Education
Ph.D., Social Work, The Catholic University of America, NCSSS, 1990
M.S.W., Social Work, The Catholic University of America, NCSSS, 1979
B.A., Social Work and Psychology, Cleveland State University, 1977
Areas of Specialty
Addressing the needs of vulnerable populations; promoting the well-being of children, adolescents, and their families including those with disabilities, and evaluating intervention and program services.
Research Interests
Maternal (post-partum and chronic) depression, children’s early literacy and emotional regulation, coping and adaptation of children with disabilities and their families, adolescent behavior, child development, and family psychosocial functioning.
Biographical Information
Dr. Farber started her social work career as an MSW training-fellow in the Leadership in Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program at the Kennedy Krieger (formerly known as John F. Kennedy Institute) in Baltimore, Maryland. At present, she is the Co-Principal Investigator for CUA and a faculty-mentor for the discipline of social work at the LEND program at the National Children’s Medical Center, Washington, D.C. LEND is a two-tiered, year-long, certificate-based interdisciplinary training program funded by Maternal Child and Health Bureau (MCHB) for graduate-level students and other professionals in disabilities. For more information, please contact farber@cua.edu.
Academically, Dr. Farber began teaching in the MSW program in 1991, joining as an assistant professor in 2003. She has taught MSW foundation social work research methods, generalist practice with individuals, families, and groups, and human behavior and social environment; and advanced social work practice and program evaluation, and context of social work practice with families and children. She has also taught a foundation research course in the doctoral program. With two other NCSSS faculty colleagues, Dr. Farber co-found, later directed, and is a continuing member of a CUA-NCSSS research center, presently known as the Center for Advancement of Children, Youth, and Families (CACYF). She has conducted and developed multiple research projects including population needs assessments and process and outcome evaluations, designed to strengthen the capacity of local and national social agencies to respond to the complex needs of high-risk families with children and adolescents. She is an ongoing member of the National Early Head Start Research Consortium and currently serves as the senior research analyst for the EHS longitudinal study for the CUA-EHS-site. She frequently reviews grants and has co-written grants for ACF, SAMHSA, and OERI. In 2009, Dr. Farber was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. At present, she focuses on teaching research methods and evaluation courses in social work.
Dr. Farber also has over 20 years experience as a clinical social worker, case manager, and a consultant, providing social services in the context of agency and private practice settings to families and children affected by chronic health conditions, developmental disabilities, mental illness, trauma, substance abuse, violence, poverty, and immigration. She maintains LCSW-C license in Maryland and has a Diplomate-level certification by NASW and the American Board of Examiners for Clinical Social Work (ABECSW).
Personally, Dr. Farber has derived experience from living in North-Eastern Europe (Czech Republic - Prague) and India (Hyderabad, Trichinopolli). She and her husband have two children, one Siamese, one eastern short-haired tabby, and a Scottish terrier.
In some of her spare time, she also enjoys swimming, skiing, and seeking sea-shells besides gardening, cooking, reading, and pondering research projects. She welcomes similarly shared information.
Selected Publications
Referred Journal Articles
Zajicek-Farber, M. L. (2009). The contributions of parenting and postnatal depression on emergent language of children in low-income families. Journal of Child and Family Studies, Advanced online publication: doi: s10826-009-9293-7.
Zajicek-Farber, M. L. (2009). Building practice evidence for parent mentoring during home-visiting in early childhood. Research on Social Work Practice. Advanced online publication: doi: 0123456789123456.
Farber, M.L.Z. (2009). Parent mentoring and child anticipatory guidance with Latino and African-American families, Health and Social Work, 34(3), 179-189.
Zajicek-Farber, M. L. (2008). Postnatal depression and infant health practices among high-risk women. Journal of Child and Family Studies, Advanced online publication: doi:s10826-008-9224-z.; (2009). Journal of Child and Family Studies,18(2), 236-245.
Farber, M. L. Z., & Sabatino, C. A. (2007). Therapeutic summer weekend camp for grieving children: Supporting clinical practice through empirical evaluation. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 24(4), 385-402.
Farber, M. L. Z., & Maharaj, R. (2005). Empowering high-risk families of children with disabilities. Research on Social Work Practice. 17(6), 501-515.
Book and Book-Chapters
Timberlake, E.M., Farber, M.L.Z., & Sabatino, C.A. (2008). Generalist social work practice: A Strengths-based problem-solving approach (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Batshaw, M., Shapiro, B., & Farber, M.L.Z. (2007). Developmental delay and intellectual disability. In M. Batshaw, L. Pellegrino, & N.J. Roizen (Eds.), Children with disabilities, 6th ed., (pp. 245-261), Paul H. Brookes.
Professional Presentations
Farber, M.L.Z. (2009). Contributions of parenting knowledge and maternal mental health to the development of emergent language in toddlers. Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD): April, Denver, Colorado.
Farber, M.L.Z. (2009). Parent mentoring: Improving infant health practices and postnatal depression through home visiting. Society for Social Work Research (SSWR), January, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Timberlake, E.M., Farber, M.L.Z., & Sabatino, C.A. (2008). The generalist method of social work practice: A generalist perspective (5th ed.). Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 54th Annual Program Meeting; Meet the Authors, October, Philadelphia, PA.
Farber, M., Brophy-Herb, H., London, E., & McKelvey, L. (2008). A gender comparison of the relationship between preschool emotional competencies of children in low-income families and their learning outcomes at transition to kindergarten. Head Start's 9th National Research Conference, June, Washington, DC.
White, L., Wall, S., Farber, M.L.Z., & Mayer, L.M. (2008). An investigation of social skills, emotion regulation, and academic readiness in low-income preschool children. Head Start's 9th National Research Conference, June, Washington, DC.
Sabatino, C., Farber, M., Soniat, B., Donaldson, L. (2007). University-community agency research partnerships: Connecting the ivory tower with the people. Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 53rd Annual Program Meeting; October, San Francisco, Ca.
Farber, M. L. Z. (2007). Strengthening developmental surveillance of high risk infants. Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Annual Conference: Healthy Communities, March, Arlington, Virginia.
Farber, M., Brophy-Herb, H., McKelvey, L., Dupuis, S., London, E., Thomas, S., Chun Lin, Y., Fitzgerald, H., & F. Schiffman, R. (2007). Developmental competencies at 36 months: Links to learning readiness at transition to kindergarten among low-income children. Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Symposium, March, Boston, Massachusetts.
Farber, M. L.Z., Wall, S., Taylor, N., Timberlake, E., & Liebow, H. (2007). School readiness for kindergarten in young children from diverse low income families. Society for Social Work Research (SSWR), January, San Francisco, California.
Current Professional Memberships
National Association of Social Workers (NASW): ASCW, and Diplomate Status
Society for Social Work Research (SSWR)
Council of Social Work Education (CSWE)
American Board of Education for Clinical Social Work (ABECSW)
Early Head Start (EHS) Research Consortium
Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
