Class Notes

Brad A. Palmertree was recently selected as a Policy Fellow with the Network for Social Work Management. The inaugural fellowship program is an eight-month leadership and professional development experience aimed to equip participants with core management competencies to inspire, organize, and work effectively with others to advance the public good. The fellowship concludes with a poster project addressing a public policy issue, which will be presented at the Network's annual conference in Los Angeles held in June. Brad's poster will present a policy advocacy framework for the treatment, mitigation, and prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

Scott Tharp recently published an article entitled “Using Critical Discourse Analysis to Understand Student Resistance to Diversity” in the Fall 2015 issue of Multicultural Education.

Jennifer Cervi is the coordinator of the Collegiate Recovery Community at University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW). She works with students in recovery, advocating campus-wide and nationally to erase the stigma of addiction.

Fogle has retired from the National Association of Counties as a senior legislative advisor after 28 years. Presently, he consults for the National Association of Regional Councils and is vice chair of the Rider’s Advising Council, Washington Metro System.

After a 4 1/2 year hiatus from professional work to stay home full time with our three children (ages 8, 4 & 4), I began in the role of Program Director at Camp Blodgett. We serve children and youth in Kent and Ottawa counties (Grand Rapids, Holland, Grand Haven and surrounding communities) with high quality, financially accessible summer camp experiences, after school programs and youth leadership initiatives. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, Camp Blodgett is celebrating its 95th year serving children in West Michigan.

Charles Richmond served as the first Executive Director of Caminar, a non-profit psychosocial rehabilitation agency based in San Mateo, for 15 years late '60s - '70s. He developed the agency from one program with two employees and a minuscule budget into a highly regarded national model with nine innovative and prototypical “therapeutic community” based psychosocial rehabilitation programs in California and Nevada including community based halfway houses (El Camino House and Tonopah House); a day treatment center and residential alternative to psychiatric hospitalization (Redwood House), more than 18 units of supportive housing (the Satellite Housing Program), and a community based coed residence for troubled adolescent offenders (Pedregal House).

After receiving his MSW degree from the University of Michigan in'59 he joined Santa Clara County Mental Health Services, psychiatric outpatient clinic. He then became the first psychiatric social worker to conduct group therapy at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, said to be the first psychiatric unit within a general hospital in California.

At Miramonte Mental Health Services in Palo Alto, he was assistant to the director where he ran a psychiatric a treatment center and supervised Harvey House, a halfway house.

He is the author of several professional journal articles and two book chapters on therapeutic communities and milieu therapy in the field of psychosocial rehabilitation. He was asked to present a paper before the International Association of Social Psychiatry in Colombo, Sri Lanka but became so enamored with the people had tea with new friends instead.

The last 16 years I have worked in an intensive outpatient program, running groups, working with families and individuals, and doing per diem work at Catholic Family Services. I have supervised social work students. My goal now is to visit as many countries as possible while I decide how to retire and when.

Ron passed away on March 31, 2015 at the age of 73.

Larry E. Davis, MSW'73, PhD'77, authored the book, "Why Are They Angry With Us? Essays on Race." Davis is dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, where he is the Donald M. Henderson Professor. He is the director and founder of the Center on Race and Social Problems, which conducts applied social science research on race, ethnicity, and color.

Jennifer created an interactive display, "Turner Town," to raise awareness, attention, and education about Turner Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities. The exhibit is on display at the Livonia Civic Center Library (adult and children's areas on the first floor) through Thanksgiving weekend.