Antonio Garcia
Bio
Dr. Antonio Garcia, PhD, MSW, is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at North Carolina State University. His research is informed by his experiences as a former Child Protective Services Worker and Supervisor in Washington State, as well as his interdisciplinary training in Psychology, Social Work, and Services Research. As a community-engaged child welfare scholar, he has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has disseminated his findings in local, national, and international contexts. Collectively, his body of work centers on developing, disseminating, and implementing strategies to mitigate racial inequities in service provision across child and family systems of care. Using mixed methods, he is dedicated to examining whether these strategies ultimately promote positive psychosocial and developmental outcomes among children and young adults with lived experiences in systems of care. With external funding from the William T. Grant Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, he has examined their perceptions of system involvement and the experiences of clinicians, teachers, agency providers, and system leaders. He recently received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH R03) to examine the role of social supports in mitigating the effects of adverse childhood experiences on adolescent psychopathology. Going forward, he will dedicate his efforts to relying upon emerging findings to inform or tailor dissemination and implementation strategies to mitigate poor child developmental outcomes. Dr. Garcia capitalizes on his research and practice experience to educate the next generation of social workers and advocates dedicated to promoting child safety, permanency, and well-being.
Area(s) of Expertise
1. Racial equity in the provision of child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health services/interventions
2. Dissemination and evaluation of trauma-sensitive training for school personnel
3. Collaboration between social work and library/information sciences
4. Father-focused training models and strategies for engaging diverse fathers (for social workers and service providers across systems)
5. Implementation/translational science in child and family service settings
Publications
- Adolescents in child welfare: Distinctive pathways, services, and outcomes , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Child welfare and the challenge of difference: Universalism, accommodation, and reform , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Child welfare myths and misunderstandings , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Contents , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Copyright , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Foster care and beyond: Pathways, practices, and permanency , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Left Behind in Lockdown: A Scoping Review of COVID‐19's Impact on the Lives of Transition‐Age Foster Youth , Child & Family Social Work (2026)
- Looking ahead: Toward a smaller, smarter, stronger child welfare system , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Preface , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)
- Pursuing safety: Understanding harm, trauma, and interventions in families , Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (2026)