Class Notes

Sara Thane Milam, LCSW opened her private therapy practice Steadfast Living Therapy, LLC in July 2023. Her practice provides individualized and actionable mental health therapy for adults in Nashville, TN. Sara is an EMDR Certified Therapist and specializes in trauma and grief therapy. Visit her website at https://www.steadfastlivingtherapy.com/ to learn more.

Mike assumed the President/CEO position at Pasco Kids First in February of 2023. Pasco Kids First is a Child Advocacy Center working to prevent child abuse and neglect, providing medical assessment and forensic interviews when abuse occurs as well as therapy and healing services for survivors. Visit www.pascokidsfirst.org for more information.

I have been awarded the 2023 Joseph Gittler Award by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP). The award is in recognition of a SSSP member for their significant scholarly achievements on the ethical resolution of social problems.

GO BLUE!

Hi. I was just appointed to the Editorial Board of PLOS ONE, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal.

GO BLUE

Meggie Royer, MSW class of 2022, won third place for her poem "Impostor Syndrome" in the 2023 University of Iowa School of Social Work Annual National Poetry Contest for Social Workers.

https://www.socialworker.com/extras/creative-work/university-of-iowa-sc…

My most recent publication in the peer-reviewed jounal, Home Health Care Management and Practice, is about a new version of a nationally-mandated assessment tool used in all Medicare-certified home health agencies. I interviewed a convenience sample of 36 home care social workers from 5 different home health agencies in the New York City metropolitan area between August 1, 2022, and November 30, 2022 about their views on the new required assessment. Four themes emerged from the study, namely that social workers believe the OASIS-E revisions: are an improvement over prior OASIS versions; are cumbersome and do not require administration by a social worker; do not impose specific guidance requirements on using new measures scoring results in making care decisions; and do not address coverage of specific interventions that address patients with significant mental health issues.

Ngozi Eke, MSW 2015, received board certification in Clinical Social Work from the American Board of Clinical Social Work and also published a children’s book titled: The Adventures of Ikemba: Ikemba’s Secret. Additionally, Ngozi received supervisor designation (Social Work) for both Michigan and Texas and also received

Childcare Director certification and is working on her PhD. Ngozi really appreciated all of the support and education she received at the the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Last year I completed and published my first children's book, The Elephant on Aaron's Chest. It's the story of a boy who is struggling with the weight of his emotions. His emotions take on the form of a cumbersome elephant. With little success, Aaron tries to get the elephant to leave. When Aaron decides to befriend the elephant, things start to change for the better.

Over the past year, I've been reading my book to elementary school students throughout California and Michigan.

Morrie O'Neil is a Senior Technical Writer for the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, DC. He lives in Arlington, VA.

After working 20 years in the field of child welfare, Lacea Zavala, MSW, LMSW made a career switch to instructional design and is now back at the U-M SSW as a Learning Experience Designer in the Online MSW Program. In addition, in January of 2023, Lacea and colleague Jamie Garrison launched the non-profit Rising Sage with the mission to assist single mothers in SE Michigan to overcome barriers to access of wellness practices such as yoga, mindfulness, and mental health support.