John Paul Horn, PhD, MSW Faculty Profile

Photo of John Paul Horn

John Paul  Horn, PhD, MSW

Assistant Professor

Department of Social Work

I focus on qualitative and mixed-methods research that advances the voices of care leavers (former foster youth) as they emerge into adulthood. I use positive youth development and capital development theories to demonstrate how youth thrive despite unaddressed systemic issues that contribute to negative outcomes in adulthood. I also examine how these systems perpetuate structural violence by reinforcing systemic oppression. My goal is to improve practice and policy by identifying institutional-level barriers that inhibit healthy development for youth.

  • PhD in Social Work, Boston University
  • MSW, University of Iowa
  • BA in Liberal Studies, California State University, Bakersfield

Not teaching this semester.

Farragher, R., Göbbels-Koch, P., Horn, J. P., & Smith, A. (2023). Re-injecting care into research. In A. Van Breda, I. Oterholm, S. Keller, & V. Paulsen (Eds.), Living on the Edge: Innovative International Research on Leaving Care. Policy Press.

Horn, J. P., Bruce, E. J., & Naccarato, T. (2022). Child welfare: An overview. Encyclopedia of Macro Social Work. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.529

Spencer, R., Drew, A. L., & Horn, J. P. (2021). “Well, that’s not how we do things:” Staff perspectives on implementing Youth Initiated Mentoring. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(7), 2781-2794.

Spencer, R., Keller, T., Perry, M., Drew, A. L., Clark-Shim, H., Horn, J. P., Miranda–Diaz, M., & McCormack, M. (2021). How youth mentoring relationships end: A mixed-methods multi-informant study. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 143(1), 67-79.

Oterhom, I., Braenne, Bennwik, I., Kelly, B., Purtell, J., Horn, J. P., Smith, A., Mupaku, W., Farragher, R., & Göbbels-Koch, P. (2023, September). Living on the Edge: Innovative research on leaving care and transitions to adulthood – Methods of care leaving research. Paper presented at the 2023 Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents, Brighton, England.

Horn, J. P. (2023, September). “I’m not sure if that’s possible…”: Examining the aspirations of care experienced adults in the United States. Paper presented at the 2023 Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents, Brighton, England.

Horn, J. P. (2021, September). The impact of care leaver organizations on adult care leavers. Poster presented at the XVI Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents, Zurich, Switzerland (Virtual).

Horn, J. P., Young, A., Conlin, M., Spencer, R., & Schwartz, S. E. O. (2021, April). Supporting college persistence of under-represented students through a social capital intervention. Poster presented at the Society for Research on Child Development Biennial Meeting, Virtual.

Horn, J. P. (2021, January). “They got me where I needed to be…”: The evolution of supportive relationships for care leavers from transition to age 30. Paper presented at the Conference for the Society for Social Work and Research, Virtual. (G. Gowdy, Paper symposium Chairperson).

Horn, J. P. (2020, November). Life after foster care study: Lessons learned. Presented virtually as part of panel, Contributions of Research on Care Leaving- The Global Experience, at the 1st International Care Leavers Convention, New Delhi, India (Virtual). 

Examining Navigational Capital among People with Care Experience
Hilton Foundation ($30,000)
Co-PI: John Paul Horn, Co-PI: Toni Naccarato

Graduate Coordinator; Department of Social Work; College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences

General Education and Overlay/Code Subcommittee; Academic Senate; California State University, East Bay