James P. Desantis

James P. DeSantis is a developmental psychologist with more than 30 years of experience in research, program design, evaluation, technical assistance, and project management. His subject expertise includes child welfare, child and adolescent development, capacity building, organizational and systems change, prevention services, Head Start and Early Head Start, comprehensive two-generation family support programs, and integration and coordination of services across program areas. He is a seasoned manager and has served as vice president at JBA since 2007.

DeSantis currently is the project director for the Cross-Center Evaluation of the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative, a 5-year evaluation funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). He is the corporate supervisor and monitor for several other ACF projects, including Evaluation of A Father’s Place, Prince George’s County (Fatherhood FIRE); Understanding Judicial Decision-Making and Hearing Quality in Child Welfare; Technical Assistance on Evaluation for Discretionary Grant Programs; and Prenatal Alcohol and Other Drug Exposures in Child Welfare.

DeSantis has directed other large-scale, national research and evaluation projects at JBA, including the Cross-Site Evaluation of Child Welfare Implementation Centers and National Resource Centers. He served as project director, and later as corporate monitor, for the Adaptable Evaluation Training and Technical Assistance for Healthy Marriage, Promoting Responsible Fatherhood, and Tribal/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Child Welfare Grantees. He was also corporate supervisor for the National Cross-Site Evaluation of the Replication of Demonstrated Effective Prevention Programs and the Trauma-Informed Approaches: Connecting Research, Policy, and Practice to Build Resilience in Children and Families projects.

As project director for the Evaluation Technical Assistance and Cross-Site Evaluation of Early Head Start-Child Welfare Services Demonstration Grants, DeSantis managed technical assistance advisors; helped develop evaluation tools, resources, and reports; and presented findings at conferences and briefings for the Administration on Children, Youth and Families commissioner and Federal Interagency Workgroup on Child Abuse and Neglect. He received a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from The Catholic University of America.