Barbara Lee is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work, Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families and an academic affiliate of the SIM Social Work Research Lab at Carleton University.

Ph.D. University of Toronto
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work & Ethnic and Pluralism Studies Collaborative Graduate Program

M.S.W. University of Toronto
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work & Ethnic and Pluralism Studies Collaborative Graduate Program

B.S.W. University of Victoria
School of Social Work – Child Welfare Specialization

B.A. Queen’s University
Faculty of Arts – Psychology

Barbara was the 2016 recipient of the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) Transforming Child Welfare Dissertation Award for her research entitled “Examining child welfare outcomes for Asian-Canadian children and families: A mixed methods study”. Her research interests include racial disparities and racial disproportionality in child welfare and social services, cross-cultural social work, evidence-informed practices with children, youth, and families, and the use of simulation in social work education.

Barbara has direct practice experience as a youth worker for new immigrant adolescents and as a child and youth care counselor in residential group home settings. She has worked extensively as a frontline child protection worker conducting child maltreatment investigations and ongoing child protection/family preservation services for ‘high-risk’ children and families.

Current Funded Research

Principal Investigator, 2022-2027
SSHRC Insight Grant, ($229,899)
Bridging Critical Social Work Education and Clinical Practice: A Design-based Research Study

Co-Investigator (PI: Miu Yan) 2021-2024
Immigration, Refugee, Citizenship Canada ($652,232)
The Innovative British Columbia Settlement Case Management Service Model

Co-Principal Investigator (CoPI: Sarah Dow-Fleisner) 2021-2022
UBC Collaborate Research Mobility Award ($5,000)
Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families (CSSCF) Collaboration

Co-Investigator (PI: Suzanne Campbell) 2021-2022
UBC OER Implementation Grant ($24,920)
Global Interprofessional Therapeutic Communication Scale – BC (GITCS-BC) – Interactive Open Access Text and Virtual Gaming Simulation OER

Principal Investigator, 2020 – 2023
SSHRC Insight Development Grant  ($74,390)
Exploring the barriers and facilitators for effective child welfare intervention for Asian-Canadian children and families: Perspectives of service users service providers

Co-Investigator (PI: Dora Tam) 2020-2023
SSHRC Partnership Grant ($199,590)
Promising practices for children and youth: A model of Canada-China collaboration

Principal Investigator, 2018 – 2023
UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) ($49,601)
Developing a program of teaching and assessment using simulation in child welfare training

Principal Investigator, 2019 – 2023
UBC Hampton Fund ($9,992)
Child maltreatment and the trajectory of adult well-being among ethno-racial communities: Results from the Canadian Health Survey

Co-Investigator (PI: Jennifer Ma) 2019-2022
SSHRC Connections Grant ($25,000)
Building solidarity among emerging Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) academics, practitioners, and activists: Select topics in migration

Co-Investigator (PI: Lea Tufford) 2018-2023
SSHRC Insight Grant ($120,824)
Evaluating decision-making and relationship competence when reporting suspected child abuse and neglect

Co-Investigator (PI: Mariko Kimura & Tan Ngoh Tiong) 2018-2020
International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) ($4,000)
Models of social work and curriculum development for global social work

Select Publications

Tufford, L., Lee, B., Thieu, V., & Zhao, R. (in-press). Field Instructors’ perspectives on educating social work students in the mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect. Field Educator.

