Dr. Shawnté Jenkins-Alexander has more than 19 years of experience working in areas related to child welfare and sexual abuse. She is currently Vice President, Child Welfare Programs for Centene, where she is responsible for the implementation and overall performance of YouthCare for the State of Illinois. Shawnté previously served as Senior Director of Advocacy and Investigative Services at Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. There, she was responsible for the front-line responders and coordination of investigative services for child sexual abuse investigations in the City of Chicago. She has expertise in the management and supervision of child welfare systems as well as supervision and treatment of sexual offenders.

For the past ten years, Shawnté has garnered a great deal of experience in both studying abuse and helping organizations prevent and respond to incidents or allegations of abuse. During this time, she has provided consultation and evaluation services to corporations, religious organizations, child protection agencies, community mental health agencies, and private individuals. Shawnté has provided expert opinions and reports regarding standard of care for civil litigation in both a consultative and testifying capacity. She has served as an Adjunct Professor of Psychology for Chicago City Colleges for over 12 years.

Shawnté earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a master’s degree in psychology, and a post-graduate degree in human services counseling from National Louis University. She later earned a doctorate of education in counseling psychology from Argosy University. She is a licensed clinical professional counselor in Illinois.