My name is Daniel Gibbs. I am a doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work. I am currently working to complete my dissertation entitled "Understanding Foster Youths’ Mental Health Services Access and Pathways to Care," and am seeking a tenure-track social work faculty position for Fall 2023.

As a former attorney and social worker practicing in the child welfare and child mental health systems, my research seeks to understand and improve professional decision-making within these systems to promote positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. I have worked primarily on research projects investigating the potential for innovative data science tools, high-quality interprofessional collaboration, family-centered practice, and effective judicial procedures to produce more accurate and consistent decisions.

I have chosen a career in social work research as I believe this will allow me to use my analytical and collaborative skills to produce a positive impact in these critically important systems. Further, I believe that working in an academic context will (1) permit me to pursue a community-engaged research agenda that will accomplish these goals and (2) provide the kind of diverse and challenging collaborative environment that I have learned to value in my research and practice experiences. I truly appreciate the manner in which such environments facilitate ongoing growth and learning, and I hope to serve as a resource for others in this way through research, teaching, and service.

I have created this website to share my prior, current, and future work in these areas. Please take a look at sections highlighting my research, teaching, and data science projects, and feel free to reach out to chat via my contact information below.