The Child and Family Research Unit promotes health and wellness for underserved and at-risk populations through research, education, and outreach. Collaborative Learning for Educational Achievement and Resilience (CLEAR) partners with school systems to build and sustain trauma-informed practices in Education through staff professional development, coaching and support.

Provision of evidence-based trauma assessment and treatment with a focus on child sexual abuse, children in foster care, and complex trauma. Co-principal investigator of study focusing on treating parent interpersonal childhood trauma with Cognitive Processing Therapy in an effort to improve the rate of children in foster care in a state that has the highest rate of substantiated abuse and neglect in the county.

Ruthlyn Webster, Ed.D., LCSW, ACSW As Kristi House’s former Programs Director, Dr. Webster oversaw Therapy and Project GOLD departments at Kristi House, which encompasses 28 staff members. She has shepherded Kristi House’s program growth during her 16 years at the agency, reaching more and more clients each year. She served as Director for Kristi House’s ongoing federal SAMHSA grant, which is spreading evidence-based interventions for child trauma throughout South Florida. In its first four years, the Miami C-START program a community based learning collaborative; treated 1,200 children and trained 172 therapists and caseworkers in evidence-based interventions for child sexual-related trauma. The SAMHSA project is now exploring evidence-based interventions that hold promise for child sex trafficking survivors, and is working closely with clients in Project GOLD, our CSEC program. Dr. Webster holds a Doctor of Education degree in Organizational Learning and Leadership; she is also a licensed clinical social worker, with more than 35 years’ experience as a field instructor, managing state and federally funded programs for abused children in culturally diverse settings, primarily in Harlem, NY and Miami. She has been trained and provides trainings in multiple Evidence Based Treatment Interventions. These includes: Trauma Focus Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT); Problematic Sexual Behavior-Cognitive Behavior Therapy (PSB-CBT); Risk Reduction Family Therapy (RRFT); Modified TF-CBT for CSEC; and Infant Mental Health. Dr Webster also served on various NCTSN collaborative groups such as Child Abuse, CSEC, PSB and Sexual Health committees. She has been an adjunct faculty at Marymount College and Florida International University. Most recently November 2017-present Dr. Webster received training in the Core Curriculum in Childhood Trauma Facilitator’s College, and is now conducting training workshops on the Core Curriculum as part of The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) initiative. December 2018 Collaborative Paper submitted: Journal of Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research on: Preaching to the choir? Predictors of engagement in a community-based learning collaborative.

Master's Level, License eligible to provide counseling services. 15+ years of providing care coordination, case management, and individual/group counseling to children and youth with emotional disabilities through outpatient and residential treatment.