Social Work Commons^™

Home Delinquency Rates Are Lower Among Aca Marketplace Households: Evidence From A Natural Experiment, Emily A. Gallagher, Radhakrishnan Gopalon, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Stephen P. Roll, Genevieve Davison

Center for Social Development Research

This brief uses administrative income tax data coupled with survey responses from roughly 5,000 households living near the poverty line to estimate how access to the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplaces have affected households’ experiences of extreme illiquidity, which is measured by delinquencies on home payments. To estimate this relationship, we exploit a natural experiment underway in states that did not expand Medicaid and created by the eligibility rules for Marketplace subsidies. Results suggest that insured households living near the poverty line are better able to make timely rent and mortgage payments compared with similar, uninsured households. Given housing …

Inaugural Issue Of Dignity, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.

International Child Development Accounts, Michael Sherraden, Li-Chen Cheng, Fred M. Ssewamala, Youngmi Kim, Vernon Loke, Li Zou, Gina Chowa, David Ansong, Lissa Johnson, Yung Soo Lee, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Margaret M. Clancy, Jin Huang, Sondra G. Beverly, Yunju Nam, Chang-Keun Han

Center for Social Development Research

This Working Paper has been submitted for inclusion in the new online edition of theEncyclopedia of Social Work, which is published by Oxford University Press. The paper discusses efforts to implement Child Development Accounts in the United States and numerous other countries. Child Development Accounts (CDAs) are subsidized savings or investment accounts to help people accumulate assets for developmental purposes and life course needs. They are envisioned as universal (everyone participates), progressive (greater subsidies for the poor), and potentially lifelong national policy. These features distinguish CDAs from most existing asset-building policies and programs around the world, which are typically regressive, …

Asset Building: Toward Inclusive Policy, Michael Sherraden, Lissa Johnson, Margaret Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Margaret S. Sherraden, Mark Schreiner, William Elliott Iii, Trina Shanks William, Deborah Adams, Jami C. Curley, Jin Huang, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Yunju Nam, Min Zhan, Chang-Kuen Han

Center for Social Development Research

This Working Paper has been submitted for inclusion in theEncyclopedia of Social Work's new online edition, which is published by Oxford University Press. Since 1991, a new policy discussion has arisen in the United States and other countries, focusing on building assets as a complement to traditional social policy based on income. In fact, asset-based policy already existed (and still exists) in the United States, with large public subsidies. But the policy is regressive, benefiting the rich far more than the poor. The goal should be a universal, progressive, and lifelong asset-based policy. One promising pathway may be Child Development …

Financial Anxiety In Low- And Moderate-Income Households: Findings From The Household Financial Survey, Stephen P. Roll, Samuel H. Taylor, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Despite significant gains in the U.S. economy following the Great Recession, finances remain a common source of stress for many American households. In 2016, 52% of U.S. workers reported that their financial position made them stressed, and research reveals that stress and anxiety associated with finances are particularly common among low-income Americans. In this brief, we explore the topic of financial anxiety, particularly its relationship to demographic and financial characteristics, measures of hardship, and financial behaviors. We find that financial anxiety is strongly linked to the overall levels of debt and assets held by low-income households, as well as their …

From Mass Incarceration To Effective And Sustainable Decarceration: Conference Report, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Matthew W. Epperson

Center for Social Development Research

All signs indicate that the United States is leaving an era of mass incarceration and is on the cusp of an era of decarceration. However, the challenge of decarceration is far greater than simply reducing the use of incarceration; it involves building an array of policy and practice innovations that replace incarceration. We have a unique opportunity to rethink, redefine, and reimagine the criminal justice system and shape the emerging decarceration movement. The challenge of decarceration is far greater than simply reducing the use of incarceration; it involves building an array of policy and practice innovations that replace incarceration. To …

Introducing Self-Advocacy Skills To Transition Age Youth, Monique Y. Martinez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Background

