Michael Nunno, D.S.W., is senior extension associate, emeritus in Cornell Human Ecology and co-principal investigator of the Residential Child Care Project at the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. Dr. Nunno has a background and expertise in social policy, regulation, and legislation related to child welfare issues as well as specific expertise in the identification, prevention, and etiology of child abuse and neglect in residential care. Related to these interests has been his work in the reduction of aggressive critical incidents in residential facilities, training and evaluation of performance competencies, and organizational implementation strategies to introduce crisis prevention systems and program models in children’s residential facilities. His research has examined how children die in restraints, the dynamics of adolescent female restraint episodes, and the impact of organizational climates and cultures on critical incidents. He is also an expert in selected civil litigation cases throughout the United States where children have died or been seriously injured while in out-of-home care.
Dr. Nunno has published his work in chapters of the books Child Protective Services Team Handbook and Understanding Abusive Families. He was the lead editor for the book For Our Own Safety: Examining the Safety of High-risk Interventions for Children and Young People published by the Child Welfare League of America. His work has also appeared in the journals Child Abuse and Neglect: An International Journal, Children and Society, Protecting Children, Journal of Child Welfare, Children and Youth Services Review, Applied Developmental Science, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Scottish Journal of Residential Care, and the Child and Youth Care Forum. He sat on the expert panel for the Child Welfare League of America’s Best Practices Guidelines for Child Maltreatment in Foster Care and is currently a member of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (IPSCAN) Expert Faculty Program.
