Social Justice Commons^™

Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Staffing Level Dynamics: Oregon, 2017–2023, Sarah Dys, Ozcan Tunalilar

Institute on Aging Publications

Objectives

To examine changes in staffing levels over time in Oregon assisted living and residential care (AL/RC) communities between 2017 and 2023.

Design

Longitudinal study of licensed AL/RC communities.

Setting and Participants

A total of 1720 setting-year observations from 535 individual AL/RC communities in Oregon between 2017 and 2023.

Methods

Primary data were collected through the Oregon Community-Based Care (CBC) study. Staffing levels were estimated as care staff hours per resident per day and reported overall and by staff type, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, certified medication aides, unlicensed care staff, life enrichment staff, and social …

Re-Indigenizing And Collaboratively Tending Urban Greenspaces, Divinity Nnenne Adewale

University Honors Theses

This work details the active process of land tending with the intention of re-Indigenization in the Pacific Northwest at several Portland sites; The Native American Student Community Center, PSU Oak Savanna, and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Land tending is an intuitive process, one rooted in love and respect for life of all forms as well as becoming the perpetual student; land tending is not a skill to be mastered, only practiced. Unlike environmental management, tending cannot be done separate from the earth, in a classroom or otherwise. Connections are what tending is built on top of: the foundation; effort …

Laundry Program Evaluation, Jacen Greene, Sandra Comstock, Marisa Zapata

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

Nearly 4,000 people were reported as experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Multnomah County in 2023 (Theriault, Roots & Okeke, 2023). Studies by the Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC) at Portland State University and other researchers have identified an urgent need for free laundry services among people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the Portland region. A lack of access to clean laundry is associated with negative impacts on mental and physical health, as well as environmental impacts from wet or dirty textiles that are discarded rather than being reused.

In an attempt to address these and other issues, the City of Portland …

“You Could Have Did Us Better Than This”: Reparative Housing Policies And The Struggle To Right Harms To Black Communities, Amie Thurber, Lisa K. Bates, Susan Halverson, Keisha Muia

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature related to reparative planning, with an emphasis on housing policy. After exploring the state of theorizing related to reparative planning, this paper describes its three central dimensions: public recognition, material redistribution, and social/spatial transformation. The authors use these dimensions to evaluate a housing policy designed to repair harms to Black residents in Portland, Oregon. This in-depth analysis draws on survey, interview, and focus group data to explore the degree to which residents’ experiences of the policy reflect these three dimensions. The paper concludes with implications for other municipalities considering reparative housing policies, namely …

Eviction In Oregon's Subsidized Affordable Housing, Yi Wang, Lisa K. Bates, Azad Amir-Ghassemi, Minji Cho, Marisa Zapata, Jacen Greene, Colleen Carroll, Devin Macarthur

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Despite Oregon's expanded investments in affordable housing development and eviction prevention, over 5,400 eviction cases were filed in the state’s subsidized housing from January 2019 to December 2023. This report maps out the landscape of subsidized housing eviction in Oregon and brings attention to the high share of eviction judgments in subsidized eviction cases, the disproportionate rate of eviction filings from housing-authority-contracted management companies and nonprofit housing providers, and the great disparities in legal representation between landlords and tenants.

How Can Dei Training Change The Culture Of An Organization To Achieve Belonging And Retain Diverse Employees?, Kaisa S. Holt

University Honors Theses

Studies show the need for innovation and higher productivity yields can be best achieved through workforce heterogeneity. Creating effective DEI training frameworks is crucial for belonging, sustainable social well-being and enacting real change. This is key to proactively shifting our current system from one that responds to the need for DEI on a surface level to something that is regenerative. The aim of this review is to evaluate characteristics and enhancements added to evidence-based DEI training between 2020 and 2024. Studies were identified using the Portland State advanced database of academic journals on the DEI training and impacts of the …

Project Turnkey Evaluation, Anna Rockhill, Sarah Mercurio, Franklin Holcomb Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

