Elissa Madden
Associate Professor
Research Interests
- Foster care
- Adoption (public and domestic private)
- Experiences of birth parents with adoption
- Permanency for children in foster care
- Trauma and child maltreatment
- Child welfare workforce issues
Selected Publications
Aguiniga, D. & Madden, E. E., Goodwin, B., & Ryan, S. (In Press). Post-adoption contact experiences of birth mothers. Manuscript accepted for publication in a special issue of Adoption Quarterly for ICAR7. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2023.2228772
Landers, J. E., Madden, E. E. (In Press). Social workers’ experiences of support in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. Manuscript accepted for publication by Social Work Journal. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swad030
Madden, E. E., Faulkner, M., Aguiniga, D. M. (2022). Adoption competency in a Post-Roe v. Wade reality. Journal Of Social Work Education, 58(3), 427-430. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2022.2091390
Hollenberger, J., & Madden, E. E. (2021). Teaching note: Integration of family planning information in social work education. Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 26(1), 79–90. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346654628_Teaching_Note_Integration_of_Family_Planning_Information_in_Social_Work_Education
Goodwin, B., Madden, E. E., Singletary, J., & Scales, L. (2020). Adoption workers’ perspectives on adoption adjustment and the honeymoon period. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105513
Madden, E. E., Aguiniga, D., & Ryan, S. (2020). Birth mothers’ options counseling and relinquishment experiences. In Wrobel, G., Marr, E., & Helder, E. (Eds.), Handbook of Modern Adoption: Connecting Research to Policy and Practice. New York, NY: Routledge
Tobolowsky, B., Scannapieco, M., Aguiniga, D., & Madden, E. E., & (2019). Former foster care experiences with higher education: Opportunities and challenges. Children and Youth Services Review, 104, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.05.039
Madden, E. E., Ryan, S., Aguiniga, D., Killian, M., & Romanchik, B., (2018). The relationship between time and birth mother satisfaction with relinquishment. Families in Society, 99(2), 170-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/104438941876848
Tobolowsky, B., Madden, E. E., & Scannapieco, M. (2017). Living on the edge: The postsecondary journeys of foster care alumni. College Student Affairs Journal, 35, 86-100. https://doi.org/10.1353/csj.2017.0007
Chanmugam, A., Madden, E. E., Hanna, M., Ayers-Lopez, S., McRoy, R. G., & Ledesma, K. (2017). Agency-related barriers experienced by families seeking to adopt from foster care. Adoption Quarterly, 20, 25-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2015.1121187
Madden, E. E., Scannapieco, M., Killian, M., & Adorno, G. (2016). Exploratory factorial analysis and reliability of the Child Welfare Trauma-Informed Individual Assessment Tool. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 11, 58-72. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2016.1231653
Madden, E. E., McRoy, R. G., Chanmugam, A., Kaufman, L., Ledesma, K., & Martin-Hushman, D. (2016). The impact of formal and informal respite care on foster and adoptive parents caring for children involved in the child welfare system. Journal of Child and Adolescent Social Work, 33, 523–534. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-016-0447-3
Cronley, C., Madden, E. E., & Davis, J. (2015). Making service-learning partnerships work: Listening and responding to community partners. Journal of Community Practice, 23, 274-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2015.1027801
Madden, E. E., Scannapieco, M., & Painter, K. (2014). An examination of retention and length of employment among public child welfare workers. Children and Youth Services Review, 41, 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.02.015
Cronley, C., Madden, E. E., Davis, J., & Preble, K. (2014). Factors influencing service learning utilization in social work: Results from an online survey of faculty. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 34, 147-166. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2014.890692
Madden, E. E., & Aguiniga, D. (2013). An evaluation of permanency outcomes of child protection mediation. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 7, 98-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2012.740442
Madden, E. E., Maher, E., McRoy, R.G., Ward, K., Peveto, L., & Stanley, A. (2012). Family reunification of youth in foster care with complex mental health needs: Barriers and recommendations. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29, 221-240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10560-012-0257-1
Faulkner, M., & Madden, E. E. (2012). Open adoption and post-adoption birth family contact: A comparison of non-relative foster and private adoptions. Adoption Quarterly, 15, 35-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2012.661333
Background
Dr. Elissa Madden joined the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work in August 2016. She received her doctorate in social work from The University of Texas at Austin and her bachelor's and master’s degrees in Social Work from Baylor University. Dr. Madden’s primary research interest is in the area of child welfare, specifically foster care and adoption. She is a former child welfare conservatorship worker with Child Protective Services (CPS) in Texas and a licensed social worker. Dr. Madden has extensive experience working with children and families in a variety of practice settings. Additionally, she has co-authored publications on the experiences of birth mothers who have placed a child for adoption, barriers to adoption from the public child welfare system, the post-secondary experiences and needs of foster alumni, and child welfare workforce issues. Dr. Madden is married to David McLendon. They are the proud parents of Michael (2014).