Julie McCrae
Senior Researcher
Dr. Julie McCrae is Senior Researcher at Chapin Hall. McCrae specializes in systems change, including programmatic innovations, to prevent early childhood adversity and promote child and family well-being. Her expertise is in adverse childhood experiences and social determinants of health with a specialty in early childhood. McCrae takes a social ecological approach to research, studying factors to wellness at the micro and macro levels. Her research employs quantitative and qualitative methodology. Her skills are primarily in quantitative methods, including experimental and quasi-experimental study design, analysis of complex, longitudinal survey data, and analysis of administrative data in agencies such as child welfare, Medicaid, and nonprofit databases.
At Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, McCrae leads research and evaluation in community collaboratives to improve health and well-being and prevent adversity; prevention programs related to child maltreatment and child welfare involvement; and social determinants of health. She was Principal Investigator of Evaluating Community Approaches to Preventing or Mitigating Toxic Stress, a multisite, national study of innovations in pediatric health care to address and mitigate toxic stress in infants. She is Co-Principal Investigator of 100% Community, a collective impact model developed and implemented by the Anna, Age Eight Institute at New Mexico State University. McCrae is Co-Investigator of Maltreatment in Out of Home Care, which uses national data to determine child maltreatment incidence among children in foster care and engages a Youth Advisory Board to co-interpret findings and develop recommendations. She is Co-Principal Investigator of prevention programs implemented in Nebraska’s Family First Prevention Services Plan (FFPSA), where she led a statewide prevention services gap analysis to inform design of the state’s prevention plan.
Prior to her work at Chapin Hall, McCrae was Research Associate Professor at the University of Denver, where she conducted child welfare, child development, and pediatric health care research. Her work has been published in journals such as Archives of Public Health, Prevention Science, Children’s Health Care, and Child Abuse & Neglect.  She was previously Evaluation Consultant with the Children’s Bureau Center for States, and Lead Evaluator of the Mountains and Plains Child Welfare Implementation Center (MPCWIC).
McCrae holds a PhD and MSW from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University.
PhD in Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
MSW, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
BA in Psychology, Pennsylvania State University
Invited
McCrae, J. S. (2018, February). Ribbons of resiliency: Individuals, families, and communities. Invited keynote at the Annual Pueblo County Resource Sharing Day, Pueblo, CO.
McCrae, J. S. (2017, November). Children and adversity: Applied intervention in primary care. Invited symposium presentation at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Family Relations, Orlando, FL.
Lau, C., McCrae, J. S., & Dempsey, L.D. (2016, April). Support, Connect and Nurture (SCAN): Assessing for adverse childhood experiences in primary care. Invited presentation at Peaceful Households Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Conference, Colorado Springs, CO.
Leckie, K., Dempsey, L. D., Hasenack, J., & McCrae, J. S. (2016, February). Support, Connect and Nurture (SCAN): Assessing for adverse childhood experiences in primary care. Invited presentation to Collaborative Family Health Care Association (CFHA) Webinar Series.
McCrae, J. S., Scannapieco, M., & Leake, R. (2014, October). Implementation science in child welfare. Webinar presented to Practice and Research Together (PART), Ontario, Canada.
McCrae, J. S. (2009, November). Propensity score matching strategies for social services research. Doctoral seminar, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, Pittsburgh, PA.
McCrae, J.S. (2009, June). State of the art: Best practices in screening young children in child welfare. National Center on Children in Poverty Roundtable Discussion on Strengthening Early Childhood Supports in the Child Welfare System, New York, NY.
Peer-reviewed
Brown, S. M., Bender, K., McCrae, J. S., Phillips, J., & Rienks, S. (2016, October). Adverse childhood experiences as predictors of health profiles among families involved with child welfare. Paper presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO.
McCrae, J. S., Rienks, S., Phillips, J., Bender, K., & Brown, S. M. (2016, October). Health profiles of children and youth with accumulating ACES: Implications for the medical home model. Paper presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO.
McCrae, J. S., Rienks, S. R., & Hasenack, J. (2016, August). Adverse childhood experiences and child health: Concurrent associations and implications for the medical home. Two papers presented at the Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma (IVAT) International Summit, San Diego, CA.
Strolin-Goltzman, J., Collins-Camargo, C., Akin, B., & McCrae, J. S. (2015, October). Community assessment data and the development of trauma-informed, data-driven child welfare systems. Panel presentation at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, Denver, CO.
