Erin Devorah Carreon

Researcher

Erin Devorah Carreon is a Researcher at Chapin Hall, where she works to address the gender-, race-, and class-based devaluation of community care work by focusing on workforce issues and job quality in human services. She is especially interested in improving jobs for social service workers who share lived experiences with the populations they serve and is currently researching workforce compensation in early childhood home visiting services.

In Carreon’s previous work at Chapin Hall, she has used mixed methods to provide decision-makers with actionable information to improve access to quality early care and education, housing, and career pathways. She has codirected qualitative studies on rural youth homelessness and child care decision making.

Prior to coming to Chapin Hall, Carreon managed a research team at the University of Chicago, investigating the instability of low-wage retail work schedules and effects on workers and their families. She was also a social worker and child advocate (guardian ad litem) for the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, where she visited and advocated for unaccompanied minors in immigration detention in Illinois and Texas.

Carreon is currently a social work PhD student at the University of Chicago. She holds a Master of Arts in Social Work from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of British Columbia.

Master of Arts in Social Work, University of Chicago
Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies, University of British Columbia

Burkhardt, T., Carreon, E. D., & Spielberger, J. (2025, May). Strengthening reflective capacity and shifting perceptions of child behavior to increase inclusion. In E. Shenberger (Chair), Inclusion in Illinois: One state’s approach to promoting inclusive classrooms. Symposium conducted at the Society for Research in Child Development 2025 Biennial Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.

Carreon, E. D., Lambert, S. J. & Swanson, R. (2024, June). How retail work scheduling practices reproduce racial inequities. Work and Family Researchers Network 7th Biennial Conference in Montreal, Quebec.

Carreon, E. D., Griffin, A. M., McDaniel, B., & Dworsky, A. (2023, January). How can home visiting programs better support families experiencing homelessness? In E. Carreon (Chair), Benefits and challenges in meeting families’ specific needs through early childhood programs and services: Implications for reducing intergenerational poverty. Symposium conducted at the 27th meeting of the Society for Social Work and Research.

Lambert, S., Swanson, R., Nadon, M., Cho, H., Carreon, E. D., & Haley, A. (2022, June). Managing in the context of COVID-19: The experiences of frontline retail and food service managers. In S. Lambert (Chair), Essential but undervalued: Experiences of care workers and service workers in the context of COVID-19. Symposium conducted at the Work and Family Researchers Network 6th Biennial Conference, New York, NY.

Carreon, E. D., Pacheco-Applegate, A., Spielberger, J., & Thomas, W. C. (2021, January). Latinx mothers’ perceptions of child care supply in two Chicago communities. In J. Henly (Chair), The changing context of early care and education for Latinx families. Symposium conducted at the 25th meeting of the Society for Social Work and Research.

Pacheco-Applegate, A., Carreon, E. D., & Spielberger, J. (2021, January). Understanding the educational and professional development needs of the early care and education workforce. In J. Henly (Chair), The changing context of early care and education for Latinx families. Symposium conducted at the 25th meeting of the Society for Social Work and Research.

Burkhardt, T., Huang, L. A., Carreon, E. D., & Schlecht, C. (2019, September). Coming together to promote healthy child development: Evaluation of a community coalition. Presentation at the 2019 Prevent Child Abuse America National Conference, Milwaukee, WI.

Rapoport, E., Lansing, J., & Schlecht, C. (2018, June). Summer jobs programming, young workers, and their family responsibilities and support. Paper presented at the 2018 Work and Family Researchers Network Conference (WFRN), Washington, DC.

Rapoport, E. (2018, June). They’re not working for beer money. In Improving work schedules in hourly retail jobs: Business and employee outcomes from a randomized experiment. Symposium conducted at the 2018 Work and Family Researchers Network Conference, Washington, DC.

Carreon, E. D. (2018, June). Millennials in retail: They’re not just working for beer money. Part of the symposium: Improving work schedules in hourly retail jobs: Business and employee outcomes from a randomized experiment. Paper presented at the 2018 Work and Family Researchers Network Conference (WFRN), Washington, DC.

Rapoport, E., Schlecht, C., & Lansing, J. (2017, November). More than a paycheck: How a summer youth employment program helps emerging adults become change-makers of their own trajectories. Poster presented at the 8th biennial meeting of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood, Washington, DC.

Rapoport, E., & Ge, L. (2013, June). Is Gary getting its fair share? Presentation to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, Chicago, IL.

