This fall, UCLA Luskin welcomes two new assistant professors to its Department of Social Welfare: Anthony Gómez and Brianna Harvey. Both scholars bring expertise in child welfare and social work research, using innovative scholarship to advance policies and practices that improve the well-being of children, youth, families and communities.

Gómez, a UCLA alumnus, studies how child welfare policies shape the developmental, behavioral health and educational outcomes of adolescents and young adults transitioning from foster care. Using large-scale administrative data and advanced quantitative methods, his research identifies practical strategies to help child welfare systems better support young people’s long-term success. He also serves as an affiliated researcher with the California Child Welfare Indicators Project at UC Berkeley, where he contributes to research that informs child welfare policy across California.

“I can’t think of a greater way to pay it forward,” Gómez said of returning to UCLA as a faculty member. “The mentorship I received at Luskin changed the course of my career. I’m excited to continue that tradition by helping students discover their potential as social workers, scholars and change agents.”

A graduate of UCLA’s Master of Social Welfare program, Gómez earned his doctorate in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley.

Harvey returns to UCLA Luskin as both an alumna and former practitioner whose career has been dedicated to supporting communities affected by structural inequities. A critical qualitative methodologist, her research examines how schools, child welfare and carceral systems intersect to shape the lives of Black youth and their families. Her scholarship also explores how Black communities resist, subvert and reimagine systems of care and social institutions. Before entering academia, Harvey spent more than a decade as a community-based social worker and served as director of UCLA’s Bruin Guardian Scholars Program, which supports students with foster care backgrounds.

“Returning as faculty is not just a milestone — it is a return to a place where I am deeply connected to students and community,” Harvey said. “UCLA is where I became the scholar, researcher and practitioner I am today, and I’m excited to continue centering the voices of those most impacted by the systems I study.”

Together, Gómez and Harvey strengthen UCLA Luskin’s Department of Social Welfare with complementary expertise spanning quantitative and qualitative research, child welfare policy, racial equity and systems change.