Brianne comes to OSU-Cascades from Portland, Ore. where she held positions as a senior research associate at the Regional Research Institute for Human Services and as an adjunct instructor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Portland State University. She holds a Ph.D. in social work and social research from Portland State University and a M.A. in human development from Washington State University. Her research and scholarship focus on understanding the experiences and trajectories of at-risk populations as well as on designing, implementing and evaluating developmentally appropriate, family systems focused interventions.

Brianne is currently working on one of the first RCTs focused on siblings in foster care. Her scholarship has been published in top interdisciplinary journals, and she is a 2014 NIMH Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services (CHIPS) Fellow. Brianne's career goals involve better understanding resilience-promoting factors and developing interventions that improve well-being for children, youth and families. She teaches courses in child and adolescent development, family studies, research methods, statistics and proposal writing.

Research Interests

Child Welfare and Child Well-Being
Youth’s Relationships with Caring and Caregiving Adults
Youth Relationships with Siblings and Peers
Ecological Contexts of Youth
Mental and Behavioral Health of Youth
Prevention and Intervention Programs
Child Welfare and Child Well-Being Systems and Policies

Links

Child Welfare and Child Well-being (2CW) Research Lab

Affiliation(s)

School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences
Human Development and Family Sciences  at OSU-Cascades Campus
Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children & Families
Family Policy Group

Selected Publications

Kothari, B. H., Chandler, K. D., Waugh, A., McElvaine, K., Jaramillo, J., & Lipscomb, S. (2021). Retention of child welfare caseworkers: The role of case complexity and workplace support. Children and Youth Services Review, 26, 106039. doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106039

Jaramillo, J. & Kothari, B. H. (2021). Supportive caseworkers, school engagement, and posttraumatic symptoms among youth in foster care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. doi.org/10.1007/s10560-021-00749-w

Waid, J., Kothari, B. H., Dahlgren, J., Bank, L., & McBeath, M. (2021). Exploring mechanisms of change in a dyadic relationship intervention for siblings in foster care. Child and Family Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12833

Kothari, B. H., Godlewski, B., Lipscomb, S. T., & Jaramillo, J. (2021). Educational resilience among youth in foster care. Psychology in the Schools, 58(5), 913-934. doi.org/10.1002/pits.22478

Kothari, B. H., Blakeslee, J., & Miller, R. (2020). Individual and interpersonal factors associated with psychosocial functioning among adolescents in foster care: A scoping review. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, 105454. doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105454

Kothari, B. H., McGee, M., Harmon-Godlewski, B.*, McBeath, B., Bank, L., & Lipscomb, S. (2018). A longitudinal analysis of school discipline events among youth in foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 93, 117-125. doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.07.017

Kothari, B. H., McBeath, B., Sorenson, P., Bank, L., Waid, J., Webb, S. J., & Steele, J. (2017). An intervention to improve sibling relationship quality among youth in foster care: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Child Abuse and Neglect, 63, 19-29. doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.11.010

Kothari, B. H., McBeath, B., Sorenson, P., Waid, J., Webb, S. J., & Bank, L. (2016). Validation of a measure of foster home integration for foster youth. Journal of Research on Social Work Practice, 28(6), 751-761. doi.org/10.1177/1049731516675033

Kothari, B. H., McBeath, B., Lamson-Siu, E., Webb, S., Sorenson, P., Bowen, H., Bank, L., & Waid, J. (2014). Development and feasibility of a sibling intervention for preadolescent and adolescent youth in foster care. Evaluation and Program Planning, 47, 91-99. doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2014.08.006