She writes and teaches about families, gender, social class, race and ethnicity, youth and young adulthood, and foster care. She is currently writing about on young adults from diverse backgrounds and their relationships with their parents, particularly with regards to intergenerational giving, connection, and the reproduction of social inequality. She is also author of Parenting for the State: An Ethnographic Analysis of Non-Profit Foster Care. 2005. New York: Routledge. Teresa grew up in Southern California, and now lives with her husband and two children in St. Paul, Minnesota.