Kate Sweeney, MSW

Assistant Extension Professor

Innovations Institute

Kate Sweeney is an assistant extension professor and co-director of the Parent, Infant, Early Childhood team at Innovations Institute, University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Her work and research interests focus on infant and early childhood mental health, early childhood and family-serving systems, early intervention, fatherhood initiatives, maternal mental health, parent-child interaction, and trauma-informed care. She is particularly interested in strengthening systems and workforce capacity to support young children and families through evidence-based, relationship-centered, and trauma-informed approaches.

In her role at the Innovations Institute, Ms. Sweeney leads program development, project oversight, workforce development, and policy initiatives related to Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health efforts.

She is a licensed clinician with extensive experience providing and supporting the implementation of evidence-based practices across a range of disciplines serving families, including home visitors, educators, early intervention providers, primary care professionals, and specialty care medical providers.

Ms. Sweeney previously served as Principal Investigator and project director for two federally funded grants through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) focused on addressing the needs of transition-age youth in Baltimore City experiencing substance use disorders and parenting challenges.

She also led a project funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to support and engage incarcerated caregivers and their families and provided technical assistance to child welfare teams on substance-exposed newborn policy implementation.

Ms. Sweeney is a National Trainer of the Fussy Baby Network and a member of the ZERO TO THREE Academy Fellows.

Ms. Sweeney earned an MSW from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, where she specialized in maternal and child mental health, and a BA in political science from George Washington University.