School of Social Work News

Assistant Professor Luke Shaefer is a new member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.  New members are nominated by current Academy members in recognition of their significant and ongoing professional contributions to the field of social insurance.  The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization made up of the nation’s leading experts on social insurance. Its mission is to advance solutions to challenges facing the nation by increasing public understanding of how social insurance contributes to economic security.

Assistant Professor Shawna Lee was quoted in an article entitled, "A Mother's Warmth is Little Comfort to a Spanked Child", published in "Michigan Today". 

Assistant Professor Desmond Patton has received an award from the U-M Office of Research for his proposal entitled, “Internet Banging: Exploring Social Media Behaviors and Gang Violence Among Black and Latino Males in Chicago.”

Professor Richard Tolman and Lauren Reed (2011 MSW) have received an award from the U-M Rackham Graduate School to continue studying digital forms of dating violence and dating harassment using digital media technology among high school students.

Clinical Assistant Professor Sue Ann Savas has received an award from the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office for three different projects dealing with a jail reentry pilot program, community impact, and a street outreach program.

The Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group (CC-PEG) received a grant from the New York Community Trust to improve the macro social work profesion.  The awarded Place-Based Evaluation (PBE) Fellowship project was developed to better understand the needs and challenges related to building internal evaluation capacity within non-profit organizations.  The project will place three (3) PBE Fellows into community-based non-profit organizations in southeast Michigan for 20 hours per week for a period of eight (8) months.

The aims of the PBE Fellowship are to: (1) provide recent MSW graduates with the skills and experience necessary to work as professional evaluators in the field of social work; (2) provide communtiy-based non-profit organizations with quality evaluation services at a reduced cost; and (3) build and test the internal capacity for evaluation at each organization.

CC-PEG is happy to announce the selection of the PBE Fellows and non-profit organizations they will be placed in:

• Phylicia Allen, MSW, will be placed at Detroit Parent Network
• Ashley Eason, MSW, will be placed at Detroit Police Athletic League
• Lauren Emerson, MSW, will be placed at SOS Community Services in Ypsilanti

For more information on the PBE Fellowship project, contact [email protected]. 

Assistant Professor Desmond Patton will contribute an article "Gangs in Schools" to the Encyclopedia of Human Services and Diversity.

Assistant Professor David Cordova received a grant from the Detroit Community Academic Urban Research Center to support the Preventing Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems among Detroit Hispanic Youth project. He will work with the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation to eliminate substance use and mental health disparities experienced by Latino youth residing in southwest Detroit.