Social Work Commons^™

If Not Welfare, Then What?: How Single Mothers Finance College Post-Welfare Reform, Kristin Wilson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The article follows previous work on TANF and AFDC by asking if not welfare, then what social programs and financial aid programs are low-income women using to support their college attendance, and what is the impact of these programs on the college-going decisions of low-income women? The study is based on case studies of 10 low-income women attending a community college. Results indicated that EITC, food stamps, and subsidized housing are stable sources of funding. However, each of these programs requires diferent application processes and compliance regulations. Only the Pell Grant was viewed as a dependable source of funding for …

Capabilities Perception Of Well-­‐Being And Development Effort: Some Evidence From Afghanistan, Jean-Francois Trani, Parul Bakhshi, Cécile Rolland

Brown School Faculty Publications

This paper examines the relationship between capabilities, well-being and the impact of development efforts in Afghanistan. Using data from a nationally representative survey, we argue that very vulnerable groups maintain a positive perception of well-being by referring to collective values and practices. Our data suggest that deprivation of individual basic capabilities does not systematically lead to a low perception of well-being if individuals have access to other capabilities such as love and care and participation in the community affairs. Nevertheless, access to basic capabilities remains crucial in order to ensure that social norms and expectations cease to constitute constraints and …

Food Stamps And Dependency: Disentangling The Short-Term And Long-Term Economic Effects Of Food Stamp Receipt And Low Income For Young Mothers, Thomas P. Vartanian, Linda Houser, Joseph Harkness

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) remains one of the most widely used of all U.S. social "safety net" programs. While a substantial body of research has developed around the primary goals of the program- improving food access, nutrition, and health among lowincome families-less attention has been paid to the broader goals of hardship and poverty reduction. Using 38 years of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we examine several immediate and longer-term economic outcomes of early adult FSP participation for a sample of3,848 young mothers. While FSP participation is associated with some negative outcomes in the immediate future …

Doing A Little More For The Poor? Social Assistance In Shanghai, Zhang Haomiao

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Shanghai was a leader in nation-wide social assistance reform. It has established an extensive and complex social assistance system. This paper offers a general overview of different major assistance programs in Shanghai and uses a recent survey ofMinimum Living Standard Guarantee System (MLSGS) recipients in urban Shanghai to briefly examine the performance of social assistance. It finds that on the program construction and administration level, Shanghai's social assistance is advanced. However, due to high living costs and relatively low values of social assistance, social assistance plays a limited role in relieving the distress of recipients. The paper analyzes the main …

It's Not So Simple: Understanding Participant Involvement In The Design, Implementation, And Improvement Of Cash & Counseling Programs, Erin E. Mcgaffigan

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

For more than three decades, the United States federal government and the states have worked to restructure the long-term care system to be more community based and responsive to personal preferences. Some argue that those who seek such services should be actively engaged in their design (Morris, 2008; Priester, Hewitt, & Kane, 2006). While many who design and implement home and community-based services may believe that participant engagement could be beneficial, most plans move forward with little to no provision for such engagement. The existing literature provides very little insight into the implications of such decisions.

The Cash & Counseling …

Response To The Data Challenges Of The Affordable Care Act: Surveys Of Providers To Assess Access To Care For People With Disabilities And The Presence Of Accessible Exam Equipment, Nancy R. Mudrick, Mary Lou Breslin, June Isaacson Kailes

Nancy R. Mudrick

No abstract provided.

Response To The Data Challenges Of The Affordable Care Act: Surveys Of Providers To Assess Access To Care For People With Disabilities And The Presence Of Accessible Exam Equipment, Nancy R. Mudrick, Mary Lou Breslin, June Isaacson Kailes

Social Work - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Unanswered Questions Of A Minority People In International Law: A Comparative Study Between Southern Cameroons & South Sudan, Bernard Sama Mr

Bernard Sama

The month July of 2011 marked the birth of another nation in the World. The distressful journey of a minority people under the watchful eyes of the international community finally paid off with a new nation called the South Sudan . As I watched the South Sudanese celebrate independence on 9 July 2011, I was filled with joy as though they have finally landed. On a promising note, I read the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying “[t]ogether, we welcome the Republic of South Sudan to the community of nations. Together, we affirm our commitment to helping it meet its …

The Hartford Female Beneficent Society And The Hartford Orphan Asylum: A Case Study From 1810 To 1890, Katherine M. Mcnulty

Masters Theses

Dedicated to Eugene Leach, PhD

The Politics Of Data: Uncovering Whiteness In Conventional Social Policy And Social Work Research, Ann Curry-Stevens, Amanda Cross-Hemmer, Nichole Maher, Julia Meier

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The implementation of a robust community based participatory research (CBPR) study in Multnomah County, Oregon, has detailed broad and deep racial disparities across 27 institutions and systems. The process of this research has led to the identification of numerous practices that misrepresent and negate the experiences and very identity of communities of color. The research draws from engagement with numerous databases from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and various administrative databases. The core issues at hand are population undercounts, understudy of the unique characteristics of these communities, inaccuracies in …

