![](https://ssw-web1.s.uw.edu/sites/default/files/sswfiles/images/faculty/2023-02-28-Gerilyn%20Myers_1600x1600.jpg)
Gerilyn Myers
Gerilyn Myers earned her BA in Society and Justice, and her MSW from the University of Washington. She is also a graduate of the Child Welfare Training and Advancement Program (CWTAP).
Myers began her social work career over 30 years ago as a community-based counselor providing individual and family counseling to at-risk youth and their caregivers. She also worked with incarcerated youth at the King County Detention Center and as a contracted service provider for Home Based Services and Family Preservation Services. Myers assisted young parents in the Job Opportunity and Basic Skills program by referring them to various education and training programs as a social worker at the state of Washington’s Economic and Medical Field Service Office.
She was also employed as a social worker for the state of Washington’s Children’s Administration, where she worked in the Child and Family Welfare Services (CFWS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) units, supervised CFWS and facilitated Child Protection Team meetings and Permanent Planning meetings.
Myers returned to the University of Washington in 2007and joined the Child Welfare Training and Advancement Program (CWTAP) as a Teaching Associate and Field Instructor. Currently, Myers is the Associate Director of CWTAP, an Assistant Teaching Professor and Field Instructor, and teaches a foundational child welfare course in the MSW program. She is the Co-Director of Child Welfare for the Black Child Development Institute and Vice President of the Washington State Association of Black Social Workers.
Myers is the recipient of various awards including Outstanding Field Instructor, DSHS Office of Excellence, as a social work supervisor, and the 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Recognition Award, along with her CWTAP team members.
Myers’ primary focus has been in the area of children, youth and families with particular interest in the disproportionate number of African American children and families involved in the child welfare system. As an advocate for children and families, Myers is able to use her education and work experience to teach, supervise and support her students.