Social Work Commons^™

Seeding Sparks For The Right To Food, Alexandra Grace Winn, Shelby Lynn Davis, Kirsten Hannah Jaquish, Alexandra N. Ehlers, Joshua Lohnes

Undergraduate Scholarship

Seeding Sparks for The Right to Food partnered with Voices of Hunger to disperse a grant to community leaders. These community leaders have projects that are aimed to advance the Right to Food and promote food security. This project interviewed the applicants and pulled out common themes among their responses to further understand their motivations and passions related to food justice.

Food Policy Council, Alexandra G. Winn, Kirsten Hannah Jaquish, Shelby Lynn Davis, Alexandra N. Ehlers, Joshua Lohnes

Undergraduate Scholarship

Nourishing Networks is a workshop that promotes the development of Food Policy Councils, which are a group of community members that advocate for the Right to Food in their community. Through conversation surrounding food access barriers and strategies in their community, the workshop aims to educate participants on how they can improve food access in their community. This research project sought to conduct Nourishing Networks meetings in a variety of West Virginia counties with the intention of accompanying local community members and organizations to create a Food Policy Council for their region. Using a standardized organization process, curriculum, and reporting …

Serving The Voiceless: Analyzing Local Organizations For Immigrant Empowerment, Daniel Kabithe, Acia Diallo, Kiya Demps, Chance Brown, Aliyah Whitfield

Undergraduate Research Events

This research project delves into the landscape of community organizations that serve the immigrant population in Louisville, Kentucky, focusing on 6 key entities: La Casita Center, Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Catholic Charities of Louisville, English Conversation Club, Backside Learning Center, and American Community Center. Through a combination of interviews, phone calls and research, we discovered the roles, missions, and offered services by each organization. Through these methods, we identified some of the critical needs within the immigrant community and examined how these organizations address them. Additionally, we discovered that not only did our research highlight the importance of the services provided, …

Alternative Shelter Evaluation Report, Jacen Greene, Todd Ferry, Emily Leickly, Franklin Holcomb Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes research by Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative for the Joint Office of Homeless Services on the cost, participant experiences, and client outcomes in village-style and motel shelters as compared to each other and to traditional, congregate shelters.

The Start Of A New Revolution: Addressing Government Failure In Ending Homelessness In Nyc, Ruth Lovely Joseph

Publications and Research

Homelessness is a serious issue in New York City. This project involved research to establish the causes of the homelessness problem in NYC, investigate current solutions currently being implemented by the city, and finally to develop a detailed proposal about a community-based approach to homelessness.

The guiding research questions include: What are the major causes and effects of homelessness in New York City? What are the challenges and shortcomings of existing New York City programs addressing homelessness? What elements should a successful community-based organization include in order to address these shortcomings? What are the underlying biases and moralistic assumptions that …

Promoting Labour Migrant Health Equity Through Action On The Structural Determinants: A Systematic Review, Mireille Evagora-Campbell, Aysha Zahidie, Kent Buse, Fauziah Rabbani, Sarah Hawkes

Community Health Sciences

Background: Labour migrants, who represent over sixty per cent of international migrants globally, frequently have poorer health status than the population of host countries. These health inequities are determined in a large part by structural drivers including political, commercial, economic, normative and social factors, including living and working conditions. Achieving health equity for migrant workers requires structural-level interventions to address these determinants.
Methods: We undertook a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature designed to answer the question "what is the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions to address the structural determinants of health for labour migrants?" using the Ovid Medline electronic …

Right! From The Start: Improving Maternal-Child Health In The Mississippi Delta, John J. Green, Elizabeth Young Sweeney

Delta Directions: Publications

Right! From the Start (R!FTS) was created nearly ten years ago as a collaborative effort between Women and Children Health Initiatives, Inc. and the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF). The immediate goal of the initiative was to raise breastfeeding rates for mothers and babies in vulnerable families, especially those with preterm and low weight births. A long-term goal was improvement of maternal and child health outcomes in a region plagued by socioeconomic and racial disparities, the Mississippi Delta. R!FTS has gone through three distinct phases of development, which are detailed in this …

How Peer Support Specialists Uniquely Initiate And Build Connection With Young People Experiencing Homelessness, James Erangey, Connor Marvin, Danielle Maude Littman, Meredith Mollica, Kimberly Bender, Tom Lucas, Tara Milligan

Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship

Young people experiencing homelessness are often apprehensive to engage in conventional service systems due to prior mistreatment by providers and others in their lives, as well as stigma associated with accessing services. Even when relationships between service providers and young people are initiated, they often end prematurely. Mutual aid, or peer-to-peer support, has a long and promising history within the mental health field, yet has received little empirical attention in work with young people experiencing homelessness. The present study used participatory qualitative methods to understand how peers uniquely initiate and build connection with young people experiencing homelessness. Through interviews and …

Community Collaborations With Saving Lives, Inspiring Youth: A Community-Based Cross-Age Peer Mentoring Program, Cynthia Onyeka, Kevin Miller, Chana Matthews, Amzie Moore Ii, Katherine Tyson Mccrea Professor, Maryse Richards

