Elissa Madden

Research Interests

• Adoption (public and domestic private)
• Experiences of birth parents with adoption
• Permanency for children in foster care
• Child maltreatment and trauma
• Child welfare workforce issues

Selected Publications

Goodwin, B., Landers, J., Madden, E. E., Scott, R. A., Parrish, D. (Accepted). Development and application of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination for practicing integrated behavioral health skills. Manuscript accepted for publication by Journal of Social Work Education.

Hollenberger, J. & Madden, E. E. (2024). “At the end of the day it's their choice”: An exploratory qualitative study of pregnancy options counselors across settings. Social Work and Public Health, 39(3), 234-249. doi: 10.1080/19371918.2024.2322594

Hollenberger, J. & Madden, E. E. (2024). A national survey of pregnancy options counselors: Post-Roe considerations for social work education. Manuscript accepted for publication by Journal of Social Work Education.

Goodwin, B., Harrison, P., & Madden, E. E. (2024). Adoptive parents’ perspectives on adoption adjustment and post-adoption support. Manuscript accepted for publication by Journal of Public Child Welfare, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2024.2336961

Hollenberger, J. & Madden, E. E. (2024). The practice of pregnancy options counseling in social service and healthcare settings in the United States: A systematic literature review. Manuscript accepted for publication by the Journal of Social Work and Healthcare, 63(4-5), 285-310.https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2024.2304016

Aguiniga, D. & Madden, E. E., Goodwin, B., & Ryan, S. (2023). Post-adoption contact experiences of birth mothers. Adoption Quarterly, 27(1), 67-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2023.2228772

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.

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

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

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

Background

Dr. Elissa Madden 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 interests are in the areas of adoption (i.e., public and domestic private) and foster care. 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. She has published more than 35 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has authored several chapter contributions to adoption and foster care text books. Additionally, Dr. Madden has presented at national and international conferences on several subjects related to adoption and foster care. Dr. Madden’s most recent research has focused on birth mother’s experiences with relinquishing a child for adoption and adoption professionals’ perceptions of expectant mothers during the adoption process. With over 15 years of research and teaching experience, Dr. Madden has a passion for preparing students for practice in child and family settings.