Research Office News

Professor Luke Shaefer was quoted in a New York Times op-ed which examines how quick action from the government at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the shortest recession on record. “This is the best, most successful response to an economic crisis that we have ever mounted, and it is not even close,” said Shaefer.

Professor William Elliott III had an in-depth discussion with CBS News Detroit about President Biden’s new student loan forgiveness program. “For those who have received a degree and come out with debt, this is going to strengthen the return on the degree,” he said. “The money they are making from having gone to college will benefit them far more by not having all this debt on them for really years and years — decades even.” 

Elliott also spoke with The Guardian about how student loan debt can affect and delay financial decisions such as owning a home, getting married and starting a family. “You’re not going to achieve a sense of the American dream at a period of your life when it means a lot,” said Elliott.

Andrea Mora, Joint PhD in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation, “An Examination of Community Violence Exposure and Sexual Harassment Among Latino/a Adolescents.”

Todd Herrenkohl and Lorraine Gutiérrez (co-chair) served on her committee. Mora has accepted a position as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh for fall 2023.

Anne Blumenthal, Joint PhD in Social Work and Sociology, has successfully defended her dissertation, "Essays on Child Well-Being and Parenting During the Covid-19 Pandemic."

Todd Herrenkohl, Katie Maguire-Jack and Sandra Danziger (co-chair) served as on her committee. Blumenthal has accepted a position as the Harold A. Richman Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.

In 2018, ENGAGE launched the Small Grants Program to encourage faculty to build partnerships with Detroit community-based organizations and to support resident-led efforts to strengthen Detroit neighborhoods. These awards are supported by the Office of the Provost and are part of the School of Social Work’s strategic effort to connect Detroit engagement efforts and increase impact in the city. ENGAGE partners with the Ford School’s Detroit Urban Research Center in the administration of the small grants program.

Here are this year’s grant recipients:

1) It's not just me! Black young adults' views of what it takes to live on the right side of the law: An intersectional-CBPR study

Faculty Member: Associate Professor Camille Quinn (Michael Kloc, research assistant)

Community Partner: Rai LaNier, Executive Director, MI Liberation

2) Neighborhood Initiatives Examining Organizational Impact: A Quality Team Project

Faculty Member: Associate Professor Katie Richards-Shuster

Community Partner: Alexandra Bolin, Impact and Improvement Coordinator, United Project 

3) Community-led Storytelling in Detroit

Faculty Member: Lecturer Maureen Okasinski

Community Partner: Erik Howard, Executive Director, Inside Southwest Detroit

4)  D-Boy Dads: Exploring Fatherhood in Detroit

Faculty Member: Professor Rich Tolman

Community Partners: Sam Donald, Director Detroit Musix; Marcus Hille, Parent Think Tank; Willie Bell, Director: Family Assistance for Renaissance Men; John Miles, Children’s Center, Fatherhood Coordinator; Bomani Gray: Metro Detroit Father Policy Group

Assistant Professor Rebeccah Sokol spoke with multiple news outlets about a recent study that showed teens who have been exposed to violence have a significantly higher rate of carrying firearms. Sokol said “This study highlights the importance of identifying the unique circumstances that link these two different types of exposure to violence to youth carrying firearms. By doing so, we can better understand why young people feel the need to own a firearm, provide intervention support and strategies, and reduce firearm injuries in youth,” 

The study was a collaboration between the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, where Sokol is the training and education core co-director, and the Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens Consortium.

Detroit Free Press

Huron Daily Tribune

The Bharat Express News

Pioneer

Techexplorist

Medical Xpress

USA Today

PhD student So’Phelia Morrow has been named a 2023 Public Voices Fellow on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls. The US-based fellowship is part of The OpEd Project’s Public Voices initiative to include women’s voices in writing history and Equality Now’s mission to create a fair and just world for women and girls. During the year-long program, participants receive mentorship to effectively communicate their ideas and learn how to work with media outlets.

Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt spoke to the Detroit Free Press and Bridge Michigan about Ann Arbor joining the growing list of cities across the nation exploring a guaranteed basic income program. Seefeldt will oversee the pilot program which will provide 100 income-eligible entrepreneurs with $525 a month for 24 months. “It could be someone who actually has established a small business that’s actively operating to someone who occasionally does yard work and mows lawns for neighbors … we’re really casting a broad net when we talk about … entrepreneurial activity,” said Seefeldt.