School of Social Work News

Professor Edie Kieffer and Healthy Lifestyles researcher Katie Mitchell's project, "The Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA)", received a proclamation from Governor Rick Snyder declaring August 2014 as "Community Health Worker Appreciation Month" in the State of Michigan. MiCHWA is celebrating the work Community Health Workers and their programs do all month long. More information is available here. 

Associate professor Luke Shaefer co-authored an article, “The Truth About Food Stamps” for The New Republic.

Jonah Douglas-Siegel successfully defended his dissertation, "Prisoner Re-entry, Parole Violations, and the Persistence of the Surveillance State", obtaining his PhD in Social Work and Sociology. His committee consisted of professor Sandra Danziger, Jeffrey Morenoff (chairs), Joseph Ryan, David Harding and Joe Grengs.

The following presentations were given by faculty at the recent Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education, and Social Development in Melbourne Australia.

Lecturer Katie Lopez, professor Lawrence Root and associate professor Betsy Voshel - "Developing an effective international field internship program for MSW students: A global partnership".

Assistant professor Katie Richards-Schuster and professor Mary Ruffolo - "Preparing future civic agents: Exploring the impact of social work education on undergraduates through a multidisciplinary minor in community action and social change".

Professor Lawrence Root - "Strengthening social and economic wellbeing in South India villages: Assessing a model for sustainable development".

Professor Mary Ruffolo - "Web-based common elements training of behavioral health workers: A new approach to evidence-based practices".

Professor John Tropman - "Free or cheap: Uncompensated and undercompensated work as a source of inequality".

Professor Rosemary Sarri published her paper entitled, “Intergenerational Incarceration: Risk Factors and Social Exclusion”.

Members of the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group presented results from the Re-tooling Michigan's Child Support Enforcement Program at the state-wide Michigan Friend of the Court Association (FOCA) conference on July 23, 2014.  Presenters included Sue Ann Savas, Clinical Assistant Faculty; Laura Sundstrom, Evaluation Associate; and Elizabeth Grim, MSW/MPH Candidate, Evaluation Field Student.  

The FOCA conference was held at the Shanty Creek Resort in Bellaire, MI from July 22-25, 2014.

Associate professor Andrew Grogan-Kaylor's research on spanking was cited in New York Magazine.

Associate professor Brad Zebrack received an award from the University of Southern California to establish the validity, reliability, and clinical utility of a standardized distress screening instrument for use on adolescent and young adult cancer patients. He will also conduct international comparisons with collaborators in Australia and the United Kingdom.