School of Social Work News

Professor Luke Shaefer has received the 2021 U-M President’s Award for Public Impact. This award honors individuals whose research and expertise tangibly address a major public-sector challenge.

Shaefer is a leading scholar of contemporary American social welfare policy and the inaugural director of U-M’s Poverty Solutions. He is co-author of the acclaimed book, “$2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America,” which helped lay the groundwork for current anti-poverty legislative efforts, including President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

“It means a great deal to me to be at a university that has an award like this honoring public engagement. I think it really lifts up the importance of this kind of work,” Shaefer said. “I’m deeply honored to be a recipient because I greatly admire the scholars who have received it in the past.

MicroMasters student and returned Peace Corps volunteer Shannon Lynn Carter has received a Weiser Emerging Democracies Fellowship for Incoming Graduate Students. Emerging Democracies Fellowships are awarded to exceptional incoming graduate students who focus their work on emerging democracies, past or present. 

“It aligned with everything I had done as Youth Development Volunteer serving in Ukraine. I went into the Peace Corps knowing I wanted to develop as a person. I knew I had to go through something very difficult. I did not expect that, in the process, I would receive the Weiser Fellowship. I am extremely grateful now to be working for causes greater than I could have ever imagined and doing something that I feel is so meaningful. And I am grateful to be completing my second master's at the U-M School of Social Work.”

Carter served in Ukraine from September 2017 to when she was evacuated in March 2020 due to Covid-19. From Flint, Michigan, she took advantage of the statewide lockdown to complete our online MicroMasters program in under 12 weeks and deferred until she completed her first master's in Project Management at the Peace Studies and International Development Center at the University of Bradford Rotary Peace Center, England. She will start her MSW on campus in the fall with the intention of returning to Ukraine post-war. 

“What's happening in Ukraine is horrific,” she says. “My Ukrainian friends live-stream it. They don't know if they're going to make it the next day.  Paired with my Cyrillic linguistic skills and graduate-level credentials of social work and project management, I will be equipped with the tools to return to Ukraine and continue building on the democratic ideology that had originally inspired the creation of the U.S Peace Corps in the 1960s.” 

Apart from receiving the Weiser Emerging Democracies Fellowship, Carter has also received the Paul D. Coverdell  Fellowship, Rotary Peace Fellowship, and the Bill Huntly Fellowship.

The Association of Black Social Work Students (ABSWS) has received the Michigan Difference Professional Organization of the Year Award.  

“ABSWS has an ongoing presence at the University of Michigan and to continue the legacy, it is critical that their accomplishments be recognized,” said Clinical Assistant Professor Daicia Price.  “ABSWS has been an integral part of preparing for new accreditation requirements that involve anti-racism and social justice as a necessary part of the graduate curriculum. One of the amazing things about this group is that they have been using the curriculum and professional competencies to engage in and implement their strategic plan. They have been intentional about building collaborative networks and been creative and innovative about ways to combine the professional and social experience of social workers.”

The current ABSWS officers include: 

• Blair Baker - President
• Alex Black - Vice President
• J’Melia Richardson - Secretary & Social Coordinator
• Quentin Harris - Parliamentarian

The School of Social Work has again been named the nation’s top social work school in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Graduate School rankings, which were published today.

Professor Lisa Wexler’s research is featured in an article on resilience, which is the April 2022 cover story of NIH News in Health. Wexler discusses how tapping into protective factors — including cultural traditions such as ceremonies, teachings and practices — can help build resilience.

Associate Professor Katie Maguire-Jack is editor of “Neighborhoods, Communities, and Child Maltreatment: A Global Perspective,” which explores a diverse range of research relating to the impact of communities on child maltreatment and parenting.

“‘Neighborhoods, Communities, and Child Maltreatment’ includes perspectives from around the globe on the critical role that communities play in families' lives,” said Maguire-Jack. “It delves into the meaning and impact of neighborhoods across different contexts, introduces innovative community-level maltreatment prevention strategies, and highlights advanced methodological approaches for studying these issues. It is my hope that this book will advance research and policy for effective child maltreatment prevention with an understanding of the importance of communities."

Assistant Professor Shanna Kattari is a Woodhull Freedom Foundation 2022 Vicki Sexual Freedom Award Honoree. The award recognizes those individuals whose life and work embody the foundation’s mission and values, and who have made landmark contributions to the sexual freedom movement through education, advocacy, research and activism.

Kattari will receive the award in August 2022 at the Sexual Freedom Summit. “As someone who has been doing sexuality education and advocacy work for the better part of two decades, I am so honored that my work is being recognized in this way,” said Kattari. “We still have far to go to ensure that all disabled people, queer and trans people, people of color, older adults, kinky folks, those who are non-monogamous and sex workers are treated with justice in the realm of sexuality, basic human rights and access. I hope my work brings more attention to many of these topics, and encourages social workers to understand that affirming sexuality is an important part of our practice.”

Associate Professor Terri Friedline and Professor William Elliott spoke with the Guardian about the benefits of children’s savings accounts, which extend beyond saving money for college.  Research shows that these accounts positively affect the social emotional development of kids and encourages families to build other assets. “It’s not because they’re getting money in their hands, it’s more about understanding their kids have a better future,” said Elliott. “What assets give you is tangible hope.”