Dr. Young is the Executive Director of Children and Family Futures, a California-based research and policy institute whose mission is to improve outcomes for children and families, particularly those affected by alcohol and other drugs. Dr. Young also serves as Director of the federally-funded National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare. She has been involved in numerous projects related to alcohol and other drug issues in the welfare and child welfare systems. These projects include: development of a CSAT-funded technical assistance publication on substance abuse and child welfare; a report on policy issues and effectiveness of substance abuse treatment for welfare reform published by the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD); development of a guidebook for state welfare and substance abuse directors on the substance abuse implications of welfare reform; and the development of a policymakers guidebook on substance abuse issues for the Child Welfare League of America titled Responding to Alcohol and Other Drug Problems in Child Welfare.

Since the founding of CFF in 1996, Dr. Young has worked as a consultant to over 100 states, counties, regional offices, and service providers on prevention and treatment issues affecting families involved with welfare and child welfare. Prior to her current position with Children and Family Futures, Dr. Young served as research consultant to the Directorate of the State of California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. During her tenure, she led a consensus effort to develop a statewide outcomes monitoring system in California and was a primary author of California´s successful application for federal funding for the state’s outcomes system which evolved into CalOMS.

Dr. Young is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton and received a Masters of Social Work degree and her Ph.D. from the USC School of Social Work. During her doctoral studies, she was the recipient of a pre-doctoral fellowship with the National Institute on Drug Abuse focused on the public policy and research issues affecting children of substance abusers. Her work and that of CFF has been recognized by the Outstanding Contractor of the Year award in 2006 from the Federal Administration on Children and Families and by a resolution issued in 2008 by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.She was also awarded the Directors’ Robert E. Anderson Service Award by the National Association of State Alcohol and DrugAbuse Directors.