and needs related to domestic violence, mental health, and substance use

  Child Abuse & Neglect · 2017-03-19 · 30 citations

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• Post-investigation service need and utilization among families at risk of maltreatment

  Children and Youth Services Review · 2016-08-27 · 13 citations

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• 4. Interculturally Competent Practice with Gay and Lesbian Families

  Columbia University Press eBooks · 2016-09-25 · 2 citations

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• Supporting Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Families Before and After Adoption

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2011-08-25 · 7 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter reviews the social and political context of gay and lesbian adoption. It describes common experiences that gay men and lesbians have as they journey toward and beyond adoptive parenthood. To address some of the gaps in empirical knowledge, it presents findings from a recently completed national study of adoptive families. The findings focus on the different service needs gay and lesbian families have before and after adoption, service use, and helpfulness of services used by families. Those involved in adoption practice with gay and lesbian families, as well as adoptive families themselves and the greater adoption community, should benefit from these findings.

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• Beyond preadoptive risk: The impact of adoptive family environment on adopted youth’s psychosocial adjustment.

  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · 2010-01-01 · 46 citations

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  Adopted children often are exposed to preadoptive stressors--such as prenatal substance exposure, child maltreatment, and out-of-home placements--that increase their risks for psychosocial maladjustment. Psychosocial adjustment of adopted children emerges as the product of pre- and postadoptive factors. This study builds on previous research, which fails to simultaneously assess the influences of pre- and postadoptive factors, by examining the impact of adoptive family sense of coherence on adoptee's psychosocial adjustment beyond the effects of preadoptive risks. Using a sample of adoptive families (n = 385) taking part in the California Long Range Adoption Study, structural equation modeling analyses were performed. Results indicate a significant impact of family sense of coherence on adoptees' psychosocial adjustment and a considerably less significant role of preadoptive risks. The findings suggest the importance of assessing adoptive family's ability to respond to stress and of helping families to build and maintain their capacity to cope with stress despite the sometimes fractious pressures of adoption.

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• Behavioral outcomes for substance-exposed adopted children: Fourteen years postadoption.

  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · 2008-01-01 · 39 citations

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  From a life course perspective, studies of cumulative disadvantage often identify early risk factors as predictors of poor outcomes. This study examined the influence of prenatal substance exposure on children's externalizing behaviors at 14 years postadoption. Using Wave 4 data from the California Long-Range Adoption Study, the authors employed growth curve modeling to examine behavioral trajectories of 275 children as influenced by foster care status, age at adoption, and gender. Outcomes are measured using a shortened Behavioral Problem Index. Prenatal exposure predicted elevated behavior problems that increased normatively compared with nonexposed children, and were not found to trigger the negative behavior sequelae once feared. Foster children tended to fare better over the life course than those adopted through other means, except for children adopted at older ages. Adopted children's problem behaviors may be directly associated with the success of their placements. The authors discuss implications for practice and future research.

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• Organizational constructs as predictors of effectiveness in child welfare interventions.

  PubMed · 2007-05-10 · 51 citations

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  Organizational context, including line worker characteristics and service settings, may help explain the equivocal findings of intervention studies in the field of child welfare. Yet organizational context has been largely ignored in studies of child welfare interventions. The purpose of this article is to expound upon the likely role of the organizational context in explaining service effectiveness in child welfare. Several bodies of literature within child welfare and human service organization and administration are reviewed and synthesized. A conceptual framework that can be used to guide future child welfare research is then proposed.

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• Influences of Risk History and Adoption Preparation on Post‐Adoption Services Use in U.S. Adoptions*

  Family Relations · 2007-09-06 · 61 citations

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  Abstract: In spite of the need for pre‐ and post‐adoption support, studies indicate low levels of services utilization among adoptive families, particularly those involving children with special needs. This study examines the relationship between utilization of adoptions services and adoptive child and family characteristics, pre‐adoptive risk history, and provision of adoption preparation services. A longitudinal survey of 560 adoptive parents reveals significant but differential influences of pre‐adoptive risk history and pre‐adoptive preparation services on use of both general and clinical post‐adoption services over time. Findings support the need for long‐term post‐adoption services for adoptive families, especially for families who adopt a child with special needs. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are discussed.

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• Adopted foster youths’ psychosocial functioning: a longitudinal perspective

  Child & Family Social Work · 2007-03-22 · 70 citations

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  ABSTRACT Researchers have long debated whether adopted youth manifest disproportionate levels of psychological dysfunction compared with non‐adopted youth. Yet, missing from the debate has been a clear understanding of the specific subgroups of adopted youth who may develop behaviour problems and of the risk factors associated with various vulnerable populations. This longitudinal study examined one subpopulation of adopted youth – former foster children – in order to determine their immediate and long‐term functioning, particularly in comparison with their adopted non‐foster care peers. The central goal of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of behavioural problems in adopted foster youth compared with adopted non‐foster youth and to chart the longitudinal course of their behavioural problems. Participants included adopted foster youth ( n = 293) and adopted non‐foster youth ( n = 312) from a statewide sample of adopted youth, aged 2–18 years. Data were collected from the adoptive parents at approximately 2, 4 and 8 years after adoption. Adoptive parents rated youths’ functioning with the Behaviour Problems Inventory. According to parental report, a striking number of the foster youth displayed behaviour problems, although the non‐foster care group of children also displayed noteworthy levels of problem behaviours. The rates of behaviour problems in both groups far exceed what is observed in the general population of children.

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Frequent coauthors

• Richard P. Barth

  16 shared

• Leslie H. Wind

  5 shared

• Jane Yoo

  5 shared

• Sigrid James

  4 shared

• James David Simon

  California State University Los Angeles

  3 shared

• Hansung Kim

  Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute

  2 shared

• Karie Frasch

  2 shared

• Cassandra Simmel

  2 shared

Awards & honors

• Culture of Mentoring Award (2009)
• Mellon Faculty to Faculty Mentoring Award (2008)