McCrae, J. S., Brown, S. M, & Lo, J. (2015, October). Enhancing early childhood outcomes: Connecting child welfare and Head Start. Paper presented at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, Denver, CO.
Packard, T., McCrae, J. S., & Scannapieco, M. (2015, January). Organizational change tactics in an initiative to improve child welfare programs in 13 counties: Impacts and perspectives on project success. Paper presented at the Nineteenth Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, New Orleans, LA.
Brown, S. M., Klein, S., & McCrae, J. S. (2014, October). Using social network analysis to evaluate child welfare-early childhood collaboration. Paper presented at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Conference, Tampa, FL.
Whitney, G., Klein, S., Falconer, M.K., & McCrae, J. S. (2014, May). Evaluations of collaborations that engage early childhood education and child welfare: Methodological approaches and evidence across multiple ACF grants. Panel presentation at the 19th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, New Orleans, LA.
Whitney, G., Klein, S., Pujol-Nassif, M., & McCrae, J. S. (2014, May). Making connections between early childhood and child welfare programs: The experiences of the 2011 child welfare-early childhood grantees. Panel presentation at the 19th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, New Orleans, LA.
Brittain, C., Jones, K., Scannapieco, M., & McCrae, J. S. (2013, August). An implementation success story: Experiences from the AR C.I.R.C.L.E.S. Project. Panel presentation at the 2013 Global Implementation Conference, Washington, DC.
Packard, T., McCrae, J. S., Scannapieco, M., & Menefee, D. (2013, May). Implementation of organizational change processes to improve public child welfare programs in 13 Colorado counties. Paper presentation at the Network for Social Work Management Annual Institute, Newark, NJ.
McCrae, J. S., Scannapieco, M., Leake, R., Potter, C., & Menefee, D. (2013, January).Who’s on board?: Child welfare worker reports of need for organizational change. Paper presented at the Sixteenth Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, San Diego, CA.
Armstrong, M. I., Deakins, B., DePanfilis, D., & McCrae, J. S. (2012, January). Using implementation science evaluation frameworks to guide organizational decision making related to complex systems reforms in public child welfare. Roundtable presented at the 16th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, Washington, DC.
McCrae, J. S., Fusco, R., Rauktis, M. E. (2011, January). Directions for developmental screening in child welfare using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires. Paper presented at the Fifteenth Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, New Orleans, LA.
McCrae, J. S. (2010, January). Review of mental health screening instruments for young children in child welfare. Paper presented at the Fourteenth Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, San Francisco, CA.
Barth, R. P., McCrae, J. S., Lee, B., & Rauktis, M. E. (2009, January). Comparing three years of well-being outcomes for group residential care and nonkinship foster care. Paper presented at the Thirteenth Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, New Orleans, LA.
McCrae, J. S., & Fusco, R. (2008, October). Family group decision-making with African American and Caucasian families: Referrals, satisfaction, and services. Paper presented at the Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education, Philadelphia, PA.
Scarborough, A., & McCrae, J. S. (2008, June). A national picture of the developmental outcomes of five year olds, maltreated as infants. Poster presented at Head Start’s Ninth National Research Conference, Washington, DC.
Scarborough, A., & McCrae, J. S. (2007, December). Developmental profiles of preschoolers maltreated as infants and toddlers. Paper presentation at the National Early Childhood Conference, Washington, DC.
Scarborough, A., & McCrae, J. S. (2007, October). Developmental profiles of preschoolers maltreated as infants and toddlers. Paper presentation at the Twenty-third Annual Conference on Young Children with Special Needs and their Families, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
McCrae, J. S., Guo, S., & the NSCAW Research Group. (2005, July). Psychological symptoms among young maltreated children: Do services make a difference? Paper presentation at the Ninth International Family Violence Research Conference, Portsmouth, NH.
McCrae, J.S., Lloyd, E. C., Guo, S., & NSCAW Research Group. (2005, January). Family-based services and children’s mental health: Using propensity scores matching to inform service planning. Panel presentation at the Ninth Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, Miami, FL.
McCrae, J. S., Chapman, M. V., & NSCAW Research Group (2004, July). Family risks, abuse severity, and the well-being of sexually abused children: A latent profile analysis. Paper presented at the Eighth International Family Violence Research Conference, Portsmouth, NH.
