Monica Faulkner, Ph.D., LMSW
Research Associate Professor, Director
Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing
Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin
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Monica Faulkner is a research associate professor and the director of the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing at the School of Social Work. She oversees multiple projects relating to foster care, child care and teen pregnancy prevention funded by state agencies, private foundations and the federal government. Her primary research interest is teen pregnancy prevention for foster youth and the welfare of teen parents in foster care. She teaches policy, human behavior in the social environment and child welfare related electives. In terms of professional experience, she has worked in both direct practice and clinical settings. She has worked as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault at the Houston Area Women’s Center and as a case manager for children in foster care at the Austin Children’s Shelter. Faulkner also worked as a legislative aide for State Representative Garnet Coleman and served as chief of staff for State Representative Jessica Farrar.

​Faulkner has served on several boards including Latinas on the Rise in Houston and Adoption Knowledge Affiliates in Austin.  She received a doctorate in social work from The University of Texas at Austin in 2010. She received a master’s degree in social work from The University of Houston,  and a bachelor of liberal arts in government with a minor in Spanish and a bachelor of social work from The University of Texas at Austin.