Policy can only be effective if it’s shaped by the people it impacts. It can’t be created in ivory towers.”
During her early years in direct practice, Alexandra Citrin (MPP/MSW '12) had a striking realization: families routinely faced policy barriers that made it difficult for them to care for their own children. The systems designed to help families were failing.
She recalls one family whose child needed expensive behavioral health services. Unable to afford them—and with those services not covered by Medicaid—the child was removed from their care. Once in foster care, the state funded the treatment the child had needed all along. Citrin often witnessed young people aging out of foster care, only to be dropped off at homeless shelters. "That's really a shameful failure of policy," she says.
Determined to address these systemic gaps, Citrin came to Michigan to pursue dual degrees in public policy and social work.
Today, as director of Family Autonomy and Child Welfare Policy at the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), a DC-based nonprofit, she combines federal policy advocacy, technical expertise, and local partnerships to drive policy change and support strategies that help children and families in their communities and prevent family separations.
"Policy can only be effective if it's shaped by the people it impacts," she explains. "It can't be created in ivory towers."
At CSSP, Citrin and her team develop and advance federal policy grounded in anti-racist principles and the experiences of youth and families. They collaborate with policymakers, system leaders, communities, and young people to advance racial justice and policy solutions that work for families. The goals are to prioritize investments and transform public systems, all intending to support families where they live and minimize family separation. The challenges are deeply rooted and systemic; child welfare funding has historically prioritized foster care and placement, leaving few resources for prevention.
Citrin's ability to connect real-life situations with policy was shaped at the Ford School, particularly in Associate Professor Megan Tompkins-Stange's public management course. In a memorable policy case competition, Citrin and three teammates won by helping a Chicago nonprofit scale its program to a new city. Their solution emphasized the role of the community and how to integrate young people into program design.
"We presented a strategic plan that was grounded in the community," Citrin recalls. "It's a great example of how Megan's class brought all these pieces together."
As policies that support families come under threat, Citrin applies these lessons daily—alongside fellow Ford School alum Esi Hutchful (MPP '17), a senior policy analyst at CSSP. "It has reinforced the importance of this work and in doing it in a way that centers children, families, and communities," she says.
By Sheri Hall
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