Addressing Work-Related Traumatic Stress Nebraska - Resilience Alliance Participant Handbook, Asc-Nyu Children's Trauma Institute

Other QIC-WD Products

Child welfare staff are first responders; just like police officer and fire fighters, they are asked to respond to emergency situations with very little information, and by doing so often put themselves at risk. In addition to the very real physical risks involved with responding to a report of suspected child abuse or neglect, there are equally real psychological risks involved with taking care of children and families that have experienced abuse, neglect, family and community violence, and other traumas. Unlike police officers and fire fighters, however, child welfare staff get very little public recognition for the hard work they …

Addressing Work-Related Traumatic Stress Nebraska - Resilience Alliance Facilitator Manual, Acs-Nyu Children's Trauma Institute

Other QIC-WD Products

Child welfare staff are first responders; just like police officer and fire fighters, they are asked to respond to emergency situations with very little information, and by doing so often put themselves at risk. In addition to the very real physical risks involved with responding to a report of suspected child abuse or neglect, there are equally real psychological risks involved with taking care of children and families that have experienced abuse, neglect, family and community violence, and other traumas. Unlike police officers and fire fighters, however, child welfare staff get very little public recognition for the hard work they …

Net Worth Accumulation By Different Quintiles Of Older Adults Approaching Retirement Age And 10 Years Later, Martha N. Ozawa, Yeong H. Yeo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The shift in responsibility for income security from the government to individuals makes the accumulation of net worth a vital issue. We investigated the rate of net worth accumulation for people aged 51 to 61 in 1991 (N=7,544) and 61 to 71 in 2001 (N=5,711) using the RAND Health and Retirement Study. We found that the rate of net worth accumulation by the fifth (top) quintile was extremely high in 1991, and the distribution of net worth became more skewed in favor of the wealthy in 2001. Older adults in the first and second quintiles are unable to face the …

Child Support As Labor Regulation, Yiyoon Chung

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The development of child support policy over the past three decades provides an emblematic case study of the ways in which a new policy that reflects the rise of moral arguments about individual and family responsibility, once established, produces significant consequences for both the economic sphere and political dialogues. I use social control theory to examine a rarely appreciated consequence of child support policies: labor regulation. Particularly, I demonstrate the ways in which the discourse embedded in child support has exalted the importance of work even under the lowest terms, and has deflected public attention away from labor market issues.

The Role Of The Neighborhood In Making Welfare Reform Possible, David I. Siegel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article will analyze the role of the neighborhood in making welfare reform possible. It will consider the neighborhood and its environment as a context for welfare reform, the influence of neighborhood conditions and effects, recent neighborhood theory building, the neighborhood as a source of relevant values, and finally neighborhood programs that contribute to welfare reform.

Sanctioning Policies-Australian, American And British Cross-National Reflections And Comparisons, Harry Savelsberg

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Over the last two decades welfare policies have undergone major reforms in Anglo-Western nations such as the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Central to these reforms have been the revision of welfare recipient entitlements and responsibilities and the emergence of a responsibility and obligations agenda. The essence of this agenda is conditionality and reciprocity, and it includes the threat of punitive sanctions for failing to comply with mandatory participation requirements. This paper highlights the potent influence of the ideas of American conservatives on policy reforms in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia and provides a thematic crossnational comparison of sanctioning policies …

Changing The World With One Cell: The Story Of Hela, Allison Roberts

Allison Roberts

Poster Created for the Diversity Committee Fall 2011 Culture Corner featuring The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks’ cell culture spawned changes in medicine, science, ethics, society and the world. This Semester’s Culture Corner features selections from UT Libraries collection that highlight the areas effected by this one human and her immortal cell.

Independent Living Program Evaluation For Rebuilding All Goals Efficiently, Patricia Armour, Debra Moulton, Araceli Pruett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper evaluates the outcome of independent living (IL) services provided to clients with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) by a local non-profit organization, Rebuilding All Goals Efficiently (RAGE). Agency services are directed at increasing client self-sufficiency, self-advocacy, and maintenance of least restrictive living environment. Secondary data provided by RAGE for 22 SCI clients who received services in FY10 was used in the evaluation. Outcomes were measured for living arrangement at case closure, impact of services on client’s life, and cost effectiveness of services provided. Descriptive statistical analysis of the data revealed successful outcomes for all 22 SCI clients. All clients …

Nevadagives.Org: Building Website Capacity For Data Collection, Snezhanka V. Christy, Lisa E. Stamanis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the adoption of the Government Performance and Result Act of 1993, the same demand for accountability placed upon government agencies is also expected in the nonprofit sector (Poister, 2003). Also fueling the need for dependable nonprofit performance data, is the current economic environment where funding is scarce or non-existent. Along with providing routine information and services, developing a competent website to collect and make available performance data for stakeholders and patrons is a necessary practice in both the public and private sector. Nonprofit organizations fortunate enough to have functioning websites can maximize their potential by managing them as a …

