CHHS News

Dr. Austin Griffiths, Director of WKU’s LifeSkills Center for Child Welfare Education and Research, testified before the Child Welfare Oversight and Advisory Committee in Frankfort on October 13th, 2021.

Griffiths, a former state social worker, advocated for the State’s child welfare workforce, stating "The expectations are completely unreasonable." He went on to say, "You can never unplug, you can never breathe, and you feel like you're responsible for everything."

The LifeSkills Center for Child Welfare Education and Research at WKU is actively supporting the child welfare workforce by facilitating applied research and directing initiatives in the Commonwealth. In his testimony, Dr. Griffiths described the GIFT Initiative that Scholars of the LCCWEAR have implemented in the Bowling Green area. The initiative is designed to address and break the generational-cycle of trauma experienced within families. Dr. Griffiths also is the lead investigator of an extramurally funded project that collects biomarker data to assess job stress of child welfare workers, as well as the effects of a mindfulness intervention.

You can view the full meeting here.

For more information about the LifeSkills Center for Child Welfare Education and Research at WKU, visit https://www.wku.edu/childwelfare/

For more information about the Department of Social Work, visit https://www.wku.edu/socialwork/