Erin Grohe (2019)
Erin Grohe. A 2019 Graduate of Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology and Cornell Tradition Fellow, Erin obtained her Bachelor of Science in Human Development, with minors in Anthropology and Dance. She concentrated her studies on early childhood cognition, studying aspects such as creativity, positivity, gender, and play. While on her semester-long Human Ecology Exchange at the National University of Singapore, Erin studied social work, further garnering skills imperative to her work in child welfare.
From July 2019 to May 2021, Erin worked as a NYC-based Foster Care Case Planner. Erin monitored academic, social, medical and psychological progress and adjustment as a confidant and member of each child’s support system. She directed coordination of care and services for each child in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of foster parents, education specialists, mental health staff and physicians. Since May 2021, Erin has served the city of New York as a Child Protective Specialist (CPS), investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect as a defender of children’s best interests and a support for families facing adversity. As a CPS, Erin interviewed all stakeholders, assessed needs, implemented safety plans, and referred to necessary services. Erin also collaborated with law enforcement for caregiver convictions, city legal staff to file petitions in family court, and foster care agencies, like her former employer, abuse/neglect warranted removal of a child.
After seven years in New York, both NYC and Ithaca, cultivating a career in child welfare, Erin is thrilled to have returned to her Cleveland, Ohio roots as of August of 2023 for graduate school. Erin is presently a Master in Social Work and Masters in Nonprofit Organizations dual degree candidate at Case Western Reserve’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. As a Leadership Fellow at the Mandel School, Erin receives full scholarship tuition to pursue her MSW. Erin’s academic interests are in social determinants of health as well as barriers to healthcare access. She aspires to further address childhood adversity through health by working as a medical social worker at a children's hospital and eventually directing a health-focused pediatric nonprofit.
Erin is a recent recipient of the distinguished Ronald A. Stewart Fund for International Study and Service Scholarship as well as a Flora Stone Mather Center for Women Research and Professional Development grant, by which she was able to study environmental social work in Ecuador in January 2023. Through this faculty-led trip, Erin extended her previous study of Human Development and the Spanish language, combining her personal passions for child welfare, environmentalism, and community activism. Erin has continued her post-trip efforts as an independent study student, authoring a synthesis publication on her international experience. Erin has also been selected as a Human Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training awardee for her MSW filed placement in pediatric oncology for the 2023-2024 academic year.