Prior to joining the faculty at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Prince completed her NIDA-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine in 2016. Dr. Prince has developed a robust program of health disparities research that focuses on the transition to adulthood for vulnerable and marginalized youth, most notably substance use, incarceration, and homelessness, among adolescents and young adults transitioning from foster care. Subgroups of youth in foster care, notably sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth face additional risks.
Dr. Prince is actively engaged in community- and system-based research to impact services and outcomes for sexual and gender minority youth in foster care. Read more about her active research and study team.
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
Research Information
Research Interests
I have developed a robust program of health disparities research that focuses on the transition to adulthood for vulnerable and marginalized youth. My research agenda is motivated by over six years of direct practice experience in West Philadelphia public schools where I developed, implemented, and evaluated initiatives to address the physical and mental health needs of low-income racial and ethnic minority youth. While working in the public education sector, I saw how multiple systems (education, child welfare, and juvenile justice) collectively impacted the day-to-day lives of my students, and the vital need for cross-sector collaboration to improve health. These experiences propelled me to pursue training in public health (MPH, University of Pennsylvania), social welfare (PhD, University of Washington), and Prevention and Community Research (NIH/NIDA-funded postdoctoral fellow, Yale School of Medicine).
Across my work, I use a cumulative disadvantage framework to understand the multiple factors that inform youth risk behavior in the context of adversity, and to identify protective factors germane to vulnerable youth. My goal is to identify and implement primary and secondary prevention efforts aimed at reducing the impact of social and structural inequalities on youth wellbeing.
Research Projects
Current projects include:
- NIH-National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities LRP supported “Pathways to Wellbeing for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care”, which examines the role of individual- and state-level risk and protective factors on homelessness, substance abuse, criminal justice involvement and pregnancy for a national cohort of youth exiting foster care
- I am partnered with Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, YWCA A Place for Me, and Kinnect on a four-year site implementation grant funded through the Administration of Children and Families to improve services and outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, and questioning youth in foster care.
Education
Residencies, Internships and Fellowships
Additional Information
Concentration
- Children, Youth and Families
- Mental Health
Affiliations and Activities
In the News
Happy Social Work Month!
March 01, 2023
Celebrating CWRU women in STEM
February 10, 2023
SSWR 2023 Annual Conference: Mandel School Presentations
January 06, 2023
Impact Talks 2023
December 07, 2022
CSWE 2022 Annual Program Meeting
November 10, 2022
Dana Prince to present at Michigan State University Consortium for Sexual and Gender Minority Health event
October 28, 2022
Dana Prince and Laura Voith promoted to associate professors with tenure
May 19, 2022
Murdered Euclid boy faced neglect before foster placement
May 18, 2022
SSWR 2022 Conference: Mandel School Presentations
January 10, 2022
Dana Prince to present at NIMH's Workshop on Advancing Training in Suicide Prevention Clinical Care
October 28, 2021
Commencement 2021
June 01, 2021
SSWR 2021 Virtual Conference: Award Winner & Presentations
January 19, 2021
Events
A Values-Based Approach to Grant Writing Workshop
March 17, 2023
Changing Human Service Systems to Support Sexual and Gender Minority Youth (SGMY) Thriving
March 16, 2023
Consortium for Sexual and Gender Minority Health 2022–23 Speakers Series
March 01, 2023