Samantha Wulfsohn

Wulfsohn is a senior field liaison and licensed clinical psychologist with over 25 years of experience working alongside staff in the field to continually strengthen program implementation at all stages of the evidence-building cycle. Her work at MDRC focuses on listening to the voices of participants and practitioners, providing data-driven technical assistance to programs based on their priorities, and providing opportunities for them to reflect on their insights and changed practices. Her work has spanned a variety of human services systems serving families and children, including child welfare, fatherhood services, early care and education, infant mental health, home visiting, criminal justice, out-of-school programs, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. She brings to this work her coaching experience in a variety of mental health and human services settings; expertise in building learning communities and developing adult learning approaches; understanding of trauma-informed, equity-focused practice; knowledge of human-centered approaches; and ability to develop frameworks for supporting system change. Before working at MDRC, Wulfsohn developed and oversaw a statewide effort in collaboration with the Illinois State Board of Education to provide mental health coaching to home visiting programs (targeting children from birth through age 3), and prekindergarten programs throughout Illinois focused on enhancing the capabilities of early childhood professionals, building a workforce of mental health coaches statewide, and providing a model for scaling a statewide coaching effort within early childhood systems. Wulfsohn received an M.S. in human development and a Ph.D. in human development and school psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.