Who, What, Why: Tyra Moore on her commitment to mental health care for Black Americans

“The foster care system is definitely broken,” says Moore. “There’s a pattern of multiple generations interacting with the system in ways that continue to perpetuate trauma.” Moore is researching the element of surveilling and policing with teens parenting in foster care. “We have to continue to ask ourselves, ‘Where are we failing these families?’” she says. Moore, who has spent seventeen years working in the foster care system, believes that there is critical work to be done around prevention and intervention to interrupt this cycle.

After she defends her dissertation in November, the first thing she’ll do is take a nap, Moore says. When refreshed, she plans to continue her research. “I hope to craft or re-craft evidence-based practices in ways that are increasingly respectful and inclusive of the voices and experiences of people of color,” she says. Moore hopes to leverage her degree to expand her clinical impact in marginalized communities. These interactions have driven her work, Moore says, with one experience propelling her into the next.

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