Transition age youth (TAY) are individuals transitioning from youth to adulthood (ages 14 to 24). TAY are individuals with emotional, behavioral, and/or developmental disabilities who cycle through the justice or foster care system, or are homeless and use social services (California Mental Health Planning Council [CMHPC], 2009; Mandarino, 2014). About 47.1 million young adults (14 to 24 years old) live in the United States; four million are 14-year olds, and by the time the 14-year-olds are 24 less than 100% will make an effort in successfully transitioning to adulthood, five to seven percent will reach age 25 without successfully …

Mater: Innovative Programs For Maternal Addiction Education Treatment And Research, Meghan Gannon Phd Msph

Population Health Matters (Formerly Health Policy Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Leveraging Tax Time To Build Financial Capability: Research Evidence And Policy Directions, Meredith Covington, Jane E. Oliphant, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Over the past decade, a variety of initiatives have been implemented in the United States to facilitate saving and build financial security at tax time, including national experiments, pilot programs, and federal and state policies. Much progress has been made in encouraging tax filers, especially low- to moderate-income (LMI) tax filers, to save a portion of their refund. To expand upon the “golden moment” of saving at tax time, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers must now seek ways in which the lump sum of saving at tax time can serve to render tax filers capable of confidently managing their financial lives. …

The Role Of Health Insurance In The Financial Lives Of Low- And Moderate-Income Households, Mathieu R. Despard, Dana C. Perantie, Jane E. Oliphant, Stephen P. Roll, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Health insurance is an important resource for enabling access to and use of medical care, and is associated with reduced risk for mortality and poor health outcomes. Health insurance also protects households from incurring major medical expenses and unmanageable levels of medical debt. About a quarter of a sample of low- and moderate-income (LMI) tax filers have no health insurance, compared to 10% of all individuals in the United States. As of 2014, the proportion of filers without insurance was 11 percentage points higher in states that had not expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) than it was …

Full 3rd Edition

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

No abstract provided.

Implications Of National Trends In Digital Media Use For Art Therapy Practice, Girija Kaimal, Michele Rattigan, Gretchen Miller, Jennifer Haddy

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

This paper presents an overview of national trends in visual art-making and art sharing using digital media, and, the authors’ reflections on the implications of these findings for art therapy practice. These findings were based on a secondary analysis of the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts administered by the National Endowment for the Arts. Survey findings indicated that increasing proportions of people in the United States are using digital media for creating, archiving, and sharing their art. Reflections by the authors on these findings include support for increase in use of digital media by art therapists for …

Visual Sexualities: Exploring An Integration Of Art And Sex Therapies, Jillien Kahn

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

This research explores the potential of integrating art and sex therapies. Three interviews were performed: two with certified art therapists one with a certified sex therapist, in order to understand how each of these professionals approaches issues of sexuality and creative expression within his or her practice. The resulting data was compared within and between each interviewee, resulting three overarching themes through which the challenges regarding this integration can be understood. It was found that there is great potential for an integration of the two therapies, provided clinicians have access to appropriate training, as well as a deeper understanding of …

Exploring Ranges, Tensions, And Potential Integrations: Editorial Notes For Jcat’S 3rd Edition, Einat Metzl

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of Clinical Art Therapy

No abstract provided.

Financial Inclusion In China: Use Of Credit, Zibei Chen, Minchao Jin

Center for Social Development Research

Limited access to credit can cause financial vulnerability for a household and economic loss for a country. Previous studies have shown that only small portions of populations in developing countries use formal credit, but few studies have focused on Chinese populations. Analyzing data from the 2011 China Household Financial Survey, this study explored Chinese households’ credit use. Over half of the sample (53.21%) reported using credit, and only 19.77% of the sample used formal credit. Use of formal credit was associated with the socioeconomic characteristics of household heads (e.g., employment and education) and of households (e.g., income and net worth). …

Health Vulnerability Of Immigrants With Limited English Proficiency: A Study Of Older Korean Americans, Yuri Jang, Hyunwoo Yoon, Nan Sook Park, David A. Chiriboga

Social Work Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES—To examine the extent to which limited English proficiency (LEP) poses a risk to physical and mental health, using older Korean Americans as a target population.

