School of Social Work News

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke to Minnesota Public Radio about that state’s new child tax credit. “It's not a silver bullet. It's not going to solve all of the challenges that we face, but no policy is. And this one is one that works. It is one that we should be able to see positive impacts in a year's time,” Shaefer said.

Briana Starks, Joint PhD in Social Work and Sociology, successfully defended her dissertation, "Diapers, Debt, and Degrees: The Practical and Theoretical Implications of Maternal Postnatal Educational Attainment." Her committee included Kristin Seefeldt (co-chair) and Karen Staller.

Starks has accepted a position as a Human Services Researcher at Mathematica.

MSW student Peter Slutzker has been appointed to Ann Arbor’s Housing and Human Services Advisory Board. “I'm honored to receive this appointment on behalf of the mayor’s office,” said Slutzker. “I'm hopeful that, as a community member-at-large, I can provide insights from my years providing supportive housing and case management services to members of historically marginalized communities, in both urban and rural settings, to improve conditions and service provisions for Ann Arbor residents. I'm looking forward to the experience of working and learning alongside the knowledgeable members of the board.”

Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt and Lecturer Trevor Bechtel spoke to the Ann Arbor City Council earlier this month about a new program which would provide a universal basic income to 100 Ann Arbor residents engaged in some form of entrepreneurship. The program is a partnership between the city and U-M’s Poverty Solutions, who will administer the program and analyze the findings. 

“We want to see how this guaranteed income allows this community to improve their personal economic security and wellbeing, whether that’s through expanding their business efforts or by scaling back,” said Seefeldt, who will lead the research efforts. Assistant Professor Rebeccah Sokol is a co-principal investigator. Associate Professor Terri Friedline and Professors Joe Ryan and Trina Shanks are also on the research team.

“We know some community members were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic,” said Councilmember Linh Song, MSW ’04, who advocated for the initiative. “This program recognizes and addresses this inequity so that program participants can have a fighting chance to continue to live and work in Ann Arbor.”

Lecturer Jen Towns wrote a new book titled “Our Deepest Roots: Navigating Past Trauma to Build Healthier Queer Relationships.” Towns shares stories from her own personal and professional experiences as a trauma therapist, trauma survivor and queer woman to explore how trauma in childhood or adulthood — combined with being part of the queer community — can impact intimacy, attachment and our everyday interactions with those closest to us. The book, she says, “is neither exclusively memoir nor academic, but a gentle blending of the two.”

Professor William Elliott III spoke with St. Louis public radio about the transformational power of Child Development Accounts and the effect they can have on multi-generational poverty. One of the key things he’s learned, Elliott says, is that the way out of poverty lies along the path of asset accumulation. “Building assets allows people to build their full potential,” he says, “because it augments their ability to tackle the system.”

Assistant Director of Research & Financial Operations Jodi Caviani and Hannah McPherson, administrative assistant to the Associate Dean of Educational Programs, have both received the 2023 Colleen Karim Staff Excellence Award. This new award recognizes staff members who accomplish exceptional performance and achievements in their job role, going above and beyond in their day-to-day efforts, championing and supporting the work of others, and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.

Associate Professor Katie Maguire-Jack has received 2023 Doctoral Student Organization Faculty Award .The Doctoral Student Organization bestows this award to a faculty mentor who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to mentoring, developing and supporting doctoral students.