In 2020-2021 Oregon legislators approved $74.7 million to assist communities to purchase local motels and convert them into emergency shelters. The goal was to help keep people safe during COVID and to address the need for housing for victims of the wildfires in light of the deficit of appropriate shelter resources facing the state. A total of 19 projects received funding, and by 2023 all of the projects were providing services to people experiencing homelessness. Combined, this resulted in 865 new units of emergency shelter-- a 20% increase in the state’s supply. According to an analysis done by Oregon Community …

Promoting Cultural Humility, Belonging, And Inclusion To Improve Well-Being Among Direct Care Staff In Oregon Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Communities, 2024, Jacklyn Kohon, Dani Himes, Laura Rodriguez, Sarah Dys, Paula Carder, Diana Jacoby, Madeline Fox

Institute on Aging Publications

The voices and experiences of those working and living in assisted living, residential care, and memory care (AL/RC) settings in Oregon are highlighted in this study to understand cultural humility, belonging, inclusion, and intersectional experiences related to sustaining the workforce and promoting quality care. This qualitative study collected data through individual and focus group interviews with a total of 68 people, including 25 direct care staff, voice memos or interviews with 9 former direct care staff, interviews with 9 administrators, interviews with 7 management representatives (owner/operators, human resources specialists, directors of operations, among other titles), and interviews with 18 current …

Climate And Extreme Weather Event Impacts On Administrators, Direct Care Staff, And Residents In Oregon Assisted Living, Residential Care, And Memory Care Communities, 2024, Dani Himes, Jacklyn Kohon, Madeline Fox, Laura Rodriguez, Sarah Dys, Diana Jacoby, Paula Carder

Institute on Aging Publications

This brief report on AL/RC staff and resident experiences with climate events highlights the voices of AL/RC direct care staff, former direct care staff, residents, administrators, and management representatives to promote well-being in these care settings. This study can inform Oregon’s efforts to support long-term care workforce readiness for future climate emergencies and inform future quantitative data collection on AL/RC and other long-term care workers, including those employed in home health agencies, nursing facilities, and adult foster homes.

A Place To Rest My Soul: How A Doctoral Student Of Color Group Utilized A Healing-Centered Space To Navigate Higher Education, Jessica I. Ramirez

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Students of Color have historically faced explicit and implicit forms of discrimination and oppression in educational settings. Unfortunately, not much has changed over the decades as Students of Color continue to experience white supremacy and other systems of oppression. As Students of Color enter graduate school, there are often fewer Students of Color, making these educational settings isolating and hostile. These experiences often encompass white supremacist policies, practices, and remarks that negatively impact Students of Color. With this in mind and as someone who identifies as a Chicana who was once in a doctoral program, I questioned how doctoral Students …

Conchas, Coloring Books, And Oxnard: Using Critical Race Counterstorytelling As A Framework To Create A Social Justice Coloring Book, Martín Alberto Gonzalez

Chicano/Latino Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

I am from Oxnard, California, a predominantly Latinx city that is stereotyped as “too hood”, “too ghetto”, or “crime-infested” because of its low-income Brown people. Such negative narratives are so commonplace that they become believable, but we can challenge these oppressive narratives using critical race counterstorytelling. There are multiple ways to tell a story, and I pride myself in producing counterstories that are accessible and enjoyable to mi gente. So, to encourage stay-at-home practices and empower my own community during the COVID-19 pandemic, I created a social justice coloring book with the help of artistic friends and local Oxnard Latinx …

Supporting Resource Equity For Oregon’S Home Visiting Workforce: Exploring Program Model And Regional Differences, Nicole M. Lauzus, Yumi Lee, Beth L. Green, Erin Gaines, Ron Joseph

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Prenatal and early childhood home visiting is an effective strategy for promoting positive birth outcomes, improving family well-being and preventing child abuse and neglect. One key to successful services is having a strong, well-supported home visiting workforce. In Oregon and nationally, this critical workforce is facing a crisis as programs struggle to hire and retain skilled home visitors, and workers face low pay, difficult working conditions and high job stress.

