Gayle Samuels

View Gayle’s condensed bio here.

At CSSP

I try to help make public systems and practices work for children, youth, and their families, and the workforce which directly interacts with them.

I do this work because

I am inspired and motivated by those for whom I directly advocated for over a decade, by those with whom I have interacted in applied research, ongoing quality assurance and quality improvement experiences and, in a range of work here at CSSP as they navigate public systems.

I am most proud of

Reuniting a teenager (now a successful businessperson with a family) who had resided in multiple foster homes, attended numerous schools, and for whom we were not able to avert unnecessary residential treatment, with their stepmother in another state. Relatedly, I am also proud of being part of early efforts to reduce a foster care system’s reliance on group homes for foster care placement.

Work History

• Director, Qualitative Service Reviews and Quality Assurance Supervisor, New York City Administration for Children’s Services
• Forensic Social Worker, The Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights (Division) Practice: New York, Kings and Bronx Counties, NY
• Project Director, University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Human Development, Head Start-based demonstration/applied research on violence prevention

Education and Awards

• M.S.S.W., Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, NY
• B.A., Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
• B.A. candidate, Psychology major, Spanish minor, (College of) Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, MD
• Certificate of Gratitude for supporting the vision and mission of the DC Parent Advocacy Project, Washington, DC

When the day is done

I enjoy being aunt and great aunt to lots of nieces and nephews and, by demand, their pets. I am a teacher, volunteer to the Board, and former Board Member of YoKid: bringing all aspects of yoga to children in the DC area and supporting the annual National Kids Yoga Conference.