Joyce Y. Lee, MS, MSW, LCSW, is a child welfare and family strengthening scholar whose program of research centers around promoting the well-being of children and families from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Lee's primary research interest involves investigating family processes, with a focus on father involvement, that benefit children's development. Specifically, she uses family theories to examine mechanisms underlying the links between economic insecurity and the developmental outcomes of children from unmarried couple families with low income. She is particularly interested in studying how fathers and their parenting behaviors mediate such relations. Joyce has received a highly competitive federal Family Strengthening Scholar's grant (90PR0009) from the Administration from Children and Families (Children's Bureau), United States Department of Health and Human Services to support this work. As a secondary area of research, Joyce focuses on fathers' masculine identities, early father engagement behaviors, and the evidence-base of early parent education programs that are inclusive and supportive of fathers and their parenting needs. Joyce's third area of research centers around using technology, including mobile devices and social media platforms, to examine the parenting beliefs of or deliver services to difficult-to-reach populations, as well as engage in clinical social work practice with diverse client groups. Her next and future area of research includes preventing child maltreatment and promoting the well-being of foster children and their families through both direct services rooted in evidence-based programs and child welfare system reform.
Overall, Lee’s research (and her teaching) is rooted in her social work practice experiences with children and families at a community-based youth empowerment program, as well as her clinical practice with children and families involved in the child welfare system. She also uses her research to inform family strengthening policies, relevant targets for parenting and family interventions, and clinical work with children and families that have histories of maltreatment.
Lee is currently a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Michigan and a licensed social worker in the State of New Jersey.