OUR TEAM

Ivy Zucaya, PhD, is a child welfare scholar-practitioner with over 10 years of experience working for California’s public child welfare system to implement and evaluate interventions that aim to promote child safety and enhance system performance.  Ivy is passionate about the UCLA Pritzker Center’s commitment to improving interventions for families already involved in the system and preventing the need for foster care entry, particularly among children and families impacted by structural racism and systemic marginalization. She hopes that insights generated in partnership with government agencies, community-based service providers, and experts with firsthand involvement in the child welfare system will advance systems change efforts and contribute to more equitable experiences and outcomes for children, transition age youth, and their families.

Prior to joining the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families as Research Director, Ivy served as a research specialist at the UC Berkeley California Child Welfare Indicators Project where she analyzed statewide child welfare administrative records and led a statewide evaluation of California’s Commercially Sexually Exploited Child Program. Ivy’s research is informed by her experience working for Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services and community-based mental healthcare agencies serving children and families involved in the child welfare system.