School of Social Work News

Professor Trina Shanks is quoted in a Washington Post article about how federal relief programs initiated during the pandemic have been surprisingly effective at lifting people and families out of poverty.  President Biden’s “Build Back Better” proposal would continue some of these  financial supports, which could potentially cut childhood poverty rates in half. “The whole point of the child tax credit is, if a family is working at all, it pushes the family above the poverty line so their children aren’t suffering,” said Shanks.

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with the New York Times about how the stimulus checks issued during the pandemic brought an immediate reduction in food insecurity, which, he says, continues to fall. “We could potentially be at the lowest level of food insecurity ever recorded, because of the government transfers,” said Shaefer.

Fatima Salman, SSW Engage Program Manager was recently interviewed on WDET’s All Things Considered program about how for American Muslims, 9/11 changed life in America. Fatima said, “It wasn’t just worrying about our country, or worrying that that happened to our country, but it was also the worry of what’s going to happen to us as a community in America.”

PhD student Charles Williams II is featured in a video from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services addressing vaccine hesitancy and encouraging the COVID-19 vaccination. Williams, who is pastor of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church, says “There is no invincibility to COVID-19. If it hits you, and it hits you wrong, you’re gone.”

Katie Richards-Schuster joined the Michigan Minds podcast to discuss the importance of keeping students engaged and how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways youth participate in their communities.

Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt spoke to WXYZ Detroit about the struggles families face due to food insecurity and how the new SNAP benefit can help. Beginning October 1, the program once known as Food Stamps will be receiving the single largest increase in the program's 46-year history.

Assistant Professor Lindsay Bornheimer and Curtis Center Program Manager Jamie Abelson are on the board of Garrett's Space, which was founded by Ann Arbor residents Julie and Scott Halpert after their son Garrett died from suicide at age 23 in 2017. Bornheimer and Abelson helped the new non-profit develop programs to provide holistic mental health programming for young adults struggling with mental health issues. "Adding a layer of support, positivity and tools that people can engage with can sometimes be more helpful than just medication or just traditional therapy," said Bornheimer.  
 
"Members of our program committee were trying to think: What can we put in place that would help a young person who has been in the hospital? How can we help them transition to feeling more adequate?" recalls Abelson. She notes that the development of their approach took a year. "We wanted to make sure we had it right, because you don't take risks with this population."

Professor William Elliott spoke with WalletHub about college affordability and student loan debt. He calls for a new approach in how we think about the cost of higher education. “I want to frame the question more like, should students and their parents have to think mostly about the return on investment when picking a college? It leads to inequity,” said Elliott. “Kids who are forced to rely on debt must make decisions not based on their ability (what they have done in school and what they can do) or what is best in the long run for their career but on what they can afford. This is not an education system designed to be the great equalizer in society, instead, it is part of a system that places some people at the top and others at the bottom.