She received her Ph.D. from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois-Chicago and her MSW from the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Qiana's program of research focuses on parenting practices and their impacts on family health and wellbeing across the lifespan. Her current research, funded by the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network, explores the experiences and needs of nonresident fathers with children living in formal and informal kinship care.