Dr. Krista Thomas

Dr. Krista Thomas is a Senior Policy Fellow at Chapin Hall. Thomas leads blended teams of policy, practice, and research experts in efforts to build the capacity of state and local human service systems across the country to execute large-scale reform initiatives and improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families. Leveraging opportunities like the federal title IV-E waiver authority, Thomas partners with human service leaders to identify a set of priority outcomes, articulate a set of strategies to improve performance, execute their implementation, and monitor their effectiveness. Thomas is a leader in Chapin Hall’s efforts to build and test its capacity building and systems change framework designed to accelerate and sustain change that benefits children and families involved with or at risk for involvement with the child welfare system. Her areas of expertise include federal child welfare policy, programs, and monitoring; large-scale child welfare performance improvement at the state and local level; strategic planning; evidence use in decision making; implementation; continuous quality improvement; and differential response in child welfare.

Prior to coming to Chapin Hall, Thomas served for over a decade in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau in both regional and national offices. As a federal child welfare specialist, Thomas monitored and supported numerous states in both federally mandated and state-driven child welfare program improvement efforts, strategic planning, and implementation of evidence-based practices. Thomas also provided leadership in the federal Child and Family Services Review process as well as the Children’s Bureau’s efforts to enhance the field’s capacity in child welfare evaluation.

Thomas holds a PhD in Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Master of Social Work degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and Bachelor of Arts from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.