Social Welfare Commons^™

Matthew's Professional Portfolio, Matthew James Feth

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

A comprehensive summary of my experiences thus far and my mastery of the core competencies of the social work profession.

Climate Change And Environmental Crises In Coastal Cities: Charleston Vs New York City, Nolan Rodriguez

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the increasing vulnerability that coastal communities face regarding climate crises and rising sea levels. Specifically, this paper investigates the environmental crises facing Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City. The geographical location of these cities places a more severe threat upon their environment, as opposed to urban collectives removed from the immediate effect of rising sea levels. A cross-examination of politics and economics is discussed in order to determine the causal relationship of each city’s engagement with its surrounding environment. This paper examines how each city is affected by climate change, what measures are in place to …

The State Of Mental Health In The Mountain West, 2023, Ayda Atici, Freddy Nie, Jesse M. Fager-Larsen, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet examines the state of mental health for both youth and adults and availability of mental health care in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The data are retrieved from Mental Health America’s (MHA) 2023 report, The State of Mental Health in America.

Exploring Hypertension Prevalence Among Ill-Housed Individuals In Urban Environments, Lia Goldberg, Sameer Shah, Nikhila Archakam, Murod Khikmatov, Kesha Choksi, Anddee White

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

This study explores the interrelations of hypertension, homelessness, and access to healthcare in urban ill-housed populations. It was found that conditions such as heart disease and diabetes significantly exacerbate hypertension, which remains highly prevalent due to the population's limited access to consistent medical care. Homelessness further complicates the management of hypertension due to unstable living conditions, making adherence to treatment and follow-up with healthcare providers challenging. Additionally, factors like higher rates of substance abuse and malnutrition among homeless populations contribute to worsening hypertension, which, if untreated, can lead to severe health crises including heart attacks and strokes.

The research underscores …

Pros, Cons, And The Barriers To Implementing A Universal Healthcare System In The United States, Arpun Shah

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: The United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the world. Despite that, it also has worse health outcomes than that of several other countries. The United States is also the only wealthy/developed country without universal healthcare. Universal healthcare, also known as a single-payer healthcare system, refers to the concept that the government finances and governs healthcare for most, if not all residents of the country. The United States currently has a multi-payer system, which means that healthcare is financed through various sources such as the public and private sectors. Purpose: The purpose of this is …

Implementing An Enhanced Care Management Program Serving Post-Incarcerated Individuals, Brianna Tome

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The post-incarcerated population has poor health and social outcomes in San Benito and Santa Clara counties. Youth Recovery Connections is a nonprofit organization serving individuals with substance use disorders, gang, and justice involved individuals. The Enhanced Care Management program was implemented in the organization with the addition of serving post-incarcerated individuals. Contributing factors that lead to negative health outcomes include lack of case managers with lived experience, lack of self management skills, and instability of care transitions. Consequences that can arise from these factors include increased healthcare costs, recidivism, and lack of stable housing. The identified consequences cause negative health …

Child Maltreatment Primary Prevention Methods In The U.S.: A Systematic Review Of Recent Studies, Maria Godoy-Murillo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: Child maltreatment remains a widespread issue in the United States of America, (U.S.). Identifying effective methods of preventing child maltreatment is key to reducing the prevalence of this issue. Objective: This systematic review provides an overview of contemporary primary child maltreatment prevention methods in the U.S. to investigate their effectiveness. Methods: Using the OneSearch database, the following keywords were included: (“prevention methods” and “child maltreatment”), (“parental leave” and “child maltreatment”), (“primary prevention” and “child maltreatment”), (WIC and “child maltreatment”), (“home visit” and “child maltreatment”), (“child abuse and neglect” and “primary prevention”), (“affordable housing” and prevention and “child maltreatment”), (“early …

What Are The Barriers To Seeking Psychotherapy Services Across Different Racial And Ethnic Groups?, Deysee Chavez, Elisa Rodarte

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explored barriers to seeking psychotherapy services across racial and ethnic groups among adults of 18 years of age or older (2) any individual who has considered, sought, or received mental health services (3) residing in Southern California. The surveys consisted of questions from the Barriers to Mental Health Services Scale Revised (BMHSS-R) sub-scales; Help Seeking, Stigma, Knowledge and Fear of Psychotherapy, Belief about Inability to Find a Psychotherapist, and Belief that Depressive Symptoms are Normal. It was hypothesized that Latino individuals face greater barriers when seeking psychotherapy services as compared to other racial groups. This study consisted of …

City On A Hill: A Reflection On Christian Ethic And Human Morality, Mayce Combs

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

In John Winthrop’s sermon A Model of Christian Charity (1630), he spoke to his congregation of the mission God had called them to. With the creation of a new blended nation, the only way to be exceptional was to reflect the gospel in policy, action, and foremost thought. Philosophers from ancient times to today acknowledge that an individual is made up of the soul and their body. From the soul, comes thought, reason, empathy, and a connection to a divine being who deciphers what is morally unjust. The body is a sinful, self-seeking vessel that does not have the ability …

Adopting The Standard Medical Deduction Increased State Snap Enrollment And Benefits, Yuwei Zhang, Jun Li, Dongmei Zhu, Colleen Heflin

Population Health Research Brief Series

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a critical safety net program that helps reduce food insecurity among low-income households in the United States. However, many eligible households do not participate in SNAP due to burdensome administrative requirements. To make it easier for more older adults and people with disabilities to participate in SNAP, many states have adopted the Standard Medical Deduction (SMD) to simplify administrative requirements. This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined the associations between state SMD adoption and SNAP participation and benefits from 2004 to 2019.

