Social Work Commons^™

Wealth-Building For All Children: Convergence And Evidence To Support A Nationwide Policy, Jin Huang, Trina R. Shanks, Margaret M. Clancy, William Elliott Iii, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Amid growing concern about wealth inequality in the United States, many policymakers and researchers have come to see early-life wealth-building policies as potential remedies. This brief discusses convergence in the policy community around a shared vision and principles for such policy, and it connects that vision to research. Child Development Account research, much of it conducted through CSD’s SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, suggests the parameters for an inclusive, efficient, and effective policy that would express the community’s shared vision.

Report On A Seminar On Financial Capability And Asset Building Organised For Social Work Practitioners, Augustina Naami, Mavis Dako-Gyeke, Abigail Adubea Mills, Abena Ampomah

Center for Social Development Research

A key step in the work to improve the financial stability and security of marginalized populations begins with training social work practitioners and other human service professionals for competencies in supporting families to build financial security and freedom. In September 2023, the Department of Social Work at the University of Ghana collaborated with the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to organize a seminar on financial capability and asset building (FCAB) for practitioners in Accra, Ghana. As part of the seminar, Faculty Director David Ansong discussed CSD’s FCAB Africa initiative. This report provides …

Reflections, Accomplishments, And Opportunities: The Csd Annual Letter, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In this annual letter to mark the start of the Center's for Social Development's 30th year, Founding Director Michael Sherraden shares reflections on some recent accomplishments and discusses the opportunities ahead.

My Alfond Grant Cda: Experience From 10 Years Of Automatic Deposits For All Maine Newborns, Colleen J. Quint, Margaret M. Clancy

Center for Social Development Research

For over a decade, the Alfond Scholarship Foundation has automatically enrolled every Maine-resident newborn into the United States’ first statewide, universal Child Development Account (CDA) by investing $500 on each child’s behalf in the NextGen 529 plan. This Policy Brief provides an overview of My Alfond Grant and tracks the growth of the CDA in the 10 years since it made the major policy-design change to implement automatic enrollment. The Brief also includes insights regarding partnerships and communications that have helped to improve My Alfond Grant’s ability to connect with Maine families.

Child Well-Being Policies In Post-Soviet Countries: The Potential Of Child Development Accounts, Aytakin Huseynli, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, all post-Soviet countries initiated reforms in child well-being systems. Some have undertaken meaningful changes, and others continue to struggle. This Policy Brief summarizes one portion of an in-depth study on child well-being policies in six post-Soviet countries: Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. It discusses asset-building policy for children in those countries, an emerging national children’s account policy in Kazakhstan, and the potential for diffusion of Child Development Account policy.

Homegrown Stl 5th Annual Regional Summit On The State Of Opportunity For Black Boys And Young Men: Organizing For Solutions That Unleash The Elite Potential Of Young Black Males, Sean Joe, Maribeth Clifton, Demeisha Carlton-Brown

Center for Social Development Research

Convened annually, HomeGrown StL’s annual regional summit brings together service providers, government officials, private-sector partners, and residents to strengthen, align, and accelerate local collective-impact strategies that support the health, development, and economic mobility of Black boys and young men in St. Louis City and in St. Louis County.

This report summarizes developments from the 5th Regional Summit on the State of Opportunity for Black Boys and Young Men: Organizing for Solutions That Unleash the Elite Potential of Young Black Males, which convened June 9, 2022. In addition to describing Priority Objectives and Key Results developed during the summit, the report …

Expanded Child Tax Credit Payments Supported Families Raising Children With Disabilities, Allyson Baughman, Laura Brugger, Meg Comeau, Leah Hamilton, Candace Jarzombek, Caroline Parker, Stephen Roll

Social Policy Institute Research

The 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) provided temporary enhancements to the existing CTC for the tax years 2021 and 2022. Under the expanded credit, families with children under the age of 18 were eligible to receive a credit of up to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for children under the age of 6).

