School of Social Work News

Anne Blumenthal, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Sociology Candidate, was selected for a 2020-2021 Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship Award. The Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship is one of the most prestigious awards granted by the Rackham Graduate School. The fellowship supports outstanding doctoral candidates working on dissertations that are unusually creative, ambitious and impactful. Blumenthal's abstract is "Services or Surveillance? Contextual Differences in the Role of Trust in Parents’ Engagement with Social Services Aimed at Preventing Neglect."

The Michigan COVID-19 Pandemic Resource Guide, published by U-M Poverty Solutions aims to make sure the people who would benefit most from these policy changes are able to take advantage of them.

“The guide demonstrates Poverty Solutions’ commitment to action-based research that is responsive to community needs,” said Kristin Seefeldt, Poverty Solutions associate faculty director and an associate professor of social work and public policy.

Associate Professor and Director of the Parenting in Context Research Lab, Shawna Lee, says parents throughout the country have encountered unprecedented challenges in the midst of the pandemic. The results help to illustrate how Coronavirus is impacting parenting and how adults are coping with Coronavirus. The report highlights an increase in shouting, yelling or screaming at children in the past two weeks. In addition, during that same timeframe, one in six parents spanked or slapped their child. “For a large number of parents, financial concerns, other worries, social isolation, loneliness and sadness are getting in the way of parenting,” said Lee. The report, co-authored by social work doctoral student Kaitlin Ward, examines how parents have responded to their children during the pandemic.

More states are announcing closings for the duration of the school year. Familiar sources of support, such as teachers and school counselors, will no longer be able to look after the health and wellbeing of vulnerable children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation parents avoid physical punishment. Other evidence-based recommendations are below.

• American Academy of Pediatrics - Positive Parenting & COVID-19: 10 Tips to Help Keep the Calm at Home
• Child Trends - Resources for Supporting Children’s Emotional Well-being during the COVID-19 Pandemic

WXYZ Coverage

U-M News Service

Abigail Eiler, clinical assistant professor and assistant director of athletic counseling hosted a webinar for more than 1000 U-M athletes. "It's called 'Managing My Mental Health After Collegiate Athletics,' " said Eiler, who works with counseling director Greg Harden, MSW '81 and oversees day-to-day counseling operations. 

The webinar is just one example of how social work supports the U-M athletic department and student-athletes. The group discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA canceling the remainder of the winter and spring sports seasons and other necessary life adjustments. The webinar focused primarily on seniors, most of whom have left campus and are now distributed across nearly every U. S. state and internationally.

Today the Regents of the University of Michigan approved H. Luke Shaefer’s appointment as the inaugural Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, for a five-year term, through February 2025.

In 2018, with a generous gift to the Ford School, U-M alumnus Harold L. Kohn and Carol K. Kohn and the Kohn Charitable Trust established the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professorship in Social Justice and Social Policy. The gift supports a faculty member whose scholarly work and research focus on social justice and gives a voice to those who are disadvantaged in society.

 Shaefer has established himself as a major scholar of contemporary American social welfare policy. He is co-author with Kathryn Edin of the acclaimed book, $2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America. Shaefer is the inaugural director of U-M’s Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary, cross-campus presidential initiative to inform, identify and test innovative strategies to prevent and alleviate poverty.

“I am deeply honored to be named the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy,” says Shaefer. “Above all else in my work, I seek to use evidence and analysis to drive real, positive change for families who are vulnerable. The Kohn family’s generous gift, in memory of Hermann and Amalie, inspires me to continue on in this to the fullest extent I know how.“

Shaefer holds a joint appointment with the School of Social Work and the Ford School. Michigan Social Work Dean Lynn Videka, states, ”Luke Shaefer is an exemplary interdisciplinary scholar and leader in the proudest Michigan tradition. The Hermann and Amelie Kohn Professorship in Social Justice and Social Policy supports the important social justice work that Shaefer’s research informs, and it supports collaboration between Social Work and the Ford School.” 

As our country confronts the economic fallout from the coronavirus, Shaefer has been actively engaged as a public voice in the New York Times, and other outlets, on the consequences facing low-income families, and in developing policies to help families weather the crisis here in Michigan.

Shaefer received his Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College in 2001, and his M.A. in 2005 and Ph.D. in 2008, both in social service administration, from The University of Chicago. 

Associate Professor Terri Friedline’s research, “Mapping Financial Opportunity” can be used to inform the Automatic BOOST to Communities Act drafted by Rashida Tlaib, U.S. Representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district. In response to the coronavirus crisis, the proposed legislation would immediately provide a U.S. debit card preloaded with $2,000 to every person in America, which could be transitioned into a universal federal or postal banking account. Each card would be recharged with $1,000 monthly until one year after the end of the coronavirus crisis. Friedline's research focuses on universal bank account access and she maps post office locations to inform the potential for postal banking.

In February, the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Center for Health Equity Research and Training announced the three inaugural awardees of the Curtis Center Signature Programs Initiative (SPI). SPI is a launch program for Michigan Social Work faculty to develop new or further existing health equity research programs.

Professor Luke Shaefer is quoted in a New York Times article detailing how low-income families often bear the brunt of the pain in natural disasters and large-scale emergencies. “They tend to be the first hit when things go wrong and then also to take the longest time to recover.”