Rhoda Smith, MSW

Rhoda Smith received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. After a short hiatus from school she worked for Orange County General Services Agency, CAST and then Juvenile Probation. She returned to school to pursue the MSW at the University of Southern California. Having chosen a Mental Health concentration while in graduate school, she was hired by Patton State Hospital and worked on the interdisciplinary treatment team on the Admissions Unit there.

Her interests soon turned to Child Welfare and she began working in Children’s Services for Riverside County. She was promoted to supervisor and also served as a recruiter for Child Protective Services. She returned to school at Loma Linda University to pursue a doctorate in Social Policy and Social Work.

During her tenure as a doctoral student she has taught social work courses at the Master’s and Baccalaureate levels. Additionally, she was selected as a Minority Fellow through a SAMHSA grant which provided additional training and opportunities for her to pursue her studies. She is scheduled to graduate in 2015. Her research interests include foster youth and quality of life issues for foster youth. She had served as the Site Director for the Riverside Training Center for the Public Child Welfare Training Academy, a Title 4E Field Faculty supervising MSW interns in field placement, and has recently accepted a faculty position at Azusa Pacific University.