College of Education and Human Development

School of Social Work

Kristine Piescher

  • Assistant Executive Director, Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare

Kristine Piescher

Areas of interest

Child welfare, child and family well-being, child welfare workforce development, educational success and stability, housing and homelessness, interpersonal and sibling relationships, integrated data

Degrees

PhD, University of Minnesota, Family Social Science
MA, University of Minnesota, Family Social Science
BA, University of Minnesota, Psychology

Biography

Kristine N. Piescher, PhD, holds a doctoral degree from the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Piescher serves as the Assistant Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) where she oversees the professional education, outreach, and research and evaluation efforts of the Center, including the Minn-LInK project. Minn-LInK integrates over a decade of statewide, administrative data from multiple agencies to answer questions about the effects of policies, programs, and practice on the well-being of children in Minnesota. Dr. Piescher’s research focuses on child well-being and educational success and stability for at-risk youth, child welfare workforce development and system change, housing and homelessness, interpersonal and sibling relationships, and utilizing cross-systems data for research and evaluation, with implications for practice and policy.

Publications

Cho, M., Haight, W., Choi, W. S, Hong, S., & Piescher, K. (2019). A prospective, longitudinal study of risk factors for early onset of delinquency among maltreated youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 102, 222-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.05.023

Griffiths, A., Desrosiers, P., Gabbard, J., Royse, D., & Piescher, K. (2019). Retention of child welfare workers: The wisdom of frontline supervisors. Child Welfare, 97(3), 61-83.

Kim, J. R., & Piescher, K., LaLiberte, T. (2019). Adoption discontinuity in intensive out-of-home care settings. Adoption Quarterly, 22(4), 307-329. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2019.1675838

Hong, S., Rhee, T. G., & Piescher, K. (2018). Longitudinal association of child maltreatment and cognitive reasoning: Implications for child development. Child Abuse and Neglect, 84, 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.07.026

Piescher, K., LaLiberte, T., & Lee, M. (2018). The role of Title IV-E education and training in child welfare workforce diversity. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 12(3), 333-353. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2018.1447529

Griffiths, A. G., Royse, D., Culver, K., Piescher, K., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Who stays, who goes, who knows? A state-wide survey of child welfare workers. Children and Youth Services Review, 77, 110-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.04.012

Horn, T., Piescher, K., Shannon, P., Hong, S., & Benton, A. (2017). Involvement of Somali and Oromo youth in Minnesota’s Child Protection System. Children and Youth Services Review, 79,10-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.05.022

LaLiberte, T., Piescher, K., Mickelson, N., & Lee, M. (2017). Child protection services and parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 30(3), 521-532. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12323

Johnston-Goodstar, K., Piescher, K., & LaLiberte, T. (2016). Critical Experiential Learning in the Native American Community for Title IV-E students: A pilot evaluation. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 10(3), 310-326. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2016.1181021

Kiesel, L., Piescher, K., & Edleson, J. (2016). Child Maltreatment, exposure to intimate partner violence, and academic performance. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 10(4), 434-456. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2016.1209150

Semanchin-Jones, A., LaLiberte, T., & Piescher, K. (2015). Defining and strengthening child well-being in child protection. Children and Youth Services Review, 54, 57-70.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.05.001

Kovan, N., Susman-Stillman, A., Mishra, S., Piescher, K., & LaLiberte, T. (2014). Differences in the early care and education needs of young children involved in child protection. Children and Youth Services Review, 46, 139-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.07.017

Piescher, K., Colburne, G., Hong, S., & LaLiberte, T. (2014). Child protective services and the achievement gap. Children and Youth Services Review, 47, 408-415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.11.004

Hong, S., & Piescher, K. (2012). The role of supportive housing in homeless children's well-being: An investigation of child welfare and educational outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(8), 1440-447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.03.025

Presentations

LaLiberte, T., Piescher, K., Blue, M., & Glesener, D. (2020, March 11-13). Child welfare workforce stability following system reform [Paper presentation]. Minnesota Social Services Association 127th Annual Training Conference & Expo, Minneapolis, MN, United States.

Santalauria, J., Piescher, K., LaLiberte, T., & Waid, J. (2019, June 18-21). Experiences of re-reporting risk of child maltreatment by race and ethnicity [Poster presentation]. Society for Epidemiologic Research 52nd Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, United States. 

Piescher, K., Snyder, E., & LaLiberte, T. (2018, May 23-25). Enhancing the child protection workforce as a strategy for improving outcomes for involuntary clients [Paper presentation]. Effective Strategies for Working with Involuntary Clients: International Perspectives conference, Prato, Italy.

Piescher, K. (2018, April 12-14). Understanding child well-being through innovations in data linkage. In C. McNeely (Chair), Linking administrative data to understand school discipline and educational trajectories [Symposium presentation]. Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, United States.

Piescher, K. & LaLiberte, T. (2017, May 23-25). Retention during child welfare reform: Perception and contributing factors [Paper presentation]. National Title IV-E Roundtable, Phoenix, AZ, United States

Susman-Stilman, A., Piescher, K., & Mickelson, N. (2017, April 6-8). Does a high quality preschool experience affect educational outcomes of low-income children in 3rd grade? [Paper presentation]. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Austin, TX, United States.

LaLiberte, T., & Piescher, K. (2017, March 22-24). The well-being debate: Strategies for child protection [Paper presentation]. Minnesota Social Services Association 124th Annual Training Conference & Expo, Minneapolis, MN, United States.

LaLiberte, T., Piescher, K., Lee, M., & Mickelson, N. (2017, January 11-15). Child Protection Services and parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities [Paper presentation]. Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, New Orleans, LA, United States. LaLiberte, T., Piescher, K., Lee, M., & Mickelson, N. (2017, January 11-15). Child Protection Services and parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities [Paper presentation]. Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Kresha, R., Sorenson, J., & Piescher, K. (2016, September). Minnesota’s Child Protection System: Working toward more effective data-based decision making. Panel presentation given at the College of Education and Human Development Policy Breakfast, Minneapolis, MN, United States

Piescher, K., Hong, S., & LaLiberte, T. (2016, June 27-30). Answering the tough questions: Using integrated data for improved service delivery [Poster presentation]. Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development 2016 (SWSD2016), Seoul, South Korea.

Piescher, K., & Goodenough, K. (2016, June 1-3). Finding ways to stabilize Minnesota’s child welfare workforce [Paper presentation]. National Title IV-E Roundtable, Salt Lake City, UT, United States. 

Piescher, K., Benton, A., & LaLiberte, T. (2016, February 10-13). Disconnected: Communication patterns between child protection and school systems. Poster presented at the National Association of School Psychologists 2016 Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA., United States

Piescher, K., Cook, T., Shannon, P. & Hong, S. (2016, January 13-17). Involvement of refugee children in Minnesota's Child Protection System [Paper presentation]. Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, Washington, D.C., United States.