Alma J. Carten, PhD, ACSW, LCSW, joined the Board in June 2025. She holds a BA from Ohio University, an MSW from the Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work, and a Doctorate in Social Welfare from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her career spans over thirty years, beginning as a psychiatric social worker in a residential treatment center for children where she was introduced to conjoint family therapy.
She recently retired as an Associate Professor from NYU Silver School of Social Work, where she taught in the social welfare policy, human behavior curricula sequences, and elective courses on diversity, child welfare, and advanced clinical practice with involuntary clients.. Her research has focused on racial inequities affecting families of color, particularly those involved with the child welfare system. Upon retirement, the NYU School reinvested in the Carten Scholarship that supports students who are committed to excellence and innovation in social work practice in child and family serving settings.
Dr. Carten has authored several publications addressing racism, social welfare history, and family services. Her most recent publications are Find a Way or Make One: A Documentary History of Clark Atlanta University Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work (Oxford University Press, 2021), Strategies of Undoing Racism in the Health and Human Services (Oxford University Press, 2015), and Reflections on the American Social Welfare State: The Collected Papers of James R. Dumpson (NASW Press, 2015). Her practice informed research has been published in peer-reviewed journals on topics such as family preservation programs, maternal substance abuse, child survivors of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, independent living services for adolescents, abuse and neglect among Caribbean families, neighborhood-based services, and mental health services within the African American community.
She has received numerous awards including the Dorothy Height Humanitarian Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Social Work Education Association, and served as president of NYC-NASW and was awarded the Chapter’s Highest Leadership Award for New York City.Licensed as an LCSW in New York and Pennsylvania, Dr. Carten’s clinical approach combines the “person-in-environment” perspective with both traditional and evidence-based models, emphasizing cultural diversity and the family’s central role in emotional well-being.