Heather Allan, MSW

Assistant Professor, Pediatrics-Child Abuse and Neglect/Kempe

FacultyPhoto

Professional Titles

  • Assistant Professor

Publications

  • Allan HA, Howard M. Disparities in child welfare: Considering the implementation of differential response. Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect: Aurora, CO. June 2013.
  • Allan H, Maher E. All in the family: variation in the use of family meetings in child welfare. Child Welfare. 2014; 92(6), 97-110.
  • Williams, J., Merkel-Holguin, L., Allan, H., Maher, E., Fluke, J., and Hollinshead, D., (September 2015), Factors associated with staff perceptions of the effectiveness of family group conferences. Journal for the Society of Social Work and Research, 6(3), 343-366.
  • Allan, H. & Merkel-Holguin, L. (2016, November 2). Bringing home the findings: Results from a 3-Year FGDM Evaluation in Texas. Presentation at the 2016 International Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement, Ft. Worth, TX.
  • Friend, B., Mertz, M., Valletta, M., DeCook, K., Allan, H., & Merkel-Holguin, L. (2016, November 3). The blending of family finding and family group decision making: What we learned from three-year demonstrations in Olmsted County, Minnesota and San Francisco, California. Presentation at the 2016 International Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement, Ft. Worth, TX.
  • Allan H, Harlaar N, Hollinshead D, Drury I, & Merkel-Holguin L. The impact of worker and agency characteristics on FGC referrals in child welfare. Children and Youth Services Review. 2017; 81:229-237.
  • Hollinshead DM, Corwin TW, Maher EJ, Merkel-Holguin L, Allan H, & Fluke, JD. Effectiveness of family group conferencing in preventing repeat referrals to child protective services and out-of-home placements. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2017; 69:285-294.
  • Maher E, Allan H, Merkel-Holguin L, & Corwin T. Using multi-site experimental and quasi-experimental designs to evaluate a common practice in child welfare. SAGE Research Methods Cases. 2017: doi: 10.4135/9781526401311
  • Allan H, Currie D, Drury I, Merkel-Holguin L, Fluke J, & Winokur M. (2018). Colorado Department of Human Services Colorado Community Response Pilot Project Evaluation Report. Ft. Collins, CO: Social Work Research Center, Colorado State University.
  • Fluke J, Hollinshead D, Allan, H., & Vanderloo, M. Exploring decision-making in child welfare using the decision making ecology: Findings from three jurisdictions. Presentation at the International Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement; 2017 October 18-20; Vail, CO.
  • Merkel-Holguin L, Allan, H, Hollinshead D, & Currie D. Are we doing what we think we’re doing? Assessing FGDM fidelity in multiple jurisdictions. Presentation at the International Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement; 2017 October 18-20; Vail, CO.
  • Drury I, Schwab Reese L, Allan H. I’m from the government and I’m here to help: How can public health perspectives improve outreach in child maltreatment prevention programs? Journal of Public Child Welfare, DOI: 10.1080/15548732.2018.1494666
  • Drury, I., Allan, H., & Merkel-Holguin, L. (2016, November 3). I’m from the government and I’m here to help: Prevention outreach to families with screened out reports. Presentation at the 2016 International Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement, Ft. Worth, TX.
  • Corwin, T., Maher, E., Merkel-Holguin, L., Allan, H., Hollinshead, D., & Fluke, J. (2019). Increasing social support for child welfare-involved families through family group conferencing. British Journal of Social Work, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz036
  • Merkel-Holguin, L., Schwab-Reese, L., Drury, I., Allan, H., & Hollinshead, D. (2019). Nothing about me, without me: Children and young people’s experiences with family group conferences. Child & Family Social Work, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12648
  • Allan, H., Rautkis, M. B., Pennell, J., Merkel-Holguin, L., & Crampton, D. (2020). Family Meetings as a System Reform to Address Disproportionality and Disparities. In A. J. Dettlaff (Ed.), Racial Disproportionality and Disparities in the Child Welfare System. New York, NY: Springer.
  • Schwab-Reese L., Drury, I., Allan, H., & Matz, K. (2020). “Oh, this is actually okay”: Understanding how one state child welfare training system adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. Child Abuse & Neglect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104697
  • Allan, H., Miller, A. (2020, September 29). Evaluating prevention in Colorado: Findings from Colorado Community Response [Virtual conference session]. Strengthening Colorado Families and Communities Conference, CO, United States. https://scfcconference.org/
  • Allan, H., & Drury, I. (2020, October 5). How Can Public Health Perspectives Improve Outreach in Child Maltreatment Prevention Programs [Virtual conference session]. A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare Conference, Aurora, CO. www.kempeconference.org