In addition, half the credit was paid out on a monthly basis rather than as a one-time payment at tax time. This provision was designed to provide more immediate financial support to families with children during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it also supported families who were at …

“It Helped Us More Than I Could Have Imagined”: How The 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit Supported Families Raising Children With Disabilities, Laura Brugger, Stephen Roll, Leah Hamilton, Allyson Baughman, Meg Comeau, Candace Jarzombeck, Caroline Parker

Social Policy Institute Research

The 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) provided temporary enhancements to the existing CTC for the tax years 2021 and 2022. Under the expanded credit, families with children under the age of 18 were eligible to receive a credit of up to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for children under the age of 6). In addition, half the credit was paid out on a monthly basis rather than as a one-time payment at tax time. This provision was designed to provide more immediate financial support to families with children during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it also supported families who were at …

Welcome Home: A Policy Briefing Book For Housing Opportunity In St. Louis County, Molly W. Metzger

Center for Social Development Research

“Equality of opportunity” is a beautiful American ideal, but it stands in stark relief to the history of racist policies in the United States—including policies in the St. Louis region. Edited by Molly Metzger, this briefing book aims to broaden opportunity by offering ideas for housing policy change in the majority-white, inner-ring suburbs of St. Louis. The policy works in this collection were written by masters of social work students at Washington University’s Brown School as part of a social-policy course taught by Metzger in partnership with Mayor Laura Arnold of Webster Groves, Missouri, Webster Groves’ Alliance for Interracial Dignity, …

Advancing Racial Equity Through Community Land Trusts, Amal Alzhrani, Brittany Kiefer, Da-Yup Kim, Gabby Eissner

Center for Social Development Research

Community land trusts are nonprofit organizations designed to preserve housing affordability. This brief describes the design and operation of such trusts, illustrating the concept by spotlighting the Columbia Community Land Trust of Columbia, Missouri.

The contents of this brief evolved from a presentation given in the Colloquium on Inclusive Housing Policy for the St. Louis Region. Held in the Brown School at Washington University on December 15, 2022, the event was organized by the Center for Social Development in partnership with Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice and the Alliance for Interracial Dignity. The contents may also be found in …

Linkage Fees: A Vehicle For Financing Affordable Housing, Lillian Murphy, Stanford Cooper, Russell Beckham

Center for Social Development Research

A linkage fee is a policy instrument for capturing resources to fund affordable housing development and other public services. This brief describes the instrument and offers recommendations on implementing linkage-fee policies.

The contents of this brief evolved from a presentation given in the Colloquium on Inclusive Housing Policy for the St. Louis Region. Held in the Brown School at Washington University on December 15, 2022, the event was organized by the Center for Social Development in partnership with Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice and the Alliance for Interracial Dignity. The contents may also be found in Welcome Home: A …

Racially Restrictive Covenants: A Story Of Segregation, Disinvestment, And Lingering Implications, Fadya Al Hammam, Janeka Haden, Livi Logan-Wood, Joseph Roeder

Center for Social Development Research

Racially restrictive covenants are agreements, typically embedded in property deeds, that limit the transfer of property to non-white people. The covenants remain common features of property deeds in the St. Louis region, though enforcement of them was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Shelley v. Kraemer decision in 1948. This brief discusses the covenants and identifies strategies for communities to deploy in addressing them.

The contents of this brief evolved from a presentation given in the Colloquium on Inclusive Housing Policy for the St. Louis Region. Held in the Brown School at Washington University on December 15, 2022, the event …

Zoning: Issues And Reform, Olivia Borland, Casey Kohlstruk, Lindsay Owens

Center for Social Development Research

What steps can communities take to broaden equitable access to housing and prevent residential displacement? This brief identifies strategies for reforming zoning policy to advance those goals.

The contents of this brief evolved from a presentation given in the Colloquium on Inclusive Housing Policy for the St. Louis Region. Held in the Brown School at Washington University on December 15, 2022, the event was organized by the Center for Social Development in partnership with Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice and the Alliance for Interracial Dignity. The contents may also be found in Welcome Home: A Policy Briefing Book for …

Double Burden Of Malnutrition Workshop Facilitation Manual: Iquitos, Peru, Carmen Quinteros-Reyes, Paraskevi Seferidi, Laura Guzman-Abello, Christopher Millett, Antonio Bernabé-Ortiz, Lindsey Pawloski, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

This is a facilitation manual for workshops in Lima, Peru as part of the project “Addressing the double burden of malnutrition in Peru: using a community-based system dynamics approach to improve food systems”. The project is a collaboration between investigators at the Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases (CRONICAS) at the University of Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Peru, the Social System Design Lab at Washington University in St. Louis, USA and Imperial College London funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (Grant Ref: BB/T009004/1). It is a supplemental document associated with the paper …

Double Burden Of Malnutrition Workshop Facilitation Manual: Lima, Peru, Carmen Quinteros-Reyes, Pavarskevi Seferidi, Laura Guzman-Abello, Christopher Millett, Antonio Bernabé-Ortiz, Lindsey Pawlowski, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

