School of Social Work News

Associate Professor Luke Shaefer was cited in the Vox article, "The latest Obamacare repeal bill is modeled after welfare reform. That was a failure."

Associate Professor Beth Glover Reed is serving on a 7 person Editorial Review Board for a Technical Assistance Publication, being prepared by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Its working title is “Addressing Domestic Violence in the Behavioral Health Services Setting.”

Associate Dean for Educational Programs and Professor Mary Ruffolo and her team: Assistant Professor David Córdova, Professor Jorge Delva, Assistant Dean of Field Education and Clinical Assistant Professor Dan Fischer, Associate Dean for Research and Professor Joe Himle, LEO Adjunct Lecturer Adrienne Lapidos, Clinical Assistant Professor Deb Mattison, Assistant Professor Jamie Mitchell, Associate Professor Sandra Momper, LEO Lecturer Daicia Price and Associate Professor Trina Shanks were awarded a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to provide inter-professional training opportunities for MSW students with the Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority (DWMHA). This project expands field placements that link behavioral health and primary care systems within the DWMHA network. The DWMHA field placements prepare MSW students to work with low resourced racial and ethnic minority children, adolescents, and transitional age youth living with behavioral health conditions and adults with psychiatric disabilities in the Detroit community. 

Jessica Wiederspan successfully defended her dissertation, "How Bad Does It Have to Get? How the Ideology of the American Dream Persists in an Era of Economic Insecurity” and obtained her PhD in Social Work and Sociology. Her committee consisted of Professor Emerita Sandra Danziger and Associate Professor Karen Staller.

Professor Laura Lein interviewed with Spectrum News’ In Focus to discuss how natural disasters are difficult emotionally as evacuees uproot their lives.

Associate Professors Matthew Smith and Rogério Pinto received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to develop a virtual reality intervention to enhance job interviewing skills for transition-age youth on the autism spectrum.

After the intervention is developed, the project will evaluate the intervention as an addition to school-based transitional services. This initiative builds off of Dr. Smith's prior work using a virtual reality tool to enhance job interviewing skills for adults on the autism spectrum or with severe mental illness.

Associate Professor Shawna Lee’s study, “Transactional family processes supporting father involvement and child socio-emotional wellbeing” received a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to examine transactional processes related to father involvement and child wellbeing in low-income families.

Research shows that low father involvement and/ or absence (LFIA) is associated with negative outcomes for children, such as greater antisocial and behavior problems, lower educational attainment, and poorer mental and physical health. Yet, relatively little is known about the family processes that are associated with and predict LFIA especially in racially diverse low-income families. In these studies, Lee and her team will examine transactional processes related to father involvement and child wellbeing in low-income families. Findings from these studies will help to identify mechanisms relevant to preventative interventions to decrease LFIA and improve child socio-emotional wellbeing in vulnerable families.

Elise Hernandez successfully defended her dissertation, "Familia Matters? Social Support among Older Latina/os in the United States" and obtained her PhD in Social Work and Psychology. Dr. Hernandez has accepted a position as a Research and Analytics Manager with Meals on Wheels America. Her committee consisted of Berit Ingersoll-Dayton and David Cordova.