DESIGN—Cross-sectional survey.

PARTICIPANTS—Older Korean Americans (N = 1,301).

MEASUREMENTS—Health outcomes were indexed using binary variables covering activity limitation, self-rated health, and probable depression. Participants who reported that they spoke English less than very well were categorized as manifesting LEP.

RESULTS—Approximately 71% of the sample had LEP. Those with LEP scored lower on all measures of health than their English-proficient counterparts. In multivariate models, the risk of having activity limitations was 2.72 times as great …

Financial Outcomes In Seed For Oklahoma Kids, Margaret M. Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment is a large-scale policy test of universal, automatic, and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs). This fact sheet highlights selected SEED OK financial outcomes measured between 2007 and 2014. Because of SEED OK’s automatic account opening and initial deposits, the CDA has especially large impacts on OK 529 savings among disadvantaged children. Advantaged children are more likely than disadvantaged children to have individual savings in OK 529 accounts, and average individual savings are higher for advantaged children. But, the CDA increases the likelihood that disadvantaged children have OK 529 accounts opened by their …

Tax Abatement In Saint Louis: Reforms Could Foster Equitable Development, Claire Dewind, Jennifer Dickey, Ellen O'Neill, Molly W. Metzger

Center for Social Development Research

Across the United States, municipal governments use tax abatement in various ways to incentivize development and revitalize urban areas. In Saint Louis, historical housing trends related to deindustrialization, redlining, and “white flight” led to the City’s depopulation, creating the current need to incentivize development. However, in certain neighborhoods, development now occurs without tax abatement, and some homeowners and developers receive tax abatement despite being able to afford paying taxes. This points to a need to understand where and when tax abatement is necessary, and whether it is being used effectively. In this brief, we ask the following questions: (1) Does …

Minorities' Perceptions Of Child Protective Services, Vernae Elaine Hicks

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The study examined minority persons’ views and experiences with Child Protective Services (CPS) in the community. This study used a qualitative design with face‑to‑face interviews with 12 participants in the community. This study used the “Post‑Positivist” data analysis, which is qualitative in evaluation and explained each participant’s subjective reality.

The study found that most participants were satisfied with the results and were dissatisfied with the process in and of itself. Overall the study found that most participants felt that there was some sort of a disconnect with social workers in reference to cultural competency. Miscommunication between the social workers at …

Beliefs About Respite Among Caregivers, Guero Nunez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The emphasis of this research was to evaluate the beliefs about respite among caregivers of the clients associated with Inland Caregiver Resource Center. The caregivers of the elderly and those who suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia, or suffer from traumatic brain injury that was organic in nature were the population of interest. These caregivers were unpaid persons who help to keep those with such conditions at home as long as possible. This study used an exploratory pilot survey instrument to assess the perception of benefit of respite used as seen from the view of the caregiver. The primary theory used …

Nudging Youth To Develop Savings Habits: Experimental Evidence Using Sms Messages, Katherine Rodríguez, Juan E. Saavedra

Center for Social Development Research

In this working paper, we report on a field experiment articulating financial information via cellphone text messages and financial decisions among low-income youth in Colombia. For twelve months, youth accountholders are randomly assigned to receive either: (a) monthly financial education messages, (b) monthly savings reminders, (c) semimonthly reminders, or (d) control. After 12 months, account balances in monthly and semimonthly reminders groups increase by 28% and 43%, respectively, relative to controls. Financial education messages do not increase balances. Over two thirds of balance increases in reminder groups are net savings. Savings effects of reminders last eight months after youth stop …

Racial Disparities In Student Debt: Evidence From The Refund To Savings Initiative, Samuel H. Taylor, Dana C. Perantie, Nava Kantor, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Shenyang Guo, Ramesh Raghavan