This is a facilitation manual for workshops in Lima, Peru as part of the project “Addressing the double burden of malnutrition in Peru: using a community-based system dynamics approach to improve food systems”. The project is a collaboration between investigators at the Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases (CRONICAS) at the University of Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Peru, the Social System Design Lab at Washington University in St. Louis, USA and Imperial College London funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (Grant Ref: BB/T009004/1). It is a supplemental document associated with the paper …

Effectiveness Of Community Development Organizations In The St. Louis Metropolitan Area, Kyle Pitzer

Brown School Theses and Dissertations

Concentrated poverty has been a core issue in urban America for close to half of a century. The consequences of living in these neighborhoods are also dire. These "neighborhood effects" are defined as the effects of living in concentrated poverty over and above individual circumstances, which have been tied to a number of important life outcomes. One approach to addressing these issues is community development, and perhaps the most salient vehicle of community development is the community development corporation (CDC). This current study sought to address three aims: 1), understand the effects of CDCs on population-level outcomes; 2), understand the …

Financial Well-Being Of Frontline Healthcare Workers: The Importance Of Employer Benefits, Mathieu Despard, Sophia Fox-Dichter, Haotian Zheng, Grace Anderson, Olivia Borland, Kourtney Gilbert

Social Policy Institute Research

Frontline healthcare workers – especially direct care workers (DCWs), such as home health aides, struggle due to low pay, lack of benefits, and difficult working conditions. The need for these workers is growing. Unless frontline healthcare jobs improve, positions may be difficult to fill, and care for vulnerable members of society may be compromised.

In this study, we surveyed 2,321 frontline healthcare workers and conducted in-depth interviews with 30 of these workers concerning pay, benefits, work conditions, and financial well-being. Key survey findings included:

• Only 39% of workers were eligible for at least four out of five major benefits (e.g., …

Global Child Development Accounts: A “Moon Shot” To Develop Every Child And The Planet, Michael Sherraden, Li Zou

Center for Social Development Research

The early 21st century has been marked by several global stresses. Effective responses, note Michael Sherraden and Li Zou, require large, bold solutions. In this concept note, they propose a global Child Development Account initiative, a global project for building assets for all children to invest in their full development. The times require audacity, Sherraden and Zou assert, but big changes are possible.

Democratizing The Economy Or Introducing Economic Risk? Gig Work During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Daniel Auguste, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard

Social Policy Institute Research

Though the growth of the gig economy has coincided with increased economic precarity in the new economy, we know less about the extent to which gig work (compared with other self-employment arrangements and non-gig work) may fuel economic insecurity among American households. We fill this gap in the literature drawing on a sample of 4,756 workers from a unique national survey capturing economic hardships among non-standard workers like app-and platform-based gig and other self-employed workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from generalized boosted regression modeling, utilizing machine learning to account for potential endogeneity, demonstrated that gig workers experienced significantly greater …

Usage And Impact Of Benefits Among Frontline Healthcare Workers, Mathieu Despard

Social Policy Institute Research

We completed a study about frontline healthcare workers – the benefits they get through work and how they are doing financially. This brief provides highlights from our survey to 2,321 workers and interviews with 30 workers.

Combatting Rising Healthcare Costs For Healthier Adults, Alejandra Muñoz-Rivera

Social Policy Institute Research

In 2020, healthcare expenditures averaged $12,530 per person, up 9.7% from 2019. In 2018, 19% of U.S. households had medical debt with $2,000 being the median amount owed. Over half of adults between 18 to 64 years of age are estimated to experience some form of medical financial hardship including medical bills or debt, stress about medical bills, and delaying or forgoing treatment specifically due to cost. In a 2022 survey of 140 Medicaid and Marketplace members by researchers from the Social Policy Institute (SPI) and the Centene Center of Health Transformation, one-third of respondents reported having unpaid medical bills. …

Social Capital And Mental Health Among Chinese Older Adults, Yuekang Li

Brown School Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to develop our understanding of social capital by exploring the dimensions and profiles of social capital among Chinese older adults and the factors and health conditions associated with social capital in later life. The approach was secondary analyses of the China Family Panel Study (CFPS), a nationally representative survey of the Chinese population. It is the intent of this work to offer applicable guidance on policy and project design regarding health promotion for the aging population through social intervention. Aim 1 explores the dimensions and associative factors of social capital of Chinese older adults. It was found …