Bouris, A., Rapoport, E., Dekleva, A., Acosta, S., & Perez, B. (2013, January). Familial, social and cultural influences on HIV risk and prevention among Latino men who have sex with men. Presented at the 17th Annual Conferences of the Society for Social Work and Research, San Diego, CA.

Rapoport, E. (2009, March). Ru’kotz’i’j Tinaamit, a Mayan beauty pageant in San Juan la Laguna. Paper presented at the 69th Annual Meeting for the Society for Applied Anthropology, Santa Fe, NM.

2024 Affilia Award for Distinguished Feminist Scholarship and Praxis in Social Work

Pho, M. T., Bouris, A., Carreon, E. D., Stinnette, M., Kaufmann, M., Shuman, V., Watson, D. P., Jimenez, A. D., Powell, B., Kaplan, C., Zawacki, S., Morris, S., Garcia, J., Hafertepe, A., Hafertepe, K., Pollack, H. A., Schneider, J. A., & Boodram, B. (2025). Implementation strategies to support recovery support workers serving criminal legal involved people who use drugs. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 169, 209583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.josat.2024.209583

Spielberger, J., Burkhardt, T., Carreon, E. D., & Gitlow, E. (2024). Fostering healthy social and emotional climates in early childhood classrooms through infant and early childhood mental health consultation. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 67(2), 307–319.

Swanson, R., & Carreon, E. D. (2024). Uncovering the transformative labor in Black women’s community work. Affilia.

Carreon, E. D. (2023). Expected to work for free: The profession of social work’s complicity in its own devaluation. Affilia, 39(1), 12–18.

Rapoport, E. D. (2014). The politics of disinvestment and development in Gary, Indiana. The Advocates’ Forum, 20-26. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Available at: https://ssa.uchicago.edu/politics-disinvestment-and-development-gary-indiana

Op-Eds

Carreon, E. D., Pacheco-Applegate, A., & Coffman, V. (2021). COVID-19 burdens child care deserts. Chicago Sun-Times.

External technical reports & briefs

Tallant, J., Carreon, E., Rust. K., Parekh, J. (2023). Research on promising strategies for trauma-responsive, affirming care. Child Trends. https://activatecenter.org/resource/research-on-promising-strategies-for-trauma-responsive-affirming-care

Williams, J. C., Lambert, S. J., Kesavan, S., Korn, R. M., Fugiel, P., Carreon, E. D., Bellisle, D., Jarpe, M., & McCorkell, L. (2019). Stable Scheduling Study: Health outcomes report. San Francisco, CA: Worklife Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law. Summary and report available at: https://worklifelaw.org/projects/stable-scheduling-study/stable-scheduling-health-outcomes/

Williams, J. C., Lambert, S. J., Kesavan, S., Fugiel, P., Ospina, L. A., Rapoport, E. D., Jarpe, M., Bellisle, D., Pendem, P., McCorkell, L., & Adler-Milstein, S. (2018). Stable scheduling increases productivity and sales. San Francisco, CA: Worklife Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law. Summary and report available at: https://worklifelaw.org/projects/stable-scheduling-study/report/

Key Work

Key Work

Report
Home Visiting Services Help Homeless Families Navigate Children’s Health and Development
This report examines Start Early's Home Visiting for Homeless Families project and its progress toward increasing access to home visiting services among...
2022
Report
Illinois Model of Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Improves Staff Reflective Capacity, Classroom Climate
We conducted a 3-year pilot study of the Illinois Model of IECMHC with 23 early childhood programs, including child care, pre-K, and home visiting.
2021
Report
Chicago Latino Communities Face Limited Supply and Other Barriers to Accessing Child Care to Meet Their Needs
This study explores how Latino families living in predominantly Latino communities in Chicago make childcare decisions relative to the density of formal care...
2020
Report
Direct Cash Transfers Programs Can Help Youth Sustainably Exit Homelessness
This report suggests ways to design a smart, responsive direct cash transfers programs to support youth experiencing homelessness.
2020
Report
Rural Communities Need Funding and Support to Address Rural Youth Homelessness
This qualitative study explores the challenges that rural communities in the U.S. face in addressing youth homelessness.
2020
Research
Two-Generation Pilot Program Improves Young Parents’ Education, Employment, Personal Growth, and Parenting
CYPP was designed to improve parenting, personal growth, and family self-sufficiency by supporting education and employment. Chapin Hall conducted three studies...
2020
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