Biography
Mary Elizabeth Rauktis earned a PhD in social work and an MEd in education from the University of Pittsburgh as well as a BSN from Duquesne University. She is an assistant professor of research in the Pitt social work school’s Child Welfare Research and Training Program.
Prior to joining the Pitt faculty, Rauktis was Director of Research and Evaluation at Pressley Ridge, an international nonprofit provider of services to children and families. She also was an adjunct at Pitt’s social work school and Robert Morris University’s Bayer School for Nonprofit Management and a visiting professor at the University of Minho, Institute of Child and Family Studies in Portugal. Her research interests include service outcomes for children in out-of-home services such as foster and residential care, therapeutic alliance for children and youth and the relationship between alliance and outcomes, and research on decision-making tools and interventions such as family group decision-making and conferencing. A recent research project that she has undertaken is exploring how child welfare workers make decisions about child safety when children are referred to child protective services and how decision-making processes may contribute to the problem of racial disproportionately in child welfare services.
Research Interests
- Co-PI Racial Disparity and Service Pathways for Youth in Allegheny County. Center for Race and Social Problems, University of Pittsburgh
- Decision-making in child welfare
- Therapeutic alliance
- Measuring living environments for youth in out of home care
Selected Publications
In Press Measuring Restrictiveness of Living Environments for Children and Youth: Re-conceptualizing Restriction. In The Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Rauktis, M. E., Huefner, J., O’Brien, K., Pecora, P., Doucette, A. & Thompson, R.
Manso, A., Rauktis, M. E., & Boyd, A. S. (2008). Youth expectations about therapeutic alliance in a residential setting. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, vol. 25, (1), 55-72
In Press Dollard, N, Rauktis, M., Vergon, K. The Service Process Adherence to Needs and Strengths: Using the CANS-SPANS to determine program fidelity. In Lyons. J.S. (Ed) Strategies in Behavioral Healthcare: Total Clinical Outcomes Management. Published by Civic Research Institute.
Boyd, A. S., Einbinder, S. D., Rauktis, M. E. Portwood, S. G. (2007). Building Research Capacity in Residential Treatment Centers: An Approach for Empirical Studies. Child and Youth Care Forum Volume 36, Issue 1
Rauktis, M. E., Andrade, A. R., Doucette, A., McDonough, L., & Reinhart, S.(2005) Treatment Foster Care and Relationships: Understanding the role of therapeutic alliance between youth and treatment parent. International Journal of Child & Family Welfare, vol. 8, 4, December
Sarmento, P., Almeida, K., Rauktis, M. E., & Bernardo S. (2008). Promoting Social Competence and Inclusion for At-Risk African-Portuguese Youth: Taking “Alternative Paths” (“Trilhos Alternativos”) Reclaiming Children and Youth, vol. 16, 4, 47-54
Rauktis, M. E., Andrade, A. R. & Doucette, A. Therapeutic Alliance and Re-ED: Research on building positive relationships with youth. In Cantrell, R.P. & Cantrell, M.L. (Eds.) 2008 Helping Troubled and Troubling Children: Continuing Evidence for Re-ED's Ecological Approach (Book 2 in the Troubled and Troubling Child series). Published by the American Re-Education Association, Cleveland OH
Rauktis, M. E. The impact of deinstitutionalization on the elderly persistently mentally ill.” The Journal of Mental Health and Aging, Vol 7., Number 3, Fall 2001