The Cost Of Child Support: Policy Design And Father Identity, Lara Markovitz

Brown School Theses and Dissertations

Child support policy is one of the key forces in the lives of families in the U.S., where 1 in 4 children and half of African American children live apart from their fathers (Carlson et al., 2017; Grall, 2020; U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Most unmarried fathers of newborns express a strong desire and commitment to their children (Carlson & McLanahan, 2002; England & Edin, 2007). However, by the time their children turn five, fathers'; involvement (caregiving and time, provision of child support) diminishes greatly (Turner & Waller, 2017). This decrease in father involvement among low-income NRFs is thought to be …

Trauma Exposures Across The Life Course For Individuals Who Experience Incarceration, Maria Morrison

Brown School Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, with 2.2 million people currently behind bars, 60% of whom are people of color. At the same time, there is an unprecedented political consensus to develop strategies for reducing the incarcerated population and safely returning the majority of incarcerated individuals to society. While there has been a substantial research focus on the potential of this population to commit acts of violence post-release, this tells only half the story. This dissertation hopes to provide a more complete picture of the role of violence in the lives of individuals released …

Child Development Accounts Reach Over 15 Million Children Globally, Li Zou, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

First proposed in 1991, inclusive asset-building policy for each child, policy that begins at birth, has now been tested and implemented in settings across the globe. This brief documents the emergence of Child Development Accounts and estimates their scope, focusing on policies in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Korea, Canada, Israel, and the United States.

Experimental Evidence On Consumption, Saving, And Family Formation Responses To Student Debt Forgiveness, Jason Jabarri, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Leah Hamilton

Social Policy Institute Research

As policy-makers grapple with whether or not to forgive student debt, for who, and how much, it is important to explore how student debt forgiveness would relate to intended household decisions and behaviors. We conducted a survey experiment that asked participants with student debt to imagine a scenario in which the federal government forgave a certain amount of student debt. We then had these participants report on how this would affect their decisions and behaviors. 1,053 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions that offered $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, and complete debt forgiveness. Our results indicate that student debt …

Financial Facts: Seed Ok Child Development Accounts At Age 14, Margaret M. Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Mark Schreiner, Jin Huang, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This Fact Sheet presents financial outcomes as of December 31, 2021, when children in the SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment were about 14 years old. SEED OK is a large-scale policy test of universal, automatic, and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs). The essential feature of the CDA in SEED OK is a state-owned Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan (OK 529) account, which was automatically opened for newborns in late 2007 with an initial deposit of $1,000 and which has now grown to about $2,300.

Economic Security From An Asset Perspective, William Elliott Iii

Center for Social Development Research

hat is economic security, and what policies can help more families achieve it?

In talking about the New Deal, President Franklin Roosevelt provided a vision for what economic security should look like in America, a vision that CSD Faculty Director William Elliott III elaborates in this essay. To be secure, Elliott notes, families require enough to live by and something to live for; that is, they require income and assets. Elliott makes the case that policy has a vital role to play in creating and sustaining this security.

This Perspective presents remarks given by CSD Faculty Director William Elliott III …

Protecting Native Motherhood: A Longitudinal Investigation Of Interpersonal Violence Among Alaska Native Women, Autumn Asher

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alaska Native mothers and their children are continually impacted by present day disparities resulting from decades of historical oppression. Indigenous women face a substantially greater risk for experiencing violence during pregnancy. Further, Alaska Native children are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system, including both overrepresentation in out of home care, and underrepresented in preventative and restorative services in comparison to the general population. The present work utilizes data from the Alaska Longitudinal Child Abuse and Neglect Linkage Project (ALCANLink) which follows children of Alaska mothers originally sampled in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). The ALCANLink is a …

Iceberg Del Pensamiento Sistémico: Buceando Bajo La Superficie, Clarissa Gaona Romero, Laura Guzmán Abello, Carmen Quinteros-Reyes, Paraskevi Seferidi, Antonio Bernabe-Ortiz, Lindsey Pawlowski, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

El iceberg es una metáfora clásica que se aplica en diversas disciplinas más allá del pensamientosistémico. La metáfora describe una situación en la cual solo se observa la punta del iceberg, es decir solouna pequeña parte de la totalidad que no se puede ver en la superficie (la gran masa de hielo escondidadebajo de la superficie). En el pensamiento sistémico, se usa la metáfora del iceberg para pensar sobre loque está “bajo la superficie” impulsando los eventos que observamos (punta del Iceberg): (1) Patrones decomportamiento a lo largo del tiempo, (2) Estructuras del sistema que dan lugar a estos patrones …