|
Robert Woronoff, MS
Consultant LGBTQ Consultant
F13 SEXUAL IDENTITY ISSUES AND THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM: ASK THE EXPERTS
Rob Woronoff spent the last four years as Director of LGBTQ Services with the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) in Washington, DC, where coordinated a national initiative, in conjunction with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, to strengthen the capacity of America’s child welfare system to deal equitably and competently with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) youth and families. Prior to working with CWLA, he was Director of GLBT Services and Peer Programs at The Home for Little Wanderers in Boston where he developed and coordinated several adolescent programs addressing issues of HIV disease, tobacco use and pregnancy prevention. He also coordinated the development of New England’s first residential group home for GLBT youth. Rob worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health where he oversaw HIV prevention programming for gay men, and he managed programs supported by Massachusetts’ Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth which included a state-wide network of community-based social/support groups and an annual statewide, three-day GLBT youth conference.
He was a founding member and co-chair of Massachusetts’ statewide GLBT youth coalition and co-chair of Massachusetts’ annual LGBTQ Youth Pride Conference. He has been a trainer on LGBTQ issues for the Hetrick-Martin Institute in New York City. Rob was a principal author of Out of the Margins: A Report on Regional Listening Forums Highlighting the Experiences of LGBTQ Youth in Care, served as co-editor of the first LGBTQ special edition of the journal Child Welfare, and authored numerous published articles on supportive care for LGBTQ youth. He has contributed to articles on LGBTQ youth that have appeared in Time, The Advocate and newspapers throughout the country and has appeared on such nationally-heard radio shows as NPR’s On Point and Talk of the Nation.
Rob has delivered presentations, speeches and trainings at more than 100 conferences throughout the country. He has served on numerous LGBTQ boards of directors, task forces and advisory committees for organizations such as the American Bar Association, HRC, the Tides Foundation and the National CASA Association. Rob holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Drama School at Carnegie-Mellon University.
He was a professional actor/singer/dancer in New York City and in theaters around the country for nearly 15 years. He holds a Master of Science degree in Human Services Program Development from the University of Massachusetts where he also taught Program Performance Monitoring and Evaluation at the University’s Graduate School of Community and Public Service.
|