McCrae, J. S., Wildfire, J., Green, R. L., Barth, R. P., & NSCAW Research Group (2004, January). Achieving permanency for children in child welfare. Panel presentation at the Eighth Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, New Orleans, LA.
McCrae, J. S., Barth, R. P., Green, R. L., & NSCAW Research Group (2003, July). Risk assessment, maltreatment types and severity, and paths into child welfare services. Panel presentation at the Seventh International Family Violence Research Conference, Portsmouth, NH.
McCrae, J. S., & Arledge, K. (2002, October). Team decision making in Durham County: Policy, practice, and data at one year. Presentation at the North Carolina Social Services Institute, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Morrissey, J. P., Rumptz, M., McCrae, J. S., Sowards, S., Broner, N., & Frisman, L. (2000, January). Integrated services for clients with co-occurring disorders. Presented at the 1st Annual Conference of the National GAINS Center for Persons with Co-occurring Disorders in the Justice System, Miami, FL.
Annie E. Casey Common Elements of Mental Health Treatment Fellow, 2009
Turner Dissertation Award, University of North Carolina, 2006
Graduate School Smith Travel Grant, University of North Carolina, 2005
Brody Fellowship, University of North Carolina, 2001
Spain, A. K., Korfmacher, J., & McCrae, J. S. (2023). Coordination challenges and promising practices for pediatric healthcare-community partnerships: A multi-site study. Journal of Community Psychology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcop.23015
Schwartz, L. F., Tan, M. M., McCrae, J. S., Burkhardt, T., Ness, K. K., & Henderson, T. O. (2022). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and resilience in childhood and adolescent/young adult (AYA) cancer patients. Pediatric Blood & Cancer. doi: 10.22541/au.166305964.48360208/v1
Monahan, E., Daferede, S., & McCrae, J. S. (2022). Pre-pandemic adversity buffers the role of social loneliness in depression and extreme stress among caregivers of infants during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Public Health, 67, 1604675. doi: 10.3389/ijph2022.1604675
Byers, K., Monahan, E., McCrae, J. S., Robinson, J. L., & Finno-Velasquez, M. (2022). Improving child health and healthcare use outcomes: How risk, resilience and parent engagement intersect in pediatric primary care. Prevention Science, 23(7), 1143–1155. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01389-x
Moreno, A. J., Byers, K., Monahan, E., Robinson, J. L., & McCrae, J. S. (2021). Beyond overwhelmed: A new measure of the functional impact of toxic stress on parents of young children. Children and Youth Services Review, 131. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106280
McCrae, J. S., Robinson, J. L., Spain, A., Byers, K., & Axelrod, J. (2021). The Mitigating Toxic Stress study design: Approaches to developmental evaluation of pediatric health care innovations addressing social determinants of health and toxic stress. BMC Health Services Research, 21, 71. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-48890/v2
Brisson, D., McCune, S., Wilson, J. H., Speer, S. R., McCrae, J. S., & Calhoun, K. H. (2020). A systematic review of the association between toxic stress and poverty. Journal of Evidence-based Social Work, 17(6), 696–713. https://doi.org/10.1080/26408066.2020.1769786
Brown, S. M., Bender, K., Orsi, R., McCrae, J. S., Phillips, J., & Rienks, S. (2019). Adverse Childhood Experiences and their relationship to complex health profiles among child welfare-involved children and youth: A classification and regression tree analysis. Health Services Research. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13166
Brown, S. M., Rienks, S., McCrae, J., & Watamura, S. (2018). The co-occurence of adverse childhood experiences among children investigated for child maltreatment: A latent class analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.11.010
McCrae, J. S., Bender, K., Brown, S. M., Phillips, J. D., & Rienks, S. (2018). Adverse childhood experiences and complex health concerns among child welfare-involved children: Treatment and prevention opportunities in the medical home. Children’s Health Care. doi:10.1080/02739615.2018.1446140
Pandey, A., Littlewood, K., Cooper, L., McCrae, J. S., Rosenthal, M., Day, A., & Hernandez, L. (2018). Connecting older grandmothers raising grandchildren with community resources improves family resiliency, social support, and caregiver self-efficacy. Journal of Women & Aging. doi:10.1080/08952841.2p018.1444940
Wacker, A. D., Rienks, S. L., & McCrae, J. S. (2017). Studying the impact of a literacy intervention in early childhood classrooms: Strategies and lessons learned for implementing a quasi-experimental design. SAGE Research Methods Cases. Available from https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/sage-research-methods-cases
Strolin-Goltzman, J., McCrae, J. S., & Emery, T. (2017). Trauma-informed resource parent training and the impact on knowledge acquisition, parenting self-efficacy, and child behavior outcomes: A pilot of the RPC+. Journal of Public Child Welfare. doi:10.1080/15548732.2017.1352555
Rienks, S., Phillips, J. D., McCrae, J. S., Bender, K., & Brown, S. M. (2017). Complex health concerns among child welfare populations and the benefit of pediatric medical homes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 65, 212-225.
