Margo Candelaria

Associate Research Professor

Margo Candelaria, PhD, is an Associate Research Professor and Co-Director of the Parent, Infant, Early Childhood team at Innovations Institute, University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Dr. Candelaria has extensive research and clinical experience with early childhood development and mental health, parent-child interactions, and community systems. She has worked with children and parents in medical systems, community mental health agencies, early intervention agencies, Head Start/Early Head Start, school systems, and homelessness and substance use serving agencies. She served as Principal Investigator (PI) for several contracts with the Maryland State Department of Education with projects focusing on implementation, workforce development, and evaluation of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, and National Pyramid Model Practices to promote social emotional skills and address behavioral concerns in young children. She served as evaluation PI for the SAMHSA-funded TREE project, B’more SUCCEEDS, addressing youth who are substance using and housing unstable with an emphasis on addressing parenting needs; evaluation PI for the SAMHSA-funded BRIDGE early childhood system of care grant in Southern Maryland and E-SMART early childhood system of care grant in Carroll County, Maryland; the SAMHSA-funded Project LAUNCH in Prince George’s County, Maryland; and the HHS Pregnancy Assistance Fund, Map to Success, focused on identifying pregnant and parenting youth and engaging them in parenting and other services to be successful. Across all projects, she focused on program evaluation and implementation science to improve programs for children and families in need by using data and engaging in continuous quality improvement processes. At Innovations Institute, Dr. Candelaria serves as PI for the HRSA-funded TREEHOUSE project which focuses on training and coaching pediatric providers to promote caregiver-child interactions within primary care and evaluation PI for the SAMHSA/NCTSN-funded FASTT project implementing and evaluating a fast-tracked, trauma-informed, clinical model addressing early childhood mental health needs. She co-leads the Parent, Infant, Early Childhood team and is working to expand the early childhood portfolio at Innovations Institute. Dr. Candelaria holds a BA in Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University and an MA and PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.