Erin Thuston is a Research Program Specialist for the California Department of Social Services. She applies expertise related to research methodologies and statistical analysis to child welfare services program data as it relates to children in foster care in California.
In 2005, Erin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a Minor from in Management and Organization Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Not ready to return home to California, she decided to pursue an advanced degree in Social Work and in the summer of 2005 she moved to New York City to attend Columbia University where she was awarded a Master of Science in Social Work in 2007.
Erin moved back to her hometown of Sacramento, CA to begin her professional career as a child welfare social worker. After five years of hard work and dedication, she left direct practice and began working as a policy analyst. As a subject matter expert on Independently Program Policies, Erin developed and implemented policies (i.e. extended foster care, transitional housing programs, and the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program) that impact transition age youth (16-21) of California’s child welfare system.
When she is not fighting for children’s justice and safeguarding the rights of every child so that they can meet their full potential, Erin enjoys traveling the world and indulging in the world’s epicurean pleasures of food, wine, and culture.