School of Social Work News

Professor William Elliott III spoke with San Francisco’s KQED about how children’s savings accounts can provide hope and change perspectives. “You are giving families access to an institution that allows them to build wealth that’s coupled with a change in attitude and reflecting on what’s now achievable for them,” Elliott said.

Associate Professor Xiaoling Xiang is the principal investigator of a recently-funded federal grant from the Administration for Community Living’s National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.  The three-year study will focus on evaluating the real-world effects of the Empower@Home program on social participation among older adults with disabilities. Empower@Home is an online self-help program for depression based on the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy. 

“I am thrilled to build on the momentum of our recent NIH R01 award to further expand Empower@Home’s community impact,” said Xiang. “Our goal is to extend its reach to older adults with disabilities and broaden its focus beyond a single condition to encompass outcomes like social participation and connections. This brings us closer to achieving our mission of promoting the multi-dimensional aspects of healthy aging.”

Assistant Professor Fernanda Cross spoke with WXYZ Detroit about how her own experience as an immigrant inspired the creation of the Latinx Youth Empowerment Series, also known as YES, which connects immigrant students at Ypsilanti Community High School with mental health services.  

“Immigrating is difficult. The children are having to do a lot of the navigating the new culture. They’re navigating the new language for the parents as they are learning the language themselves,” Cross said. “For the adolescents that come from undocumented parents, there’s always this constant fear of getting separated from the family, having one of the caregivers deported or being deported themselves in case the adolescents,” she said.  “These students were very likely never going to see a provider if it had not been for these groups.”

YES has been so successful that the Michigan Health Endowment Foundation is funding six additional groups over the next two years.

U-M’s Anti-Racism Collaborative, an initiative of the National Center for Institutional Diversity, has announced the 2024 Anti-Racism Grants.

Professor Joseph Himle and Associate Professor Addie Weaver have received an Anti-Racism Grant for their project FARWell: The Formula for Anti-Racist Wellness and Therapy. This project  — a community-university partnership between My Brother’s Keeper, Formula 734, and social work researchers at U-M and The Ohio State University — will support the development and evaluation of a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy for depression and anxiety, designed for and by young Black men.

Joint PhD Student Irene Routté has received an Anti-Racism Graduate Research Grant for her project Landscapes of (Im)Mobility: Congolese Refugee Youth, the U.S. Resettlement System and Spatial Negotiations of Belonging.

Associate Professor Odessa Gonzalez Benson has received an Anti-Racist Digital Research Initiative Grant for her project A Digital Collection as Narrative and Visualization of the Journey of Resettled Refugees.

The Anti-Racism Grants are sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research in partnership with the National Center for Institutional Diversity’s Anti-Racism Collaborative, which aims to support and amplify the work of anti-racism scholars at U-M.

Congratulations to the following faculty members whose promotions were approved this month by the U-M Board of Regents. Katrina Ellis, Lisa Fedina, Odessa Benson Gonzalez and Anao Zhang were promoted to associate professor with tenure. David Córdova and Terri Friedline were promoted to professor. 

In addition, Lindsay Bornheimer was promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, without tenure, School of Medicine. Katrina Ellis was also promoted to Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, without tenure, School of Public Health.

Congratulations also to our faculty members who were promoted during the most recent lecturer promotion cycle. Zaynab Boussi was promoted to Lecturer IV, and Priscilla Cortez, Linda Edwards-Brown, Aliyah Masudi, Benjamin Moe, Jennifer Towns and Roland Zullo were promoted to Lecturer II.

Lecturer Brooke Buys was named the 2024 Student Union Teacher of the Year. This award is given by the School of Social Work student government and recognizes faculty who have demonstrated commitment to improving DEI, made an outstanding and positive contribution to the School’s climate, and whose skills, dedication, understanding and caring have made a positive impact on students.

Academic Program Analyst Jason Harrison and Field Education Coordinator Talia Ingham received the 2024 Colleen Karim Staff Excellence Award. This award recognizes staff members who accomplish exceptional performance and achievements in their job role, going above and beyond in their day-to-day efforts, championing and supporting the work of others, and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Lecturer Laura Yakas has received the 2024 Distinguished Lecturer Award. This highly esteemed peer award recognizes excellence in teaching and mentoring students and the very highest ideal of a School of Social Work lecturer.