This learning brief is the second in a series to share findings from a 2023 survey of Oregon’s home visiting workforce, which provides a wealth of information about how to …

State-Sanctioned Slavery: The Political Economy Of Prison Labor, Avneet Sidhu

University Honors Theses

This thesis explores the interconnected relationship between the political institution of government and economic development with a particular focus on the United States Constitution’s role in explicitly legalizing coerced carceral labor and the direct impact this has on various economic aspects. The Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution has long been hailed as a guiding light of freedom and justice, and yet, still to this day, it contains a paradoxical loophole that explicitly permits involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. This exemption has long been exploited in order to perpetuate a system of state-sanctioned slavery, in which incarcerated laborers are exploited …

Threats Of Neoliberalism To Western Democracies And The Efficacy Of Neoliberal Critiques, Anis Zaman

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Abstract A neoliberal market-based governance system has engulfed Western democratic societies. Since it surfaced in the 1980s, neoliberalism remained the dominant governing system. The pervasive neoliberal governance logic has become deeply entrenched in our society in ways that make it less democratic. More so, market-based neoliberal dominant economic and political logic has caused a problematic drift in democratic political discourse by turning progressive political forces less progressive. While there is a superficial agreement between neoliberalism and democratic values at a deeper level, the two are in conflict. In contemporary governance practices, we can see the neoliberal takeover in most sectors …

An Assessment Of Equity, Compounding Disasters, And Climate Change In Hazard Mitigation Planning For The Portland Metro Region, Chris Lower

Geography Masters Research Papers

Hazard mitigation plans (HMPs) are strategic documents or policies developed by governments, communities, and organizations to identify risks and reduce the impacts of natural and human- made hazards. These plans aim to minimize loss of life, property damage, and disruption from floods, wildfires, snowstorms, heatwaves, and other disasters. While useful, these plans infrequently and unevenly address the lived experiences of marginalized populations who bear the disproportionate impacts of recurrent disasters. Technocratic planning goals exacerbate these impacts by failing to center inclusive and equity-focused approaches, thus eroding the resilience capacities of many vulnerable groups including the poor and communities of color. …

Death With Dignity: Queer Representation In Deathcare Systems, Esmé Ringelstetter

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ways that elderly members of the LGBT community lack representation within deathcare systems. Currently, the LGBT community is vastly underrepresented in research relating to the dying process and deathcare. This lack of representation creates barriers for LGBT individuals at the end of their lives and creates difficult end-of-life experiences. I utilized previous research that studied how LGBT populations interact with and are treated by a variety of death care-related systems, including health systems, legal systems, and therapeutic systems. This research highlighted the need for the LGBT community to be better represented within both research relating to …

We're Here To Stay: Nonviolence And The Disability Rights Movement, Sky Mcleod

University Honors Theses

Nonviolent resistance is an effective tool for enacting large scale change including the advancement of civil rights. Disabled Americans have often used nonviolent protest and civil resistance to this aim. Despite this rich history of activism, the history of the Disability Rights Movement has largely been missing from scholarship on nonviolent resistance. Similarly, historical accounts in Disability Studies provide a fragmented perspective on the use of nonviolent resistance by Disabled people. This thesis delves into this under-appreciated history. From the League of the Physically Handicapped in the 1930s to Trump’s inauguration in 2016, this paper traces the progress of the …

Social Justice In Social Work: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Erica Fonseca

Dissertations and Theses

Social justice is central to social work and guides the profession's ethics, educational standards, and practices. It is aspirational and actionable, ideological and practical, and is simultaneously shaped by, and shapes in turn, social work. Consequently, this study understands social justice to be a discourse. Despite its ubiquity throughout the profession, what constitutes social justice, how it should (or could) be practiced, and what epistemologies orient social work to the concept continue to be debated. Given social work's express promotion of social justice and the myriad ideas and practices that follow from this critical value, the concept and the foundational …

Activism And Stress, Ashanti Laine T. Peredo, Taylor Gayton, Lalaine Sevillano

Student Research Symposium

Black women often shoulder a heavier burden of financial, social, and physical responsibilities within their families compared to non-Black individuals who do not identify as women. This increased load contributes significantly to mental health disorders and psychological distress and well as physical disparities. When compounded with experiences of racism and sexism, these responsibilities can lead to a sense of social invisibility and foster a tendency towards stoicism. This study is a mixed method study as it aims to quantitatively examine the relationship between activism, physical wellbeing measured by the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA), and psychological wellbeing among Black …

Promoting Student Engagement In Research In An Undergraduate Language-Development Course, Mitchell Kloer, Isabelle Trujillo, Teresa Roberts, Carolyn Quam

Student Research Symposium

This presentation will provide student perspectives on benefits of incorporating inclusive research activities within an undergraduate Speech and Hearing Sciences course. In Speech and Language Development in Children (SPHR 372U), instructor Quam incorporates a research project focusing on an issue of equity, inclusion, and social justice. One overarching goal is to reduce barriers of access to scientific research and increase engagement for college students, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups. The project is segmented into 3 steps that mirror literature review, critical analysis, and proposal. The project is collaborative, iterative throughout the term, and each step in the research process …

Learning To Teach About Climate Justice And Social Justice In Science Methods, Mindy J. Chappell

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In November, the Editors of NWJTE sat down for a conversation with Dr. Mindy J. Chappell, a Science Teacher Educator in the College of Education at Portland State University. Dr. Chappell’s passions include developing teachers who are prepared to disrupt normative science ideologies and provide young people with science instruction that encourages and empowers them to be leaders in their communities. She engages in arts-based educational science research through the methodology of Ethnodance (a term she coined). She places young people and their lived experiences at the heart of her work.

Creating A New Border Culture In The Midst Of The Climate Crisis: Activism And Pedagogy Strategies For Teacher Preparation, Puneet S. Gill

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This paper documents the efforts of an activist group that came to teach about activist efforts, climate change/climate justice/climate crisis issues, and to create leaders in one border community. The leaders of this three-day workshop are a part of an activist organization named SOMOS Sunrise, the Latine constituency of the Sunrise movement. In this paper, I will analyze the climate change workshop training days and components of the workshops. Secondly, this paper will document a climate cohort education group conducted with undergraduate students and pre-service teachers the following summer. This climate cohort helped articulate art activism and public speaking opportunities …

Exploring Decolonial And Indigenous Mental Health Framework And Practice To Address Complex Trauma Among Palestinian Youth Living Under Violence Of Settler-Colonialism, Vivian L. Duong, Corrin Murphy

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

The growing settler colonial project of Israel forced indigenous Palestinians to flee from their homeland to further the Zionist movement of establishing a Jewish-majority state. The forced dispossession and displacement of Palestinians at this time was referred to as the Nakba, or catastrophe (Masalha, 2002). From 1947 and 1949, approximately 750,000 Palestinians from a population of 1.9 million were made refugees (Al Jazeera, 2017). Also referred to as the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, Zionists forcibly took over 78 percent of Palestine, destroyed about 530 villages and cities, and killed around 15,000 Palestinians including more than 70 massacres (Al Jazeera, 2017). …

Supporting Self-Managed Abortion Care In “Practice Not Premise”: Provider Perspectives, Roles, And Referral Pathways In India, Laura E. Jacobson Mph, Caila Brander, P. Balasubramanian, Sruthi Chandrasekaran, Blair Darney, Julia Goodman, Ruvani Jayaweera, Caitlin Gerdts

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Objective: Describe provider perspectives and roles in self-managed abortion (SMA) in India and identify referral pathways to facility- and self-managed abortion care.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study of 33 semi-structured interviews with a range of providers (medical, community health, and pharmacy) in India. We conducted a thematic analysis and identified referral pathways including the type of provider, the abortion care modality (in-facility or SMA), and the reason.

Results: Referrals to facility-managed abortion care were common. Providers' perception of SMA safety coupled with­ liability concerns resulted in discouraging clients from seeking SMA. Nonetheless, participants acknowledged three areas where providers played …

Self-Reported Follow-Up Care Needs Can Be Met In Both Facility And Self-Managed Abortion: Evidence From Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Laura E. Jacobson Mph

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Objective: To understand in-facility follow-up care-seeking behavior among both people who self-managed medication abortions (SMA) and those who obtained facility-managed care in six countries and to explore factors that contribute to meeting individual’s self-reported care needs that are core to person-centered care.

Study Design: We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of 67 in-depth interviews conducted with facility or SMA seekers. We first classified individuals as having their care needs met or not, and whether they sought follow-up care. We then identified predisposing, enabling, or need factors that contributed to having care needs met or not.

Results: A total of n=67 …

On Fire And Water: The Intersection Of Wetlands And Burning Strategies In Managing The Anthropogenic Plant Communities Of Yosemite National Park, Douglas Deur, Rochelle Bloom

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The existing literature confirms that Native American tribes historically enhanced culturally preferred plant communities through periodic burning in what is today Yosemite National Park; in turn, beginning with nineteenth-century park development, fire suppression contributed to conifer and shrub encroachment on anthropogenic meadows and other culturally significant habitats. However, we contend that traditional burning practices cannot be understood without considering the pronounced cultural role of wetland habitats and species, and the intersection between burning practices and wetland plant communities among tribes of the Sierra Nevada Range. Our ethnographic investigations revealed that a majority of culturally important plants identified by tribal members …

Supporting Resource Equity For Oregon’S Home Visiting Workforce: Exploring Racial, Ethnic & Linguistic Differences, Beth L. Green, Nicole M. Lauzus, Yumi Lee, Erin Gaines, Ron Joseph

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Home visitors of color—those whose lived experience and background reflect the cultural, racial and linguistic diversity of so many Oregon families—cope with compounding stressors related to structural racism, bias and documented pay inequities.

This learning brief is the first in a series to share findings from a 2023 statewide survey of Oregon’s home visiting workforce. This study has provided a wealth of information about this workforce and how to improve and support its well-being and retention, with a focus on the needs and experiences of home visitors of color and those who speak languages other than English.

Intersectionalities Of Systematic Barriers Set Upon Underrepresented Students In Stem: Capturing The Potential Benefits Of Online Modality, Raiyasha Aiyanna Paris

University Honors Theses

The prevalence of racism and microaggressions in STEM disciplines within colleges presents significant hurdles to the academic success and well-being of underrepresented students. Microaggressions, encompassing subtle biases and stereotyping, have a cumulative impact, inducing heightened stress, diminished motivation, and reduced self-efficacy among minority students, thereby impeding cognitive functioning and hindering academic progress (Ogunyemi et al., 2020). The existence of these negative emotional responses creates a less conducive learning environment for academic achievement. Additionally, structural inequalities within STEM institutions contribute to disparities in resource access, limited mentorship opportunities, and support networks crucial for success in STEM fields (Atkins et al., 2020). …

Families At The Center: Leading For Home Visiting Systems Change, Callie H. Lambarth, Beth L. Green, Center For Coordinating Oregon Home Visiting Systems

Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services Publications

The Center for Coordinating Oregon Home Visiting Systems (CCOHVS) launched in February 2024 at the Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services at Portland State University. The CCOHVS functions as a program-neutral backbone organization for a coordinated system of prenatal and early childhood home visiting services. Its work will move the state closer to the vision described in the Raise Up Oregon 2.0 (RUO) strategic plan1 for early childhood systems, namely to create “equitable, integrated, accessible, inclusive, anti-racist and family-centered” early learning services, with a focus on ensuring this system meets the needs of pregnant people and families with …

On The Ordinariness Of Murdering The Black Psyque And Flesh: Antiblackness In Educational Policy And Practice In Brazil, Colombia And Ecuador, Éllen Daiane Cintra, Mauri Balanta Jaramillo, Ethan Johnson

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper seeks to understand how anti-blackness has manifested in Brazilian, Colombian and Ecuadorian education based on analyzes of the education of ethnic-racial relations in these three countries. We start from the recognition of dynamics of violence that position Black people as socially dead (PATTERSON, 1982) in the afterlife of slavery (HARTMAN, 2007). Next, we analyze aspects of education and legal apparatus regarding ethnic-racial relations within education. We conclude that the lens of antiblackness (SHARPE, 2016; WILDERSON, 2010; VARGAS, 2020) in education advances analysis of the antagonistic and paradigmatic relationship that positions Black people as a problem and uneducable (DUMAS, …