McCrae, J. S., & Brown, S. M. (2017). Review of mental health screening instruments for use with young children involved with child welfare. Research on Social Work Practice. doi:10.1177/1049731516686691
McCrae, J. S., Brown, S. M., Yang, J., & Groneman, S. (2015). Enhancing early childhood outcomes: Connecting child welfare and Head Start. Early Child Development and Care, 186(7), 1110-1125. doi: 10.1080/03004430.2015.1077818
McCrae, J. S., Scannapieco, M., & Obermann, A. (2015). Retention and job satisfaction of child welfare supervisors. Children and Youth Services Review, 59, 171-176. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.11.011
Packard, T., McCrae, J. S., Phillips, J., & Scannapieco, M. (2015). Measuring organizational change tactics to improve child welfare programs: Experiences in 13 counties. Human Service Organizations, 39(5), 444-458.doi:10.1080/23303131.2015.1067268
Brown, S. M., Klein, S., & McCrae, J. S. (2014). Collaborative relationships and improved service coordination among child welfare and early childhood systems. Child Welfare, 93, 91-116.
McCrae, J. S., Scannapieco, M., Leake, R., Potter, C., & Menefee, D. (2014). Who’s on board?: Child welfare worker reports of need and readiness for organizational change. Children and Youth Services Review, 37, 28-35.
Armstrong, M. I., McCrae, J. S., Graef, M. I., Richards, T., Lambert, D., & Bright, C. L. (2014). Development and initial findings of an implementation process measure for child welfare system change. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 8, 94-117.
McCrae, J. S., Cahalane, H., & Fusco, R. (2011). Directions for developmental screening in child welfare using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires. Children & Youth Services Review, 33, 1412-1418.
Fusco, R., Rauktis, M. E., McCrae, J. S., Cunningham, M., & Bradley-King, C. (2010). Aren’t they just black kids?: Biracial children in the child welfare system. Child and Family Social Work, 15, 441-451.
McCrae, J. S., Barth, R. P., & Guo, S. (2010). Changes in maltreated children’s emotional-behavioral problems following typically provided mental health services. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 350-361.
McCrae, J. S., Lee, B., Barth, R. P., & Rauktis, M. E. (2010). Comparing three years of well-being outcomes for group residential care and nonkinship foster care. Child Welfare, 89, 229-249.
McCrae, J. S., & Fusco, R. (2010). A racial comparison of Family Group Decision Making in the USA. Child and Family Social Work, 15, 41-55.
Scarborough, A., & McCrae, J. S. (2010). School-age special education outcomes of infants and toddlers investigated for maltreatment. Children & Youth Services Review, 30, 80-88.
McCrae, J. S. (2009). Emotional and behavioral problems reported in child welfare over three years. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 17, 17-28.
Scarborough, A., & McCrae, J. S. (2008). Maltreated infants: Reported eligibility for Part C and later school-age special education services. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 28, 75-89.
Barth, R. P., Guo, S., & McCrae, J. S. (2008). Propensity score matching strategies for evaluating the success of child and family service programs. Research on Social Work Practice, 18, 198-211.
McCrae, J. S., & Barth, R. P. (2008). Using cumulative risk to screen for mental health problems in child welfare. Research on Social Work Practice, 18, 144-159.
McCrae, J. S., Chapman, M. V., & Christ, S. L. (2006). Profile of children investigated for sexual abuse: Association with psychopathology symptoms and services. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 468-481.
Chapman, M. V., Gibbons, C. B., Barth, R. P., McCrae, J. S., & the NSCAW Research Group (2003). Parent views of in-home services: What predicts satisfaction with child welfare workers? Child Welfare, 82, 571-596.