Tyra Moore, a doctor of social work (DSW) candidate in the School of Social Policy and Practice, was awarded the Joy Award from the Boris L. Henson Foundation in recognition of her steadfast commitment to mental health care for Black Americans. The foundation, started by his daughter, actress Taraji Henson, received over 500 nominations from around the country and Ms. Moore was one of 10 award recipients. Later this month, the foundation and Black Entertainment Television (BET) will fly Ms. Moore and the other nine award winners to Los Angeles for a symposium on mental health and the for the award ceremony.

At SP2, Ms. Moore completed coursework and has institutional approval for her dissertation research. For her dissertation, she is seeking to understand how Black social workers in child welfare create, sustain, and repair relationships with Black teens in foster care who are parenting, and how they navigate the tension between providing support and actively monitoring these teens’ parenting on behalf of the state. The critical research has the power to spark change in how the child welfare system actively incorporates relational repair and healing into care.