How Much Does It Cost To Operate Tiny Home Villages For People Experiencing Homelessness, Celeste Benitez, Cooper Conway, Declan Maddern

School of Public Policy Capstones

Los Angeles is in a homelessness crisis. Millions of dollars are poured into preventing its causes and curtailing the increased medical costs and crime rates that stem from it. The solutions vary, but one new solution in the form of tiny home villages hopes to provide a cheap and effective way to get people experiencing homelessness off the streets.

In 2021, Los Angeles began opening tiny home villages, also referred to as cabin communities, for unhoused people during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are currently 11 tiny home villages in Los Angeles, operated in a joint effort between the government and …

What You Should Know About Michigan’S Revised Kindergarten Oral Health Assessment Law, Michele Kawabe Mph, Rd, Cdces

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Starting from the 2024-25 academic year, Michigan mandates a pre-school oral health assessment for all incoming kindergarten students. Michele Kawabe, MPH, RD, CDCES, explains the legislative change, its implementation through the Kindergarten Oral Health Assessment (KOHA) program, and its potential impact on dental offices. This feature provides insights into frequently asked questions, covering assessment protocols, forms, patient records, reimbursement, and data tracking by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).

Health And Healthcare: Designing For The Social Determinants Of Health And Blue Zones In North Nashville, Rebecca Tonguis, Honor Thomas, Olivia Hobbs

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Owned by North Nashville’s First Community Church, a now empty site in the Osage-North Fisk neighborhood of North Nashville has been identified as a potential site for a new location of The Store, in addition to a community-centric architectural development based on the social determinants of health and informed by the principles behind Blue Zones, the locations with the highest lifespans in the world. Opened by Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, The Store is a free grocery store that “allow[s] people to shop for their basic needs in a way that protects dignity and fosters hope”, for which North Nashville …

A Framework For Thinking About The Future Of Japanese Society In The Face Of Declining Fertility And Population, Hirotaka Nagaishi

Japanese Society and Culture

Japanese society is facing declining birthrates and a shrinking population. According to Yoshinori Hiroi, what is indispensable for promoting regional and urban revitalization and seeking sustainability in this situation is the selection of values and concepts for a desirable society rooted in community. This society will ultimately be realized through policy integration/comprehensive policies.

Therefore, we must envisage a desirable future society, taking the current social situation as the starting point. Robert and Edward Skidelsky see the current capitalist society as a “rich enough, poor enough society,” while Hiroi sees the future society as a “post-capitalist/post-industrial society” and considers it as …

Does Childcare Support Stimulate Women’S Employment?, Masako Kamada, Kazuyasu Kawasaki

Japanese Society and Culture

A childcare support policy was implemented as part of gender equality and countermeasures to the falling birthrate in Japan. One of the childcare support policies was provided preschool service free of charge in October 2019.

In this paper, we analyze whether this childcare cost reduction policy was effective or not. Especially, we focus on whether this childcare support policy contribute to accelerate female labor force participation or not. As a result of our analysis, we show childcare cost reduction policy is ineffective of female labor force participation.

The Legal Order In East Asian Family Law, Sai Sasaki

Japanese Society and Culture

No abstract provided.

The Safety Net Should Work For Working Age Adults, Lauren Bauer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture focuses attention on a population that is ill-served by the safety net but rarely acknowledged: low-income, working-age adults without dependents or government-determined disabilities. In this lecture, Brookings Scholar Lauren Bauer, a former Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary at the US Department of Education, argues that a safety net that is inaccessible to ABAWDs (able-bodied adults without dependents) fails to recognize the precarious state of the low-wage labor market or how safety-net programs allow these workers to remain in the workforce. By modernizing the parameters of who qualifies for access to safety-net programs, assistance can be …

Homelessness Assessment Of The Mountain West, 2023, Mohit Pande, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Riley Ruff, Zachary Billot, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines 2023 homelessness assessment data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Waiving Snap Interviews During The Covid-19 Pandemic Increased Snap Caseloads, Colleen Heflin, William Fannin, Leonard M. Lopoo, Siobhan O'Keefe

Population Health Research Brief Series

Food insecurity in the United States reached historically high rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus substantially increasing demand for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To facilitate access to SNAP during the pandemic, the federal government granted state SNAP offices the option to waive the interview requirement – an administrative burden associated with the SNAP certification process. This brief summarizes findings from a recent study that used data from SNAP offices across 10 states to examine the impact of SNAP interview waivers on SNAP caseloads from January 5th to April 30th of 2021. Findings reveal that counties that implemented the …

Adopting The Standard Medical Deduction Increased State Snap Enrollment And Benefits, Yuwei Zhang, Jun Li, Dongmei Zuo, Colleen Heflin

Center for Policy Research

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a critical safety net program that helps reduce food insecurity among low-income households in the United States. However, many eligible households do not participate in SNAP due to burdensome administrative requirements. To make it easier for more older adults and people with disabilities to participate in SNAP, many states have adopted the Standard Medical Deduction (SMD) to simplify administrative requirements. This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined the associations between state SMD adoption and SNAP participation and benefits from 2004 to 2019.