Faculty & Staff

Christina brings expertise in child welfare practice, trauma, interpersonal violence, addictions, mental health, child development and disabilities to the student learning experience. Her comprehensive knowledge of legislative and court processes allows her to assist students in learning how to advocate, navigate and understand the complexity of the laws that they will encounter across social work environments. Her partnership across sectors is well established, teaching students that collaboration and connection are critical components of social work practice.

Further, Christina is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary where her research focuses on the experiences of caregivers, specifically foster parents. Contributing to the building of comprehensive and relevant academic and scholarly content that will positively impact child welfare practice is a key area of focus.

Areas of Instruction

• Social Work with a focus on clinical skill development
• Child Intervention/Child Welfare
• Legislation and policy
• Mental Health and Addiction
• Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Practice

Areas of Scholarship

• Child Intervention, Trauma, Children in Government Care
• Child Intervention – practice, policy and practitioner well-being
• Cumulative Risk and neuro-developmental disorders
• High Impact Teaching – simulation, case studies, virtual environment learning

Selected Publications

Choate, P., Briegel, M., Mann-Johnson, M. & Tortorelli, C. (2024), Do children matter? The politics of child protection. Align. Pp. 4-23

Tortorelli, C., Choate, P. & Badry, D. (2023) Disrupted life narratives of children in care with neurodevelopmental disabilities: Whose story is it? (Invited Book Chapter) Published https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.dnb.2023.05.006  

Badry, D., Dearman, A.H., Choate, P., Marcellus, L., Tortorelli, C. & Williams, R.(2023). FASD and child welfare. In, A.A. Abdul-Rahman & C.L. Peterenko (Eds.) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: A multidisciplinary approach. Pp. 385-404. Spring Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3- 031-32386-7_15

Tortorelli, D. Badry, P. Choate & K. Bagely.(2023). Ethical and social issues in FASD. In, A.A. Abdul-Rahman & C.L. Peterenko (Eds.) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: A multidisciplinary approach. Springer Nature. Pp. 363-384.

Tortorelli, C; Choate, P. and Badry, D. (2023). Disrupted life narratives of children in care with neurodevelopmental disabilities: Whose story is it?  In: International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023 Special Collection for The RELX SDG Resource Centre (Elsevier) AWARD - Selected for inclusion in International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2023 Special Collection for The RELX SDG Resource Centre [Elsevier] – reporting on the UN sustainability goals. RELX review

Provost, K. & Tortorelli, C. (2022). Making Connections for our Children: Indigenous Youth Transitioning Out of Care.  In:  Montgomery, H.M., Bennett, M., Albert, J., Badry, D., Fuchs, D. & Choate, P. (Eds). The Future of Indigenous Child Welfare on the Prairies: Walking together to brighten the future for children and families.

Lebel, C. A., Gibbard, W. B., Tortorelli, C., Pei, J., Beaulieu, C., Bagshawe, M., & McMorris, C. A. (2021). Prenatal Exposure And Child brain and mental Health (PEACH) study: protocol for a cohort study of children and youth with prenatal alcohol exposure. BMJ Open, 11(5), e051660–e051660. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051660

Presentations

Tortorelli, C. D., Choate, P. W., & Mann-Johnson, J. (2024). Competing Interests - Protecting Society Versus Protecting the Child: Navigating the Multiplicities of Victims and Perpetrators. XXXVIIIth International Congress on Law and Mental Health. Barcelona, Spain

Tortorelli, C. D. (2024). Take Down the Fence - Exploring how socially constructed definitions have negatively impacted immigrant children and families. IALMH XXXVIIIth International Congress of Law and Mental Health. Barcelona, Spain Invited panelist.

Tortorelli, C. D., Dorothy, B., & Choate, P. W. (2024). A Canadian Child and Youth Advocate Reports on Deaths of Children with FASD Engaged with Child Welfare Services. 12th Biennial Prairie Child Welfare Consortium Conference 2024. Winnipeg, Manitoba

Tortorelli, C. D., Choate, P. W., & Badry, D. (2024). Unpacking the narrative of the child and family experience: When FASD and child welfare intersect. 9th International Conference of Adolescents and Adults with FASD. Seattle, Washington

Tortorelli, C. D., Choate, P. W., Smith, A., & Kanikwu, M. J. (2024). Use of simulation to augment learning in social work. Bridging the Practice Gap with Simulation. Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB

Relevant Community Service

• Board Member Woods Homes – Chair Quality Improvement Committee
• Board Chair – MRU Childcare Center
• O’Brien Institute for Public Health – inaugural member
• Simulation Oversight Committee – MRU
• Scholars' Council – MRU