Parenting project funded for early career scholar Bai

Dr. Rong Bai headshot.

Dr. Rong Bai is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work.

Dr. Rong Bai, an assistant professor in the East Carolina University School of Social Work in the College of Health and Human Performance, was among the selections by the Society for Research in Child Development to receive $7,500 in funding for a research project to better understand parenting strategies and service needs of parents aging out of foster care.

This is part of the SRCD program to support early career scholars and developmental science by funding research projects proposed by members who completed their doctoral degree within the last five years. Bai received a doctoral degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The SRCD noted that one of Bai’s long-term research goals is to develop prevention programs that break the cycle of intergenerational involvement in the child welfare system among young parents who have aged out of the foster care system. She will be working with Dr. Shaobing Su from UMass Chan Medical School for this project.