  • Fluke, J., Hollinshead, D., Lalayants, M., Merkel-Holguin, M., & Allan, H. (2020, October 7). The Benefits and Impact of Lived Expertise on Family Outcomes [Virtual conference session]. A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare Conference, Aurora, CO. www.kempeconference.org
  • Pennell, J., Allan, H., Rautkis, M. E., Crampton, D., Merkel-Holguin, L., & Dettlaff, A. (2020, October 7). Family Meetings: Investing in Families and Cultural Communities to Overcome Racism and Ethnocentrism [Virtual conference session]. A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare Conference, Aurora, CO. www.kempeconference.org
  • Faulkner, M., Allan, H., Murphy, J., & Hendley, H. (2022, November 11). Integrating Evaluation Methods into CQI Practice: Promoting Early and Frequent Use of Evaluation Data to Inform Program Adaptation and Improvement [Conference presentation]. 2022 American Evaluation Association Conference, New Orleans, LA.
  • Rockwell, K., Allan, H., & Drury, I. (2022, October 6). Warning Signs from the Front Lines [Virtual conference presentation]. 2022 A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare Conference, Aurora, CO.
  • Merkel-Holguin, M., Clewis, W., Lammie, K., & Allan, H. (2022, October 6). Community Response: Meeting the Basic Needs of Families [Virtual conference presentation]. 2022 A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare Conference, Aurora, CO.
  • Allan, H., Merkel-Holguin, L., Winokur, M. & Drury, I. (2023). Working towards prevention for families at-risk of child maltreatment—meeting families’ needs through community response in Colorado. International Journal of Child Maltreatment, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42448-022-00145-6
  • Allan, H., Merkel-Holguin, L., Winokur, M. & Drury, I. (2023). Working towards prevention for families at-risk of child maltreatment—meeting families’ needs through community response in Colorado. International Journal of Child Maltreatment, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42448-022-00145-6
  • Orsi-Hunt, R., Ingle, P., Allan, H., Rockwell, K., & Portz, J. (2023, June). Arapahoe County Community Development and Prevention (CD&P) Program: Final Evaluation Report. Aurora, CO: Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect.
  • Wasim, A., Faulkner, M., & Allan, H. (2023, October). Evaluating federally funded efforts to improve permanency in the child welfare system: how stories fueled evaluation and evaluation fueled the story of success [Poster presentation]. American Evaluation Association Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
  • Allan, H., & Hollinshead, D. (2023, September). Ecological factors associated with disparate child welfare outcomes. In Fluke, J. (Chair), Research and theory in child welfare decision-making [Symposium]. European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents Conference, Brighton, England.
  • Miller, N., Allan, H., & Summers, A. (2023, April 27). Research in Muddy Waters: Using Research to Advance System Change When Findings Are Nuanced [Conference presentation]. Child Welfare League of America Conference, Washington, DC.
  • Allan, H. & Rockwell, K. (2023, April 20). Warning Signs from the Front Lines [Virtual conference presentation]. 23rd National Conference on Child Abuse & Neglect.
  • Kerns, S. E. U. , Maddox, S. J., Berhanu, R. E., Allan, H., Wilson, R. A., Chiesa, A., Orsi-Hunt, R., McCarthy, L. P., Henry, L. J., & Smith, C. O. (2024). An equity-focused assessment of evidence-based parenting intervention research. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 27(2), 279–299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-024-00479-2
  • McCarthy, L., Kerns, S.E.U, Berhanu, R., Allan, H., & Orsi-Hunt. R.. (2024, October 7). How culturally responsive evaluation shows up in research: An example using parenting intervention studies [Virtual conference presentation]. 2024 A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare Conference, Aurora, CO.
  • Allan, H., Hollinshead, D., Fluke, J., Rockwell, K., & Ender, K. (2024, October 9). Illuminating the complexity of decision making in child welfare using the Decision-Making Ecology [Virtual conference presentation]. 2024 A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare Conference, Aurora, CO.
  • Allan, H. (2024, October 30). Illuminating the complexity of decision making in child welfare using the Decision-Making Ecology [Ignite presentation]. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO.
  • Allan, H. (2023, January 19). Working Towards Prevention in Colorado [Ignite presentation]. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO.

Public Speaking
Yes



School of Medicine

CU Anschutz
Fitzsimons Building

13001 East 17th Place

Aurora, CO 80045

303.724.5375

School
General
Students