Research Bio

Dr. Kristina Lovato is an Assistant Professor of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the Latinx and Democracy Cluster at UC Berkeley and serves as the Director of the Center on Immigration and Child Welfare (CICW) in the School of Social Welfare.

Dr. Lovato’s scholarly work is directly informed by her dedication to community-engaged social justice. She has spent the past 20 years working at the intersection of immigration and child wellbeing issues as a researcher, educator, and former bilingual social work practitioner.  Her scholarly work focuses on enhancing the well-being of Latin-American origin immigrant families at risk of immigration enforcement and/or public child welfare involvement.  She employs critical theoretical, and intersectional qualitative methodological approaches to examine the impact of restrictive immigration policies among youth and families who have experienced a forced family separation due to immigration enforcement. Dr. Lovato's research aims to better understand the lived experiences of immigrant communities to develop policies, systems, and services that are culturally responsive and equity-based regardless of legal status.

Dr. Lovato’s research has been published in peer reviewed journals such as: Children and Youth Services Review, Families in Society, The Journal of Community Practice, The Journal of Public Child Welfare, The Journal of Social Service Research. Her research has been funded by Casey Family Programs, the Institute for Research on Poverty at University of Wisconsin, Madison,  the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families, The University of California, The University of California Humanities Research Institute, and California State University. She serves on the Editorial Board of Families in Society.

Research Expertise and Interest

immigration policy, child welfare, Latinx populations, culturally responsive service delivery