Poised to focus on research related to mental health and homelessness, as well as community engaged learning opportunities for students, Dr. Candice Player has joined Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) as a senior fellow.

Dr. Player is vice president of advocacy, public policy and street outreach at Project HOME, a Philadelphia organization dedicated to empowering adults, children, and families to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty.

At Project HOME, which she joined in July 2019, Dr. Player provides mission-focused leadership for street outreach programs. Through the Outreach Coordination Center, the Hub of Hope, and the Ambassadors of Hope, these programs engage individuals who are living on the streets of Philadelphia and provide vital linkages to housing, health care, food, clothing, meals, and other necessities. Player also leads Project HOME’s Advocacy Department, focusing on removing systemic barriers to exiting homelessness. 

Player is an expert on the law and ethics of civil commitment. Her thought-provoking articles have appeared in publications including The Sanford Law & Policy Review, The International Journal of Law & Psychiatry, and The Rutgers Law Review.  She is a licensed attorney and a member of the New York Bar.   Prior to joining Project HOME, Player was an associate professor of law at Northwestern Law School, where she taught classes on health law, health policy, mental health law, torts, and bioethics.

Player holds an AB from Harvard College, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a PhD in Ethics and Health Policy from Harvard University. In 2003, Player received an MPhil in Criminology from the University of Cambridge.  From 2013 to 2015, she undertook two years of postdoctoral study at Penn as the Stephanie and Michael Naidoff Fellow in Health Policy, Law and Medicine.