Evaluation Of Mentoring In Southern Nevada, Andrew Merz, Glen Leavitt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition (SNRPC) is charged with the issuance of grants and funding to groups who provide and run mentoring programs in Southern Nevada (which is primarily composed of Clark County.) The SNRPC desires to streamline and regiment this process, as currently it is operated with minimal oversight and regulation. We designed a survey to ascertain what mentoring groups in Clark County consider to be central to mentoring; both within and without their own programs. It is our desire that the SNRPC be able to administer the newly created survey to groups who receive and groups who …

Modern-Day Slavery And Human Trafficking: An Overlooked Issue, Michelle Kuhl

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Slavery and human trafficking have become a widespread problem across the globe today. Practices including debt bondage, forced labor, sexual slavery, and more are occurring in every country, including here in the United States. It has been widely overlooked, and although there are several laws and declarations outlawing the practice of slavery, it still occurs. Neoliberalism and globalization are considered in this thesis as contributors to modern-day slavery and trafficking in persons. Additionally, specific case studies of a few different nations are provided to clarify the topic and help the reader create a personal connection to the issue. A lot …

Focal Point, Volume 25, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

This issue of Focal Point is about Healthy Relationships and their effects on young adults with mental health conditions. While most of the articles focus on the positive aspects of relationships, others highlight more negative experiences and their impacts.

A Duty To Warn, An Uncertain Danger / Discussion, Frederic Reamer

Frederic G Reamer

The commitment of confidentiality in the various health and mental health professions is deep-seated. Codes of ethics routinely cite the professional's obligation to hold in confidence information that a client shares. The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers--which is pertinent to Mrs. D's predicament--is representative: "The social worker should respect the privacy of clients and hold in confidence all information obtained in the course of professional service."

Moral Philosophy Meets Social Work, Frederic Reamer

Frederic G Reamer

In recent years, social workers have become increasingly aware of ethical dilemmas in practice. Beginning especially in the mid-to-late 1970s, social work's literature has included a steady stream of reflections on difficult moral choices involving conflicts among professional duties and obligations (Loewnberg and Dolgoff 1996; Congress 1998; Reamer 1998, 1999). To what extent do clients have the right to engage in self-harming behavior without interference? How should social workers allocate scarce or limited resources such as emergency services, shelter beds, funds, and even their own time? Is it ethically permissible for social workers to violate laws and regulations they believe …

Why Advocates For Economic And Racial Justice Need The Employee Free Choice Act, Peter Dreier, Gary Flowers

Peter Dreier

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Transportation And Childcare Assistance On Self-Sufficiency In Families First Participants In Tennessee, Debra Anne Wolfe Shumaker

Doctoral Dissertations

States are not required to provide subsidies for childcare and transportation, but at the time of this writing all provided some supplements to TANF participants who were working, looking for work, or attending school. However, there has been little assessment of the effectiveness of these programs. Using data from a longitudinal study on Families First participants in the state of Tennessee, this exploratory study addresses the questions of whether transportation and childcare supplements contribute to the ability of TANF participants to move off welfare and support their families adequately through their own efforts, and whether outcomes from these services differ …

Civil Resistance And The Corruption-Violence Nexus, Shaazka Beyerle

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

There are multiple ways in which corruption is linked to violent conflict, some direct and some indirect. For ordinary citizens, the experience of this nexus is the denial of basic freedoms and rights. In spite of such bleak circumstances, people can move from being victims and bystanders to becoming a force for transforming their societies. Citizens are engaging in civil resistance to curb corruption and win accountability and justice. This article: explores the linkages between corruption and violence; identifies the conceptual and practical limitations of top-down, technical approaches to combating corruption; articulates a bottom-up approach in which the civic realm …

"Just Say No": Organizing Against Militarism In Public Schools, Scott Harding, Seth Kershner

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In an effort to counteract the growing militarization of schools, military counter-recruitment (CR) has emerged as an effective grassroots movement across the United States. Led by a small number of local activists, CR utilizes community organizing methods to confront the structures supporting military enlistment as a viable career option. Despite operating with limited resources, counter-recruitment has secured key legal and policy victories that challenge the dominant social narrative about military service. Three examples of counterrecruitment are profiled to illustrate the different tactics and strategies used for successful organizing within a culture of militarism.

Humanitarian Aid And The Struggle For Peace And Justice: Organizational Innovation After A Blind Date, Joseph G. Bock

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Humanitarian organizations working in developing countries have gone through a transformation since the thaw of the Cold War. Their increased programming to promote justice and peace has resulted in disparate partnership configurations. Illustrative examples of these configurations show how organizational deficiencies and challenges have spawned innovation. These innovations provide insight about how similar organizations might usefully be engaged in the struggle to promote greater justice and peace in areas of the world suffering from violent conflict.

World Peace: A First Step Commentary For The Special Issue On Peace, Conflict And War, Michael D. Knox

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The first step in achieving peace on earth must be the elimination of war and threats of war. Citizens of the United States are in a better position than others to make this happen. We spend significant portions of our tax dollars, and borrow money from foreign countries, to wage wars. We sell weapons and destabilize governments. We prioritize funding for war over spending on education, medical research, alternative energy sources, healthcare, housing and food for the needy, a balanced budget and almost everything else that can have a positive impact on this planet's quality of life.