Asakura, K., Lee, B., Occhiuto, K., & Kourgiantakis, T. (2022). Observational learning in simulation-based social work education: Comparison of interviewers and observers. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 41(3), 300-316.  https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1831467

Lee, B., Lwin, K., Zhao, R., & Thieu, V. (2021). Training and Education in Working with Immigrant Children and Families in the Child Welfare System: A Scoping Review Protocol. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/KCY2X

Lee, B., Thieu, V., & Zhao, R. (2021). Best Practices in Working with Immigrant Children and Families in the Child Welfare System: A Scoping Review Protocol. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WUX3P

Lee, B., Ji, D. & O’Kane, M. (2021). Examining cross-cultural child welfare practice through simulation-based education. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42(2), 271-285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-020-00783-8

Tufford, L., Lee, B., Bogo, M., Wenghofer, E., Etherington, C., Thieu, V. & Zhao, R. (2021). Decision-making and relationship competence when reporting suspected physical abuse and child neglect: An Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42(2), 256-270.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-020-00785-6

Tufford, L., & Lee, B. (2020). Relationship repair strategies when reporting child abuse and neglect. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 2020(37), 335-249. doi: 10.1007/s10560-020-00656-6

Tufford, L., Bogo, M., Katz, E., Lee, B., & Ramjattan, R. (2019). Reporting suspected child maltreatment: Educating social work students in decision making and maintaining the relationship. Journal of Social Work Education. 55(2019), 579-595. doi: 10.1080/10437797.2019.1600442

Tufford, L., & Lee, B. (2019). Decision-making factors in the mandatory reporting of child maltreatment. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma. 2019(12), 233-244. doi: 10.1007/s40653-018-0211-2

Lee, B., Fuller Thomson, E., Fallon, B., & Trocmé, N., & Black, T. (2017). Asian-Canadian families involved in the child welfare system in Canada: A mixed methods study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 70 (2017), 342-355. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.022

Lee, B., Fuller Thomson, E., Black, T., Fallon, B., & Trocmé, N. (2017). Examining child welfare decisions and services for Asian-Canadian versus White-Canadian households in the child welfare system. Child Maltreatment, 22(2), 132-144. doi: 10.1177/1077559517690829

Bogo, M., Lee, B., McKee, E., Ramjattan, R., & Baird, S. (2017). Bridging class and field: Field instructors’ and liaisons’ reaction to information about students’ baseline performance derived from simulation interviews. Journal of Social Work Education. doi: 10.1080/10437797.2017.1283269

Lee, B., Fuller Thomson, E., Trocmé, N., Fallon, B., & Black, T. (2016). Delineating disproportionality and disparity of Asian-Canadian versus White-Canadian households in the child welfare system. Child and Youth Service Review, 70, 383-393. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.10.023

Fallon, B., Black, T., VanWert, M., King, B., Filipelli, J., Lee, B., & Moody, B. (2016). Child maltreatment-related service decisions by ethno-racial categories in Ontario in 2013. Toronto, ON: Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal.

Fallon, B., Van Wert, M., Trocmé, N., MacLaurin, B., Sinha, V., Lefevvre, R., Allan, K., Black, T., Lee, B., Rha, W., Smith, C., & Goel, S. (2015). Ontario incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect – 2013 (OIS-2013). Toronto, ON: Child Welfare Research Portal.

Bogo, M., Lee, B., McKee, E., Baird, S., & Ramjattan, R. (2015). Field instructors’ perceptions of foundation year students’ readiness to engage in field education. Social Work Education. doi: 10.1080/02615479.2015.1123689

Lee, B., Rha, W., & Fallon, B. (2014). Physical abuse and Asian families in the Canadian child welfare system. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 23(5), 532-551. doi: 10.1080/10926771.2014.904462

Bogo, M., Shlonsky, A., Lee, B., & Serbinski, S. (2014). Acting like it matters: A scoping review of child welfare training. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 7, 70-93. doi: 10.1080/15548732.2013.818610

Ma, J., Van Wert, M., Lee, B., Fallon, B., & Trocmé, N. (2013). Non-English/non-French speaking caregivers involved with the Canadian child welfare system: Findings from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008). International Journal of Child and Adolescent Resilience, 1(1), 22-34.

Areas of Scholarship: Child welfare, ethno-cultural communities, mixed methods, quantitative methods, social work education using simulation

Areas of Practice: Child welfare, youth work, children and families, case management, quality assurance/improvement