Zhenrong Su, MSW

Zhenrong Su, MSW, is a first-year PhD student at the UConn School of Social Work. Inspired by his past practice experience, he is dedicated to addressing disparities in mental health services for children, particularly in low-income areas. His research goals focus on three main areas: 1) Identifying and reducing barriers to accessing mental health services through active collaboration with government agencies, schools, and community organizations. 2) Identifying key principles and mechanisms of inter-organizational partnerships to optimize service delivery outcomes. 3) Improving service access and quality through strategic workforce development initiatives. To achieve these goals, Zhenrong is interested in utilizing mixed methods and community-based participatory research approaches.

Before beginning his doctoral studies, Zhenrong played a key role as a researcher and project manager in a national social work organization in China. His previous work focused primarily on improving the social work and child welfare workforce and providing policy recommendations to both government agencies and UNICEF China.

Zhenrong grew up in an economically disadvantaged rural area in western Fujian, China, and was the first-generation college student in his family. Rooted in his upbringing, he has dedicated himself to supporting and empowering rural students across China. In his future studies, he is also passionate about collaborating with scholars from various disciplines within the UConn academic community to promote the well-being of underprivileged rural students.

MSW
Nanjing University – Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Research Interests:
Child mental health service delivery
Child welfare workforce development
Interprofessional collaboration within child welfare system
Community-based participatory research

View Zhenrong’s CV