School of Social Work News

Associate Professor Joseph Ryan has just received an award from the State of Illinois Department of Human Services to continue evaluation activities for the State of Illinois's Alcohol and Drug Abuse program.  

Katherine Mitchell presented "How Public Health Social Workers and Schools of Social Work can be Influential in Sustaining CHWs and Community Alliances at a State Level," emphasizing the importance of collaboration at the American Public Health Association annual meeting in Boston, MA. Edie Kieffer and Mike Spencer, Nick Yankey, Elizabeth Grim, and Hannah Roberts were co-authors on this presentation.

Associate Professor Mary Ruffolo received an award from the The National Council for Behavioral Health. She will work with the National Council to develop an instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of learning communities.

Congratulations to Kathleen Lopez who has just received an award from the University of Michigan Provost.

The goal of the proposal is to fund a trip to Hong Kong that will enable her to learn about social work in an international context. During this trip, she will visit the University of Hong Kong Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the Hong Kong Social Workers Association, as well as local social work agencies.

LEO faculty member, Shari Robinson-Lynk was selected as a recipient of the Fifth Annual Distinguished Diversity Leaders Award. The award includes $2500 towards her team's professional development activities.

The DDLA award was established to shine a light on staff members who work toward achieving a welcoming, supportive and inclusive working environment. 

Assistant Clinical Professor Sue Ann Savas presented on a panel titled "Innovative Approaches to Child Support Enforcement: Evidence from Field Research" at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) 35th Annual Fall Research Conference on November 9, 2013.  Sue Ann Savas and Jeremy Gaertner, MSW presented on the Re-tooling Michigan's Child Support Enforcement Program project in conjuction with representatives from Washington and Iowa who received the same grant from the Office of Child Support Enforcement (DHHS).

The APPAM Fall Research Conference was held in Washington, DC from November 7-9, 2013.

2013 MSW and MPH candidate, Nick Yankey, presented "Developing and implementing a process, context, and outcome evaluation of a statewide community health worker alliance" on the evaluation activities being conducted for the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance. Staff member Katherine Mitchell and faculty member Edie Kieffer were co-authors on this presentation. 

The American Public Health Association annual meeting was held in Boston, MA on November 2-6.