Carmen McCovey, MSW

Carmen received her B.A. degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1999 with a major in English Literature and a minor in Africana Studies. In 2009, Carmen received a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California with a concentration in Community, Organization, Planning and Administration.

In 1990, Carmen began her career in Child Welfare as a Group Counselor at Orangewood Children’s home where she provided direct care to victims of abuse and neglect. In 1999, she transitioned to Senior Social Worker in an Emergency Response unit. Carmen worked as a front-end Social Worker in Emergency Response and Dependency Investigations units until her promotion to Senior Social Services Supervisor in 2013.
Carmen joined CWDS as a contract trainer in 2019. She works full-time as a Policy Analyst for the County of Orange, Social Services Agency, Children and Family Services division. In addition, she is a part-time lecturer at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) where she has taught courses in the Human Services Department and the Master of Social Work program. Carmen loves facilitating conversations on race, power, and privilege, and she enjoys teaching at CSUDH’s MSW program where the curriculum is rooted in Critical Race Theory.

Carmen enjoys reading and spending time with her husband and adult daughters. Carmen was promoted to Bibi (Swahili for grandmother) in September 2020, and she shares that this has been her most important promotion ever!