Bryn King

•    Long-term outcomes for children and youth involved in child welfare
•    Impact of maltreatment during adolescence
•    Early childbearing among adolescents in foster care
•    Crossover and dually involved (child welfare and juvenile justice) youth
•    Disproportionality and disparity (race, class, and gender)
•    Child welfare involvement among preadolescents
•    Behavioral health of children and youth in the child welfare system

Bryn King joined the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work in July 2015 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2022. Bryn is also an Affiliated Researcher at the Children’s Data Network, University of Southern California, and the California Child Welfare Indicators Project, University of California, Berkeley.

At the broadest level, her research examines the epidemiology, service involvement, and outcomes of children and youth who are maltreated and come to the attention of the child protective system in North America. More specifically, she has examined the likelihood, risk factors, and experiences of early childbirth and parenting among adolescents involved with the child protective system; assessed differences in clinical presentation, decision-making, and investigation outcomes across race/ethnicity, gender, and other key demographic and maltreatment characteristics; and measured the specific needs of adolescents investigated for maltreatment concerns.

Bryn has recently founded a research collaborative at the FIFSW called the Youth Wellness Lab, which intends to bring together researchers, practitioners, and youth towards the goal of improving services and outcomes for young people across service sectors. She is currently a PI on two external-funded grants related to this effort. Her SSHRC Insight Grant (2018-2021) called “Promoting Attachment and Mitigating the Risk of Future Maltreatment among Young Expectant Mothers Involved in the Child Welfare System” examines service needs, trajectories, and experiences of young mothers in the child welfare system. She also holds an Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award (2018-2023) called “Developmental Disruptions: Adolescent Involvement in the Child Welfare System in Ontario,” which addresses fundamental and necessary questions about the nature of child welfare involvement for adolescents and their families, the systemic response to their presenting concerns, and the impact of expanding services to older adolescents. Bryn is also a Co-Investigator on the First Nations/Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (FN/CIS-2019), the Ontario Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS-2018), and the Ontario Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OCANDS). She serves as a consultant for the Government of Northwest Territories on the Pan-Northern Data Project.