The Impact of Trauma in Child Welfare

As a clinical psychologist and attorney, Dr. Griffin has a unique set of skills and experience. Dr. Griffin served as the Associate Director of the Mental Health and Services Policy Program at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and as a two-term member of the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission. He served as the Clinical Director of the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition and remains on their executive committee. Previously, Dr. Griffin worked in the Director’s Office at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services where he helped develop the Department’s Behavioral Health Team and its Trauma Program. Dr. Griffin has also worked for the state Office of Mental Health, where he was Chief of Juvenile Forensics and oversaw the Mental Health Juvenile Justice Initiative, a statewide program linking mentally ill minors in detention centers to community based treatment. He has been a unit chief of both short term and long-term inpatient psychiatric adolescent units. Dr. Griffin has served as an assistant public defender in juvenile court. He has published several articles related to mental health and juvenile justice. Dr. Griffin was named by the MacArthur Foundation-supported Models for Change initiative as a Champion for Change in juvenile justice reform for his work in mental health for juveniles in the justice system and is a founding member of the Models for Change Mental Health/Juvenile Justice Action Network team in Illinois. He was lead developer for the MacArthur Foundation’s Mental Health Training Curriculum for Juvenile Justice geared toward non-clinical staff working in juvenile justice settings, like detention centers and correctional facilities. His firsthand experience working in similar settings was as valuable as his clinical knowledge of the field's increased understanding of childhood trauma. Dr. Griffin received both his law degree and his doctorate in clinical psychology from Northwestern University. He completed an internship in clinical and forensic psychology through Harvard Medical School.