School of Social Work News

Every member of the School of Social Work community should know that the building exceeds the university standards for public health safety. SSW passed a strict university approval process before reopening. People greatly reduce the risk of COVID transmission if they wear a mask, wash their hands and follow social distancing guidelines. No symptomatic people are allowed to enter the building.

The School’s COVID-19 Reentry website has information specific to our school about safety. U-M also has a COVID-19 website. 

There are incidences of COVID-19 at U-M and in most communities across the nation. Testing and environmental surveillance are going on across campus. Last week, U-M started a new Contact Tracing Corps. 

Where can I get a test?

Testing is available from University Health Service, local health care providers, pharmacies and urgent care centers. If you have a health care provider, contact them about testing. 

Testing Sites in Washtenaw County

• University Health Service offers testing for students.The first step is an assessment, which can be done anytime online or by phone (734-764-8320) during UHS open hours.
• Here is a list of ongoing testing sites in Washtenaw County.

Pop-Up Testing provided by Washtenaw County Health Department

Thanks to alumna Carrie A. Rheingans for providing the following information from Washtenaw County Health.

• Saturday, 9/19/2020, 9 AM-1 PM. Free at Washtenaw County Health Department, 22 Center St., Ypsilanti. Enter Center Street from Michigan Avenue. With or without symptoms. Registration is required. Drive-up or walk-up. Please do not line up before the start time. No insurance needed. 
• Saturday, 9/26/2020, 9 AM-1 PM. Free at Ypsilanti District Library, 5577 Whittaker Road, Ypsilanti. With or without symptoms. Check the Washtenaw County Health Department COVID web page for registration information. No insurance needed. 

Associate Professor Kathryn Maguire-Jack has received an R01 grant from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control to examine the preventive impacts of childcare subsidies and paid family leave policies on child maltreatment and intimate partner violence. She is a co-investigator of the 3-year $1.05 million project led by Prevent Child Abuse America. Maguire-Jack is working with researchers from the Prevent Child Abuse America and Casey Family Programs

Associate Professor David Córdova and co-authors received the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations. The award is presented for the best research article that makes substantial and significant contributions to family research and theory.

Karla Goldman's article "Fifteen Years after Katrina: Lessons for August 2020" reflects on Hurricane Katrina and draws connections to the pandemic. Writes Goldman, "A crisis offers the opportunity to draw upon established strengths and reach forward for new possibilities implicit in working across differences, even as we hold fast to the essential connections and stories that define who we are."

We are angry and disheartened at the recently released video showing Daniel Prude’s death at the hands of police in March. This treatment of police officers toward Prude, a Black man with mental health issues, is the latest of too long a series of police brutality cases that stain our nation. We grieve with Prude’s family and recognize the cruel and inhumane restraints that led to his death. Black Lives Matter. We demand justice, accountability and racial equality. We also call for a complete and fundamental philosophical overhaul in the training and behavior of police officers, giving them the tools to respond to mental health crises with critical health interventions and trauma-informed policing.   

Associate Dean for Research and Professor Rogério M. Pinto is the lead on the project “Brazil Theater Exchange: Innovation for Social Work Education,” which was recently awarded a Council on Social Work Education’s Katherine A. Kendall Institute of International Social Work Education grant. Since 2015 the Kendall Institute has awardedgrants that support international social work education projects that help prepare United States students for global citizenship and encourage opportunities for international social work.

“Brazil Theater Exchange: Innovation for Social Work Education” uses self-referential drama techniques to prepare social workers to overcome service barriers and enhance advocacy by developing and evaluating theater methods for social work education.

Professor Robert Joseph Taylor was quoted in Salon and CNN: "People are talking about the race disparity in COVID deaths, they're talking about the age disparity, but they're not talking about how race and age disparities interact: They're not talking about older Black adults."

At a faculty town hall earlier this month, U-M President Mark Schlissel compared the COVID-19 pandemic to the HIV epidemic in regards to testing. As a result of his remarks, the School’s Queer Advocacy Coalition (QAC) started a petition and called for a public apology. In an email to QAC, Schlissel apologized saying “The analogy I used is not a good or fair one. … It was not my intention to disparage any community or person affected by HIV and AIDS.”

He adds, “I want to take this opportunity to explicitly denounce all bigoted myths or attempts to stigmatize people who have HIV or AIDS. They are not only harmful, but they also directly counter the equitable and inclusive environment I and many others continuously attempt to foster here at U-M.”