Roque R. Gerald, Psy.D., earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology in Norfolk. He has devoted his career of more than three decades to improving the well-being of children, youth, and families. His background includes extensive experience in counseling troubled and emotionally disturbed children, adolescents, and adults and families in crisis. Dr. Gerald joined the Washington, DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) in 2001, and served as director from July 2008 - May 2011. At CFSA, he developed and established an in-house resource to coordinate health, mental/behavioral health, and other supportive services for children, youth, and families, and a unique model of Family Team Meetings as a standard practice within DC’s government human services agencies. He dramatically reduced the backlog of investigations of abuse and neglect, while simulateously reducing the number of children in the foster care system by making permanent placements the agency’s priority.

Dr. Gerald shared these experiences with his Russian counterparts in Kazan (2007) and Nizhny Novgorod (2011) because “the families they work with are similar to U.S. families in their needs, challenges, and aspirations.” He found the Russian professionals to be “very dedicated, knowledgeable about where they need to go, and open and hungry for our support.” The participants were impressed with Dr. Gerald’s emphasis on helping families analyze the root causes of the crises facing them, identify their own strengths, and take responsibility for solving their problems.

Dr. Gerald is now consulting nationally and internationally on child welfare issues and developing a philanthropic organization to support educational attainment for foster children in Washington, DC. He serves on the board of directors of the American Humane Association and is a member of the Health Care Advisory Workgroup of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.