Center for Social Development Research

This brief provides evidence that low- and moderate-income (LMI) Black households accumulate significantly more debt in pursuit of a higher education than do LMI White students, even after using rigorous methods to account for race- and debt-related confounders. Using data from the Refund to Savings experiment, the authors find that LMI Black households accrued $7,721 more in student loan debt than their White counterparts did. This finding is crucial in light of the financial vulnerability of this population both before and after college. That vulnerability potentially contributes to diminished returns and exacerbates racial disparities in educational outcomes and wealth accumulation. …

The Burden Of Student Debt: Findings From A Survey Of Low- And Moderate-Income Households, Mathieu R. Despard, Samuel H. Taylor, Dana C. Perantie, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Completing a college degree continues to offer a pathway for enjoying greater earnings. Yet tuition has risen sharply and state higher-education funding has declined in recent years, shifting the burden of paying for college to students and their families. As a result, most students (70%) depend on loans to help pay for college and student debt is now greater than credit card debt in the United States. Student debt is increasingly difficult to manage, as debt-to-income ratios, loan default rates, and delinquency rates are on the rise. This brief utilizes data from the 2014 Refund to Savings study to examine …

Ageism: Abilene Christian University Students’ Perception Of Aging Adults, Taylor A. Nix

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world is aging at a rapid pace. This creates a need for society to focus attention toward issues that are affecting the elderly population. This shift in focus regarding the elderly population also calls for the need of additional geriatric education as well as training while working with this vulnerable population. Research targeting college students’ shows that there is a lack of desire among students for working with the aging adult population. This lack of desire to work with the elderly population is associated with ageism; or, biased perceptions about age. The purpose of this study was to determine …

Exploring The Unique Experiences Of Biological Children In A Foster Family, Alana Marsh

Honors Projects

:The purpose of the following research was to identify the experiences and needs of biological children in a foster family. An online survey was sent to licensed foster families from a private agency. The survey included questions about the experiences, both positive and negative, of biological children before foster youth enter the home, during their stay, and after they exit the home. Analysis of 21 survey answers and thorough review of literature indicated significant lack of available resources for foster parents to utilize when preparing their biological children for this family change. Results also showed that children held damaging misconceptions …

A Savings Account For Every Child Born In Israel: Recommendations For Program Implementation, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Meredith Covington, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In November 2015, Israel enacted legislation to create and fund a Child Development Account program. Beginning in 2017, every baby born to an insured Israeli resident will receive a Child Development Account in his or her name. This brief details the policy, which was developed in collaboration with researchers at the Center for Social Development, and offers recommendations to guide its implementation.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Features Of Child Development Accounts In Israel, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Meredith Covington, Megan Brewster, Jane E. Oliphant

Center for Social Development Research

In November 2015, Israel enacted legislation to create and fund a Child Development Account program. Beginning in 2017, every baby born to an insured Israeli resident will receive a Child Development Account in his or her name. This Fact Sheet provides answers to frequently asked questions about the policy, which was developed in collaboration with researchers at the Center for Social Development.

Youth Savings Patterns And Performance In Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, And Nepal, Lissa Johnson, Yungsoo Lee, David Ansong, Margaret S. Sherraden, Gina Chowa, Fred Ssewamala, Li Zou, Michael Sherraden, Moses Njenga, Joseph Kieyah, Issac Osei-Akoto, Sharad Sharma, Jyoti Manandhar, Catherine Rodriguez Orgales, Frederico Merchán, Juan Saavedra

Center for Social Development Research

Youth Savings Patterns and Performance in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal

Annual Report On The Asset Project's Head Start Family Financial Capability Pilot: 2014–2015, Anne S. Robertson, Jami Curley

Center for Social Development Research

Since the Great Recession (December 2007–2009 in the United States), poverty has compromised many families and increased the prevalence of young children living in neighborhoods of concentrated, deep poverty. However, financial literacy interventions have reported promising outcomes for influencing financial choices and financial knowledge, highlighting the potential of such programs for improving the economic positions of families and children. This report presents results from a mixed-methods evaluation of a financial literacy intervention with Head Start families in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The intervention combines savings incentives and one-on-one coaching with 10 hours of financial education on debt management, banking, …