Jo Ellen Layne

B.A., Social Work, 1995

Jo Ellen Layne received her B.A. in Social Work with honors in 1995. While at WSU, she was active in the social work club and the honors society, Alpha Delta Mu. Jo Ellen went directly to the University of Michigan where she received her M.A. from the #1 social work program in the country. She again graduated with honors and was an invited speaker for the annual social work banquet.

Jo Ellen's social work practice has included grief work with hospice families and working in the Family Advocacy Program for the U.S. military with families stationed in Japan. She helped these families prevent their daily stress from resulting in violence and mental dysfunction. We are fortunate at Wright State University that Jo Ellen's next stop was back here in Dayton. In 2002 she became the first and only project coordinator of the Child Welfare Workforce Professional Education Program. Under Jo Ellen's guidance, over 30 students have completed this program and began work at a public child welfare agency.

Jo Ellen's individual work with students, her support for the field supervisors, and her utilization of an advisory group have become the model for other university's child welfare partnership programs. Jo Ellen's work with the child welfare program has brought the Wright State University social work program much positive media exposure, including a feature article in the Fall 2004 Community magazine. Jo Ellen continues to be active in the social work alumni committee, connecting her work with students to alumni social workers in the field.