School of Social Work News

When children experience stress and adversity in their homes and communities, schools become a critically important setting in which to intervene and foster their resilience. Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Children and Families Todd Herrenkohl has collaborated on a video to help school professionals understand and better educate vulnerable and traumatized students.

Ahead (Issue 4) - In-depth views of social work research at the University of Michigan. This issue includes:

• New Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Center for Health Equity Research and Training
• Program Evaluation Group
• Remember Deborah Bybee

Where are the nation’s most disadvantaged communities? With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Professor Luke Shaefer, a team of researchers from U-M Poverty Solutions and Princeton University explored this question and developed an Index of Deep Disadvantage to identify and better understand America’s most disadvantaged communities. By identifying communities of deep disadvantage can help direct resources where they’re most needed.

Professor Brad Zebrack’s research was cited in the New York Times, “When the Teenager or Young Adult Has Cancer.” His research reviews psychosocial challenges, support interventions and makes recommendations for young adults with cancer.

Professor Joe Ryan presented his findings on how data can drive policy changes and improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families at the Wolverine Caucus.  The Wolverine Caucus is a forum held in the state capital where alumni, policymakers, and the public can hear from U-M faculty experts and engage discussions on topics that impact society.

Assistant Professor Odessa Gonzalez Benson leads an action research team from U-M’s School of Social Work, School of Information, Taubman College of Urban Planning and Architecture, and Tunisia-based The Association La Terre Pour Tous who developed “Missing Migrants of the Mediterranean.” This exhibition shares stories, voices and hopes of “missing migrants” and their families, using graphic documentation and data visualization works. Through the exhibit, the team hopes to synthesize social justice, advocacy, design and technology in the form of public scholarship. "We hope to synthesize social justice and advocacy with design and technology in the form of public scholarship," stated Gonzalez Benson.

Weiser Hall Art Gallery
500 Church Street, 5th Floor
Thursday, 2/7/2020 - Wednesday, 3/25/2020

Trina Shanks, professor and director of the Michigan Social Work Community Engagement, is a panelist at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s 2020 Detroit Policy Conference. Local and national leaders will highlight the work underway, new ideas, opportunities and challenges that will define the next 10 years for the Detroit region. Her panel will discuss corporate support for a reliable regional transit system.

Associate Professor Karen Staller is the author of a new book, “New York's Newsboys Charles Loring Brace and the Founding of the Children's Aid Society.” The book a lively historical account of Charles Loring Brace's founding and development of the Children's Aid Society to combat a newly emerging social problem, youth homelessness, during the nineteenth century. “Many of the issues she discusses with clarity and erudition --for example, the assimilation of immigrants, poverty and homelessness among urban youth, and the role of the juvenile justice and foster care systems -- have contemporary relevance for policymakers and practitioners." - Michael Reisch, PhD, MSW, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland.