Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Socioeconomic Impacts Of Covid-19 Study: Survey Methodology Report, Stephen Roll, Sam Bufe, Yung Chun, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Social Policy Institute Research

When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and economic shutdowns began in March 2020, households across the United States were faced with an unprecedented crisis that would affect their health, financial security and overall well-being for an unforeseeable amount of time. In order to examine and track the wide-ranging impacts of the pandemic on households, as well as the efficacy of different public and private efforts to mitigate these impacts, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis (SPI) launched the Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey (SEICS) in the United States just weeks after the pandemic became a national …

Employment, Financial And Well-Being Effects Of The 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit: Wave 1 Executive Summary, Leah Hamilton, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Elaine Maag

Social Policy Institute Research

The 2021 temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) is unprecedented in its reach and is predicted to cut American child poverty by more than half. The expanded CTC provides families with $3,600 for every child in the household under the age of six, and $3,000 for every child between the ages of six and 17. Almost all middle- and low-income families with children are eligible for the CTC. Married parents making less than $150,000 and single parents making less than $112,500 per year will receive the full amount of the credit, which begins to phase out slowly after …

The Case For A Nationwide Child Development Account Policy: A Policy Brief Developed By Cda Experts And Researchers, José Cisneros, Margaret M. Clancy, William Elliott Iii, Amanda Feinstein, Martha Kanter, Muneer Karcher-Ramos, Clint Kugler, Julie Peachey, Colleen Quint, Thomas M. Shapiro, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In this policy brief, prominent Child Development Account (CDA) experts and researchers present the case for a nationwide policy to provide CDAs and build assets for all children in the United States. The authors identify principles for CDA policy design. In a companion brief, they discuss policy and practice changes to make college savings (529) plans far more inclusive.

Redesigning College Savings (529) Plans To Achieve Inclusive Child Development Accounts: A Policy Brief Developed By Cda Experts And Researchers, José Cisneros, Margaret M. Clancy, William Elliott Iii, Amanda Feinstein, Martha Kanter, Muneer Karcher-Ramos, Clint Kugler, Julie Peachey, Colleen Quint, Thomas M. Shapiro, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In this policy brief, prominent Child Development Account (CDA) experts and researchers recommend changes in policies and practices for state college savings (529) plans. If adopted, the changes would make possible the use of the 529 plans to deliver CDAs for all children in the United States. In a companion brief, they present the case for a nationwide CDA policy and identify design principles.

Introduction: Dignity's Special Issue On The Chab Dai Coalition's Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project, Leslie M. Tutty

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Reflections Of A Central Bank Governor, Ernest K. Addison

Center for Social Development Research

Central banks seldom play central roles in the strategies that researchers and practitioners formulate for fostering financial capability in marginalized populations, but in this Perspective, by Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, illustrates that the work of those banks is “inextricably linked” to financial capability.

This Perspective presents remarks offered by Dr. Addison as part of the event marking the launch of Financial Capability and Asset Building in Africa (FCAB Africa). Participants gathered virtually for the start of this multinational collaboration in a session of the 22nd biennial conference of the International Consortium for Social Development, which …

Lessons On Policies That Strengthen Household Financial Resilience To Overcome Shocks: A Keynote Address By Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President Of The Republic Of Ghana, Mahamudu Bawumia Phd

Center for Social Development Research

This Perspective presents remarks given by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, on July 15, 2021. He delivered this keynote address during FCAB Africa: The Launch of a Multinational Collaboration, an event marking the beginning of the Financial Capability and Asset Building in Africa (FCAB Africa) initiative. Vice President Bawumia drew lessons from pandemic policy and issued a call to broaden access to beneficial financial services and the knowledge and skills required to make optimal financial decisions.

Fcab Africa: Summary Of Achievements As Of July 2021, Center For Social Development

Center for Social Development Research

Financial Capability and Asset Building in Africa (FCAB Africa) is a multinational collaboration designed (a) to equip human-service professionals to broaden the financial stability, security, and well-being of client populations in sub-Saharan Africa; and (b) to work with financial-service providers to create a comprehensive financial-development program delivered through existing services, including fintech. This Fact Sheet describes the goals of the FCAB Africa initiative and strategy for achieving them.

Fcab Africa: Advancing Financial Stability, Security, And Well-Being, Center For Social Development

Center for Social Development Research

In sub-Saharan Africa, mobile phones and financial technology have opened doors to financial inclusion for millions, but the new financial terrain is uneven ground fraught with risks. High fees, aggressive marketing, mounting personal debt, varied digital access, and nascent regulatory structures heighten vulnerability and threaten hard-won progress toward broad financial inclusion. Financial Capability and Asset Building in Africa, or FCAB Africa, will equip human-service professionals to broaden financial stability, security, and well-being in sub-Saharan Africa, developing the financial capability of service populations and cultivating sound financial strategies. The initiative will also work with financial-service providers to create a comprehensive financial-development …

Identity Transformation Through Substance Use Disorder Recovery: Introducing The Six Stage Model, Naomi Watkins, Austin Mcneill Brown, Kayce Courson

The Qualitative Report

Narratives of substance use disorder recovery experience can provide useful qualitative conceptual categories and novel theories about the way in which recovery is experienced by individuals. This information can better inform definitions, concepts, and supports for recovery processes. The current study reviewed 30 written personal recovery biographies which were contained within student applications to the collegiate recovery program housed in the Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery at Kennesaw State University. Using grounded theory methodology, common benchmarks, or topographic recovery features were revealed involving the evolution of identity as an inter-negotiated process throughout the addiction and recovery biographies (Charmaz, …

Children As Mischievous Spirits: Legitimizing Child Cruelty And Filicide In Contemporary Africa, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The belief that certain humans are spiritual entities and the belief that some people are spiritually possessed can be found across histories and cultures. While these individuals are not always viewed in the negative or treated inhumanely, cases abound whereby degrading and inhumane treatments are meted out to some of them. In the African continent, certain groups of people, particularly children are linked to certain mischievous spirits due to their unusual appearance, aberrant behavior, disability, chronic illness, psychopathology or exceptional ability. Some are also suspected and consequently mistreated due to events surrounding their birth. Such children are known by different …

Experiences That Support Persistence And Retention Of Latinx First-Generation College Students (Fgcs) At Community Colleges, Veronica Rios

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to describe experiences of successful Latinx first-generation college students that support persistence and retention toward graduation for Latinx first-generation college students at California community colleges. The study was framed using Tinto’s retention theory. Successful Latinx first-generation college students were defined as those who have attained graduation from a California community college. This study focused on Latinx first-generation college students not persisting toward graduation at California community colleges, a situation that extends to the national level. This case study included nine Latinx first-generation college students, and the researcher collected data through virtual semistructured …

Financial Capability And Asset Building: Achievements, Challenges, And Next Steps, Johnson Lissa, Margaret S. Sherraden, Gena Gunn Mcclendon, Julie Birkenmaier, Jodi Frey, Christine Callahan, Jin Huang

Center for Social Development Research

In the midst of a global pandemic that brought untold numbers of families to a financial precipice, experts came together to examine the role of social work in ensuring financial security and equity for all. This conference report details the most recent of five Financial Capability and Asset Building (FCAB) conferences held since 2015. The two-part virtual conference, held in September 2020 and February 2021, convened leaders in the academy and in the field to discuss achievements, challenges, and next steps in FCAB.

Embracing Entrepreneurship, Naomy Sengebwila, Naomy Nyendwa Sengebwila

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Embracing Entrepreneurship

How Christian Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship can Lead to Sustainable Communities in Zambia and Globally

Embracing Entrepreneurship

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Ministry by

Name of Student

Naomy Nyendwa Sengebwila

Name of Student: Naomy Nyendwa Sengebwila

Date: 03/31/2021

How Christian Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Can Lead to Sustainable Communities in Zambia and globally

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …

Building Financial Capability And Assets For Disadvantaged Entrepreneurs, Jin Huang, Baorong Guo

Center for Social Development Research

Low wages and material need motivates many to supplement income through entrepreneurship, and policymakers intervened to support such efforts in the COVID-19 economy. What lessons can these supports offer for ongoing efforts to support disadvantaged entrepreneurs? Using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, this brief examines the income volatility and emergency savings of disadvantaged entrepreneurs. The findings suggest the potential of long-term policy mechanisms to improve financial security.

Systems Thinking Iceberg: Diving Beneath The Surface In Education Systems, Ebuwa I. Evbuoma, Min Hu, Allie Farrell, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

The iceberg is a classic metaphor that is applied to many disciplines beyond systems thinking. The metaphor describes a situation in which what you see (the tip of the iceberg) is only a small portion of what you can’t see (a large, hidden mass of ice below the surface). In systems thinking, we use the iceberg metaphor to think about what is “under the surface” driving the individual events that we see: (1) Patterns of events over time, (2) System Structure that give rise to these patterns and, (3) Beliefs, Mindsets and Goals that inform the design of system structures. …

Characteristics Of Complex Problems, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, Ebuwa I. Evbuoma, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

Many of the social challenges we care about feel like messy, wicked knots (or a pile of tangled headphones). When we pull on a thread in one place, we create new, tighter knots elsewhere. The messy nature of these challenges is due to, among other things, their complexity. Understanding key features of complex problems helps us understand why problems in education can be especially resistant to change. The purpose of this brief is to share (some) characteristics of complex problems, and introduce system dynamics as a set of tools for managing this complexity.

Framing Dynamic Problems, Ebuwa I. Evbuoma, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

No abstract provided.

Accumulations, Mikayla Branz, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

There are several features of complex systems that make creating change in K-12 education difficult, including: delays between the intervention and outcome, unexpected or confusing responses to interventions, and differences in how individuals and groups experience the same systems. The concept of “accumulation” provides important insight into how misperceptions, delays, and counter-intuitive system responses occur in education change efforts. Stock [BE1] and Flow Diagrams are visual tools to identify and visually describe key accumulations in the systems and facilitate conversations to understand systems better.

The purpose of this brief is to describe how the concept of accumulation can help us …

System Archetypes, Mikayla Branz, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

K-12 education presents an incredibly complex system that makes solving problems challenging.

Often, we implement changes with the best of intentions, only to see problems get worse rather than better. Many of the structures that cause these patterns can be found all around us - in schools, in businesses, in non-profit organizations, in health systems, and in communities. By learning about these common structures or system archetypes, we can start to identify and anticipate them.

The purpose of this brief is to describe how education stakeholders can use system archetypes as a tool for recognizing, anticipating, and addressing the system …

Mental Models, Lucy Chin, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

A central principle of the systems thinking perspective is that system structures are supported and held in place by our underlying beliefs, mindsets, and goals (See Brief 1.01 - Systems Thinking Iceberg). Therefore, in order to transform and redesign systems we must also transform our mindsets. The purpose of this brief is to introduce the concept of mental models, and to discuss how system dynamics tools can be used to elicit, negotiate, and transform them.

Understanding Systems From A Feedback Perspective, Allie Farrell, Min Hu, Lucy Chin, Ebuwa I. Evbuoma, William Liem, Ellis Ballard

Social System Design Lab

Systems perspectives encourage us to see the world as an interconnected system of causal relationships. A fundamental idea of system dynamics perspective the focus on feedback thinking – looking at cause and effect as not just moving in one direction. The purpose of this brief is to introduce the concept of feedback thinking through the lens of challenges in K-12 education, and present Causal Loop Diagrams as tools to describe feedback relationships between components of a system

Financial Outcomes In A Child Development Account Experiment: Full Inclusion, Success Regardless Of Race Or Income, And Investment Growth For All, Margaret Clancy

Center for Social Development Research

This research summary presents SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment financial outcomes—Oklahoma College Savings Plan 529 (OK 529) account holding and savings—as of December 31, 2019. Wave 3 of SEED OK occurred when children were about 12 years old, nearing the age when they and their families make decisions about high school curricula and, not long after, postsecondary education.

This summary shows that all children can have an asset-building account with resources that grow over time. In particular, the CDA greatly increases the likelihood that disadvantaged children have assets accumulating for their future education. In addition, the CDA in …

Criminal Mental Health, Tabitha Oliver

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to assess and address the prevalence of mental health issues among incarcerated individuals in America. There are multiple internal and external contributing factors to the disproportionately high numbers of mentally ill inmates. Comparing the United States prison system with other countries such as Norway allows for possible paths to improving the mental health crisis that we are currently experiencing. This thesis looks at the principles and practices used in Norway's prisons as well as how they affect inmate's mental health. By comparing Norway's prison policies and design, this thesis will suggest changes in staff …

A Long-Term Experiment On Child Development Accounts: Update And Impacts Of Seed For Oklahoma Kids, Jin Huang, Sondra G. Beverly, Margaret M. Clancy, Mark Schreiner, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

How does a Child Development Account (CDA), opened for an infant at the time of birth, shape that child’s trajectory as he or she grows? For 12-year-old children and their families, the CDA in SEED for Oklahoma Kids had very large positive impacts on financial outcomes and some positive impacts on nonfinancial outcomes, even though the experiment had little intervention over the past 9 years.

This report presents findings from the long-running SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, a randomized Child Development Account experiment. Launched in 2007 with a representative sample of newborns, the experiment provided CDAs with substantial …

Mi-Seed Investment Funds And Account Growth: Implications For Achieving Higher Rates Of Return In Cda Programs, Trina R. Shanks, Patrick Meehan

Center for Social Development Research

In 2004, the Michigan Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Down Payment initiative (MI-SEED) recruited 430 families through 14 Head Start centers, enrolling 497 children in Child Development Accounts (CDAs). Designed to begin to address wealth disparities between low- and high-income families, the MI-SEED CDA used the state 529 college savings plan as the investment instrument. This brief presents results on MI-SEED savings and withdrawals through 2019. The results suggest that investment strategy greatly influences account growth, and the authors offer recommendations for ensuring acceptable growth in CDAs.

Toward Finance As A Public Good, Jin Huang, Margaret S. Sherraden, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Financial inclusion is a prerequisite for the financial stability of families and for successful economies, but common conceptualizations of it have not adequately accounted for the financialization of modern life or for the influence of social policy, which increasingly delivers public benefits through financial services. This study proposes a broader conceptualization of financial inclusion, finding support for this new understanding in results from analyses of data from the 2016 National Financial Well-Being Survey and from a case study of Child Development Accounts.

Support for this publication comes from the Kauffman Foundation (Grant No. 201806-4478).

Two Extraordinary Days For Race And Electoral Democracy In America, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In this Perspective, Michael Sherraden draws optimism from participation in the January 5, 2021, special election in Georgia, as well as the national repudiation of the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Together, these events create an opportunity to shape a better future.

In The Community: Over 25 Years Of Inquiry, Innovation, And Impact, Center For Social Development, Washington University In St. Louis

Center for Social Development Research

This report marks over 25 years of innovative applied research and the effects of those efforts in society. Founded in 1994, the Center for Social Development continues to generate pathbreaking innovations that broaden opportunity, especially for the marginalized. The report also looks ahead, discussing emerging engagements and potential lines for new inquiry.

The Rise In Use Of Emotional Support Animals By College Students: The Impact Of Parenting Styles, Misty G. Smith, Samantha Ballard, Jill Willis

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

As the generational context of higher education shifts, a rise of Emotional Support Animals (ESA) and mental health concerns are present for students on college campuses. While previous studies have aimed to address the relevancy and controversy of ESAs in higher education as well as their effectiveness in supporting individuals, less research has explored underlying factors that contribute to the use of an ESA. The purpose of this study was to explore the parenting behaviors of parents/caregivers of students with ESAs in comparison to parents/caregivers of students without ESAs. An embedded mixed methods design was used. Participants completed the Parenting …