Leadership

Rob is a passionate child welfare leader with a 30+ year track record of success and innovation. During his career, Rob has analyzed policies and evaluated programs in various areas of social services for children, youth, and families. His primary focus has been on child welfare issues including child abuse and neglect investigation, family preservation and family support services, foster care, kinship care, congregate care, independent living programs for foster youth, adoption, financing reform, the intersection of Medicaid and child welfare, and the impact of welfare reform on child welfare systems. 

Rob started his career as a researcher and was the director of the child welfare programs at the Urban Institute and at Child Trends where he also served as Vice President for Policy and later as a member of the board of trustees. As a researcher, Rob authored dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles, with a focus on informing and influencing public policy. He was selected as an inaugural Distinguished Fellow by the William T. Grant Foundation and spent his two-year fellowship with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. In this role, Rob was instrumental in developing the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, securing funding to help child welfare agencies respond to Hurricane Katrina and analyzing, and proposing reforms to the Adoption Tax Credit.

Rob then moved into philanthropy serving as the Director of Policy Reform and Advocacy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation where he was responsible for designing and implementing the foundation’s advocacy strategy related to child welfare and juvenile justice. At Casey, Rob led successful policy campaigns focused on supporting children in families (Every Kid Needs a Family), supporting kin and non-kin foster parents (CHAMPS), strengthening the infrastructure of state advocates (SPARC), and meeting the needs of youth transitioning from foster care (Success Beyond 18, Journey to Success). Rob also led efforts to reform how child abuse and neglect investigations are conducted, develop policy and practice reforms to address racial disparities, and build consensus among faith leaders and child welfare advocates.

Rob retired from Casey in 2022 to create CWPolicy LLC and pursue new opportunities where he can use his passion and expertise to make a real difference in the lives of children and families. In addition to consulting, Rob serves on a number of advisory groups and is the chair of Board of Trustees of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. 

Rob lives with his wife on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.