QEW: Psychological Impact of Permanency Outcomes

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Jessica Handelman is a Board Certified Licensed Clinical Social Worker in several states with nearly 20 years of experience. Holding certifications in Forensic Social Work and Multicultural and International Social Work Practice, other specialized expertise includes Adoption Trauma, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Complex Trauma, the Harm of Removal, TPR, and Forensic Evaluations. Jessica's primary focus of work is centered around dependent and neglected children and domestic relations matters. She has also worked on juvenile delinquency and guardianship cases. Jessica's scope of work routinely involves legal advocacy, conducting mental health evaluations, child-focused trauma assessments, Parent-Child Interactional Evaluations, facilitating therapeutic out-of-home placement transitions, and serving as an expert witness throughout the country. Jessica is a certified Child & Family Investigator and Parental Responsibilities Evaluator. Jessica’s expert testimony has been heard in over 20 jurisdictions, most notably in the areas of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Childhood Trauma, Best Interest of the Child, and Adoption-Related Loss (among many others). Jessica’s extensive work with dependent and neglected children has allowed her to develop specialized knowledge about the psychological impact of child welfare permanency outcomes and the effects such outcomes have on a child’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being. In addition to her professional engagements, Jessica actively participates in organizations and agencies dedicated to abolishing structural racism in child welfare, and has been published in the National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) law journal: The Guardian. Jessica currently serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Forensic Social Work, published by the National Organization of Forensic Social Work. Offering a wide range of services, Jessica also offers trainings, presentations, and expert witness testimony throughout the country.