Deborah Daro is a Chapin Hall Research Fellow with over 20 years of experience in evaluating child abuse treatment and prevention programs and has directed some of the largest multi-site program evaluations completed in the field. Currently, she is leading the development of the Doris Duke Fellowships for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. This new program aims to identify and nurture promising leaders and innovative approaches to child abuse prevention. Most recently, Dr. Daro has focused on developing reform strategies that embed individualized, targeted prevention efforts within more universal efforts to alter normative standards and community context. She also is examining strategies to create more effective partnerships among public child welfare agencies, community-based prevention efforts, and informal support systems.

Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Dr. Daro served as the Director of the National Center on Child Abuse Prevention Research, a program of the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.

Dr. Daro has published and lectured widely. Her commentaries and findings are frequently cited in the rationale for numerous child abuse prevention and treatment reforms. Most recently, she testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in support of the President Obama’s proposal to provide home visiting services to assist new parents in caring for their infants. She has served as President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and as Treasurer and an Executive Council member of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Dr. Daro holds a Ph.D. in Social Welfare and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of California at Berkeley.