Clare Anderson
Senior Policy Fellow
Clare Anderson is a Senior Policy Fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. She uses research, policy, and fiscal levers to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families. Anderson engages child welfare agencies, stakeholders, and constituents in large-scale system change. This includes guiding states to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act. Additionally, Anderson is a national thought leader on economic and concrete supports as core to prevention of child welfare involvement, and the development of a family and child well-being system that prioritizes family support and cross-sector partnerships.
Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Anderson was Deputy Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF). There, she provided leadership for federal programs including child welfare, runaway and homeless youth, domestic and intimate partner violence, and teen pregnancy prevention. During her tenure at ACYF, Anderson co-led the development and implementation of a national well-being policy agenda. She was among the chief architects of the effort to address trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and toxic stress in children known to child welfare. Anderson spent a decade at the Center for the Study of Social Policy helping states and urban jurisdictions change policies and practices to improve outcomes. This included initiatives such as Family to Family and Community Partnerships for Protecting Children, as well as federal court-ordered monitoring of child welfare agencies. Anderson started her career as a frontline social worker.
Anderson holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Alabama.
Master of Social Work, University of Alabama
Anderson, C., Grewal-Kök, Y., & Thomas, K. (2023, April). TANF & child welfare collaboration: Preventative strategies focused on family well-being: A Review of the evidence and implications for practice. Co-presenter at Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) webinar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5iwKqLD9Io
Grewal-Kök, Y., Cusick, G., Anderson, C., Weiner, D., Thomas, K., & Heaton, L. (2023). Economic and concrete supports: Core strategies to promote family well-being and race equity. In K. Briar-Lawson, P. Day, & L. Azzi-Lessing (Eds.), Child neglect, inequity, and poverty: Contextual issues and implications (pp. 1–42). Child Welfare League of America.
Puls, H. T., Chung, P. J., & Anderson, C. (2022). Universal child care as a policy to prevent child maltreatment. Pediatrics, e2022056660. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-056660
Citrin, A., Martin, M., & Anderson, C. (2022). Investing in families through economic supports: An anti-racist approach to supporting families and reducing child welfare involvement. Child Welfare, 100(1), 51–79.