Holly White-Wolfe
Senior Policy Analyst
Holly White-Wolfe is a Senior Policy Analyst at Chapin Hall whose work advances prevention-focused policy and systems changes by using population- and community-level data to examine the structural conditions that shape child and family well-being. She integrates structural data analysis, narrative change methodology, and racial equity frameworks to help agencies and systems move beyond individual-level explanations toward policy responses that address a broader ecosystem of causes.
At Chapin Hall, White-Wolfe has led analytic and methodological development for the Children’s Adversity Index, a statewide data infrastructure initiative used to guide equitable resource allocation and cross-system planning in Illinois. Her scholarship challenges deficit-based narratives in child welfare and contributes to the evidence base on structural drivers of neglect, material hardship, and racial inequity. She applies rigorous quantitative methods, including regression modeling, index construction, and administrative data integration, to produce findings that inform state agency practice and policy.
Before joining Chapin Hall, White-Wolfe spent nearly two decades in county government leading prevention and evaluation initiatives across child welfare, public health, and education systems in Sonoma County, California.
Her independent research agenda uses quantitative methods and narrative change frameworks to examine how community adversity, racial inequity, and structural conditions shape family outcomes and inform more effective prevention policy, with peer-reviewed publications and manuscripts currently under review. Her work is rooted in the belief that thriving communities are built not by fixing people but by restoring the structural conditions that make resilience, agency, and belonging possible.
PhD in Justice Studies, Arizona State University, 2023
Master of Business Administration, California State University, San Francisco, 2007
Bachelor of Arts in Special Major: Community Development, California State University, Sonoma, 1999
Anti-Racist Results-Based Accountability Practitioner, 2023
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Interface Master Trainer on Neurobiology, Epigenetics, Adversity, and Resilience (NEAR Science) and the Self-Healing Communities Model, 2016
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s Western Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies’ Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training, 2005
Blumenthal, A., White-Wolfe, H., & Thomas, M. (2026, January). Still blaming parents? Describing the “evidence base” underpinning child neglect intervention programs [Peer-reviewed poster presentation]. Society for Social Work and Research 30th Annual Conference: Leading for Transformative Change—Aligning Social Work Science with Policy and Practice, Washington, DC, United States.
Creavey, K., White-Wolfe, H., Townley, B., Harison, A., Wei, X., & Marret, J. (2025, June). Using continuous quality improvement (CQI) towards equitable prevention services. Session presented in the Innovative Practice and Policy in Human Services track at the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) National Human Services Summit 2025, Philadelphia, PA. [Co-author; Not a presenter; Peer-Reviewed]
Briar-Lawson, K., White-Wolfe, H., Hefty, M., Wallen, J., Good, L., Larkin, H. (2019, October). Building community collaboration to address trauma & promote resilience: A partnership panel by Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) Project Communities & National Center for Excellence in Homeless Services. Workshop session presented at the Council for Social Work Education Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. [Presenter; Peer-Reviewed]
White-Wolfe, H., Briar-Lawson, K., Goode, L., Larkin, H., Hefty, M., & Wallen, J. (2019, June). Building community collaboration to address trauma and promote resilience. Workshop session presented at Accelerating Impact, the Network for Social Work Management 30th Annual Conference, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL. [Presenter; Peer-Reviewed]
Briar-Lawson, K., White-Wolfe, H., Dettlaff, A., & Larkin, H. (2018, June). Disruptive innovation and inclusionary practices in post-disaster human services management. Workshop session presented at Disruptive Leadership, the Network for Social Work Management 29th Annual Conference, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. [Presenter; Peer-Reviewed]
White-Wolfe, H., & Brown, D. (2018, January). Building resilience within children and families in California. Workshop session presented at the International Transformational Resilience Coalition’s Preparing People for Climate Change in California Conference, California Endowment Office, Oakland, CA. [Presenter]
White-Wolfe, H., Mack, D., Feldman, C., Higa, G., & Finch, B. (2017, October). Becoming self-healing communities: A panel discussion. Plenary session at the Bridges to Resilience Conference, Santa Barbara County Children’s System of Care, Buellton, CA. [Invited Panelist]
Professional Development Training Participant, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, 2022–2023
Graduate College Completion Fellowship, Arizona State University, 2022–2023
Summer Research Institute Participant, National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Cornell University, 2020
White-Wolfe, H., & Denby, R. (2026). Evidence for expanding policy: The connection between community adversity and foster care entry. Journal of Public Child Welfare 0(0), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2026.2643284
Blumenthal, A., White-Wolfe, H., & Thomas, M. (2025). Still blaming parents?: Describing the “evidence base” underpinning child neglect intervention programs (Preprint). OSF Preprints. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/dp9yu_v1
White-Wolfe, H., Seng, T., DeGuerre, K., Adaranijo, E., & Briar-Lawson, K. (2024). Child welfare practices to address the economic and concrete needs of families challenged by child neglect. In K. Briar-Lawson & P. Day (Eds.), Child neglect, inequity, and poverty: Practice innovations (Vol. 2, pp. 55–86). Child Welfare League of America.
Seng, T., White-Wolfe, H., Briar-Lawson, K., & De Guerre, K. (2024). Neglect and prevention policies data [Data set]. National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN). https://doi.org/10.34681/4D21-NR74
White-Wolfe, H. J. (2023). Alternative narrative to inadequate parenting: The Community Adversity Index. [Doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2814269345
White-Wolfe, H., Charron-Chénier, R., & Denby-Brinson, R. (2021). Association between community-level material hardships and foster care entry by race/ethnicity. Child Welfare, 99(4), 105–136.
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