
Jared Israel Best , PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology Anthropology Social Work and Criminal Justice
(971) 761-9022
Email
Fahy Hall
Room 207
Jared Israel Best, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology Anthropology Social Work and Criminal Justice
Jared (he/they) joins Seton Hall University’s Bachelor of Social Work Program in the
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work and Criminal Justice. Jared was
teaching at Portland State University since 2015 in multiple programs including Child,
Youth, and Family Studies and PSU’s BSW and MSW programs. Jared has taught across
the social work curriculum including sexualities and family studies, research and
evaluation, human behavior across the lifespan, generalist practice, and trauma-informed
mental health practice.
The majority of Jared's work in the field has been with disenfranchised youth including
homeless and runaway youth as well as youth in juvenile justice and foster care systems.
Jared also has several years of clinical social work experience in private practice
with youth, adults, couples, and family systems. Jared’s research has mostly focused
on young people aging out of foster care and more recently sexualities education in
social work curricula. Jared’s interests also include abolitionist perspectives on
child welfare, discourses of disenfranchised youth, and more critical and radical
possibilities within the field of social work.
Education
- Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Research, Portland State University
- MSW, Portland State University
- B.S. in Psychology, Portland State University