Child Protection Team : About Us
Leena S. Dev, M.D., Medical Director
In addition to being a faculty member of the U-M Department of Pediatrics and the Medical School, Dr. Dev serves as medical director of the Child Protection Team. In this role she consults with medical providers when child abuse is suspected and she trains medical students and residents in handling child abuse cases.
Dr. Dev recieved her medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and completed her residency here at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. After working in general pediatrics for some time, she joined the Child Protection Team in 2005.
Dr. Dev is an advocate for child abuse prevention and child safety in the community as well as within the Health System. She is the medical consultant for the Washtenaw County Child Advocacy Center and serves on the Washtenaw County Safe Sleep Coalition, the Washtenaw County Child Death Review Team, the Health System's Child Abuse Review Committee and the Medical Advisory Committee to the Michigan Department of Human Services. She is an American Academy of Pediatrics Fellow and a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, the Michigan Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and the Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Susan Smith, LMSW, Child Protection Team Coordinator, Abuse Prevention Initiative Manager
Sue has been the Child Protection Team coordinator for 18 years. Prior to working for the Health System, she was supervisor of advocates at the local battered women’s shelter, SAFE House. She has also worked for the State of Michigan as a children’s protective services worker, foster home licenser and foster care worker. Sue is an adjunct lecturer for the University of Michigan School Of Social Work and has an administrative appointment with the University of Michigan Family Assessment Clinic.
Sue currently chairs the Washtenaw County Child Advocacy Task Force.
She has been active in child abuse prevention and has been active in educating hospital staff and parents on shaken baby prevention and on a method to soothe crying babies. Sue also manages an initiative for the Health System that educates faculty and staff about abuse across the lifespan.
Sue received her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University and her Master in Social Work from the University of Michigan. She also has a B.A. in American Sign Language.
Linda DeVries, MSW, Clinical Social Worker
Linda has worked with children who are victims of violence for more than 35 years in various enviornments, including Children's Protective Services, Visiting Nurses and schools. In her current role as a clinical social worker on the Child Protection Team, Linda consults with both medical professionals and families in cases of child abuse.
Linda has a bachelor's degree in Social Work and a master's degree in Counseling, both from Western Michigan University. She also has a master's in Social Work from the University of Michigan.
Linda serves on the Child Abuse Review Committee, the Steering Committee for the Department of Social Work and as a planning member for Schwartz Rounds.
Donna Schaefer, MSW, Clinical Social Worker
Donna earned her Bachelors Degree in Business from Michigan State University and her Master's in Social Work from Norfolk State University in Virgina. Donna has had experience working in Foster Care where she was responsible for foster care agency case management and program coordination at a residential treatment center.
Prior to joining the Child Protection Team she was a social worker in the Emergency Department and later on Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Michigan. She has also had experience as the Manager for Ronald McDonald House in Ann Arbor which provides lodging for families of patients admitted to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Her current interests outside of the CPT include domestic violence, emotional abuse and emergency medicine.
