Hyunil Kim

Hyunil Kim is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois School of Social Work. His research examines systemic factors influencing child welfare outcomes, particularly how poverty, neighborhood deprivation, and service accessibility affect child maltreatment reporting and foster care placement.

Using longitudinal national datasets and geospatial methods, his work analyzes:

• Racial disparities in CPS reporting and placement
• Impacts of food insecurity, opioid epidemics, and housing instability
• Effectiveness of home visiting programs in reducing maltreatment

Recent studies leverage linked administrative records to track child trajectories through foster care, identifying critical intervention points for policy improvement.