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. Her 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 textbooks. Additionally, she 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.
