Lena Harris, MSW, is an implementation specialist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG). She is currently working on the Build Up project, which is part of The Impact Center at FPG. The Impact Center is a collection of people and projects dedicated to supporting the use of effective implementation practices with a focus on prevention and well-being strategies for children, youth, and families.

As part of our FPG profile series, we recently spoke with Harris to learn more about her work here at the Institute. Here’s what she had to say.

Tell us a bit about your professional journey―how did you become an implementation specialist and what brought you to FPG?
In the fall of my last year before graduation, Bryan Samuels, MPP, Executive Director of Chapin Hall and former Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, spoke at UNC’s School of Social Work about the role of evidence in child welfare. That was my first introduction to the know-do gap—the gap between what we know and what we do—and it gave voice to some of the observations I had been making as an intern and the questions these observations brought. At the end of the lecture, I stayed behind, something that was uncharacteristic of me at the time, and asked what the field of social work was doing to address the know-do gap. He told me there was a whole field devoted to it: Implementation Science. I went home and started reading up on it and this was how I first learned about FPG.

I tucked that information away and went on to graduate and work in direct practice as a child welfare worker. Though I had entered my MSW program as a Child Welfare Education Collaborative Scholar with the intention of being a career child welfare worker, I knew by the final year of my program that I had a strong interest in macro practice and would likely make the switch if the opportunity ever presented itself. The child welfare experience came in handy, and I moved on to a small nonprofit working to install and support a statewide health related program for children and youth in foster care. Still in pursuit of more knowledge and experience in implementation, I was fortunate to join FPG in 2021.

Describe a typical workday and tell us about the projects you're currently working on.
I work on the Build Up team, led by Robin Jenkins, PhD, which works with the Child Behavioral Health team within the Division of Child and Family Wellbeing at the Department of Health and Human Services. This project aims to build the capacity of this division to integrate implementation science best practices into their various program arms. My days vary based on the project needs, but they can include conducting support calls with partners, internal teaming and preparation, providing adult learning opportunities, and/or generating universal support tools and resources on topics relative to partners’ support needs.

What do you like most about your job?
I love having the space and ability to think about high level challenges that affect North Carolina’s capacities and infrastructure to effectively support its children and families. Many of our systems―behavioral health, child welfare, juvenile justice, etc.―can greatly benefit from widespread application of implementation science best practices to various contexts.

What I love and what I find challenging are two sides of the same coin. While I love being able to take a step back to look at the bigger picture and work strategically through the process of identifying potential levers for change, I cut my teeth in the field of child welfare working face-to-face with families. I hold all the stories and lessons they taught me, and they remain as an ever-present reminder of the gravity of this work outside of the academic environment. For that reason, my challenge is balancing the urgency of the need with the care and detail that system design work requires.

What do you find most challenging?
What I love and what I find challenging are two sides of the same coin. While I love being able to take a step back to look at the bigger picture and work strategically through the process of identifying potential levers for change, I cut my teeth in the field of child welfare working face-to-face with families. I hold all the stories and lessons they taught me, and they remain as an ever-present reminder of the gravity of this work outside of the academic environment. For that reason, my challenge is balancing the urgency of the need with the care and detail that system design work requires.

How does your work further the mission of FPG?
Our project work helps to transform the lives of children and families by working alongside state partners who cast vision, shape programming, and build their implementation capacities to support children’s behavioral health needs, with a special focus on populations such as those who are dually diagnosed―behavioral health and developmental disability diagnoses―and those who have experienced trauma.

What do you hope to have accomplished five years from now?
That is an excellent question! It’s difficult to answer for me because there’s some fluidity in how I professionally plan. For example, I went into child welfare hoping to do my part in efforts to support families’ safety, health, and ability to meet their own goals. I joined FPG for the same reason. There definitely are personal goals I’d like to reach in terms of publications, additional project work, and collaborations, but more than that I want to continue to do my part in creating a North Carolina where families can thrive. What’s so exciting about FPG is the sheer volume of work here that does exactly that!

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about your work at FPG?
The only other think I can think of is how grateful I am for our various partners in this work. The amount of contextual knowledge, advocacy skills, and energy they bring, even in the face of competing responsibilities, really demonstrates their commitment to North Carolina’s children and families and I am appreciative of the opportunity to work alongside them.