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Scholar-community collaborations offer an opportunity to conduct translational research that is both useful and respectful to the population of study (Foster-Fishman, Berkowitz, Lounsbury, Jacobson & Allen, 2001). When projects involve an intervention targeted towards a marginalized community, it is even more important to perform the research with such regard. Community-based interventions are more likely to find sustained success with community members as part of the service and research team. However, tensions between researchers and practitioners may present challenges with this work (e.g., researchers devaluing practitioner insights, practitioners and community members concerned about past histories of mistreatment of research subjects), particularly …

A Comparative Assessment Of Climate Change Related Knowledge And Perception Of Coastal And Tribal Community, Kirti K Kalinga, Navaneeta Rath

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Climate change is a global problem with local ramifications. It supposed to impact all nations and states across borders. But the way it is perceived by different stakeholders varies. Perception towards climate change matters because it will shape the way knowledge is framed and risk is calculated. It is also important to examine the knowledge of those people who are affected the most due to climate change. The present paper tries to understand the perception of farmers on climate change. As agriculture is one of the most climate sensitive sectors, it becomes pertinent here to explore are the farmers aware …

Best Training Practices For Probation Officers And Staff Toward Building A More Sophisticated, Fair, And Effective System Of Juvenile Justice In San Diego County, Carissa Carrasquillo

Ethnic Studies Senior Capstone Papers

This report illustrates how probation leadership, officers, and staff in San Diego County can adopt best training practices to address and alleviate incidents in juvenile detention facilities and build a sophisticated, fair, and effective system of juvenile justice. The goal of implementing best training practices for probation officers and staff is to build a knowledgeable workforce to better serve youth and families and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. This report analyzes how innovations in management and the introduction of new programs has proven effective through research- and evidence-based practices and direct community involvement. In particular, …

Deliberation And Dialogue In A Quiet Place, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This article recounts the story of the rise and fall of the public deliberation and sustained dialogue mission of the Nova Institute in the (now defunct) School of Applied Social Sciences of West Virginia University. The concept of political quiescence in Appalachia is used to characterize some of the resistance to public discussion that was encountered. The article appears in a volume of essays around the theme of university-community relations in Central Europe and published in Budapest, Hungary.

Wood County Project Connect: Final Report For Event Held October 18, 2017, Melissa W. Burek, Mamta Ojha, Marisa Hutchinson, Brandon Peebles

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Wood County, Ohio Service providers and volunteers came together to serve those at risk for homelessness and under-served populations at the 5th Annual Project Connect. Data were collected from guests, volunteers, and providers to capture the characteristics and satisfaction levels of those in attendance and those involved in carrying out this expansive, one-day event. The results are presented in the report.

Supporting Recruitment And Retention Of Young African-American And Hispanic Fathers In Community-Based Parenting Interventions Research, Cristina Mogro-Wilson, Crystal M. Hayes, Alysse Melville Loomis, Aubri Drake, Melanie Martin-Peele, Judith Fifield

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Few studies to date have provided strategies for maintaining low rates of attrition when conducting longitudinal, epidemiological, or community-based research with young, minority, urban fathers. This paper highlights lessons learned from a 5-year randomized controlled trial of a fatherhood intervention that designed and implemented state-of-the-art and culturally relevant recruitment and retention methods with 348 young fathers ages 15 to 25. Qualitative findings are drawn from interviews with fathers who had been enrolled in the fatherhood intervention (n=10). While traditional recruitment and retention methods, such as incentives, were employed in this study, non-traditional methods were used as well, such as intensive …

Convivendo Na Lagoa Do Mineiro: An Education In Living And Loving With, Daniela Aldrich

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

One of Brazil’s most pressing issues is unequitable land distribution and agrarian land reform. Movimento Sem Terra (MST) is at the forefront of this struggle and has redistributed land to approximately 1,250 families so far. As well as access and right to land ownership, MST addresses issues from youth development, to education, to ecology and more with the mission to create a more just and inclusive Brazil by training its future leaders. This vision includes moving away from the capitalist system that currently enables hierarchies of power to control Brazil at the expense of many of its citizens and natural …

Analysis Of Worcester's Youth Employment Sector, Laurie Ross Phd, Ramon Borges-Mendez Phd, Alex Rothfelder

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Overall, the employment rate for Worcester youth has improved since 2000; yet mirroring the nation, Worcester continues to have a smaller share of youth 16-24 employed. This situation is intensified for youth of color and young people facing barriers such as homelessness, exiting foster care, juvenile justice involvement, and limited English proficiency. Mass, Inc. estimates that in Worcester there are 3400 disconnected youth—756 are between 16-19 and 2644 are between 20-24. From the youth employment program inventory, we learned that the city’s programs offer many opportunities for “first job” experiences; has some exemplary programs that integrate youth development and workforce …

Chemical Reactions: Marijuana, Opioids, And Our Families, Denise A. Hines Ph.D, Staci Gruber Ph.D, John F. Kelly Ph.D, Kathleen M. Palm Reed, Hilary Smith Connery M.D., Ph.D.

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Chemical Reactions: Marijuana, Opioids, and Our Families is the seventh Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar. This seminar was designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to the legalization of marijuana and managing the opioid abuse crisis in the Commonwealth. In general, Family Impact Seminars analyze the consequences an issue, policy, or program may have for families.

Housing With Services, Paula C. Carder

Institute on Aging Publications

This report describes findings of an evaluation of the Housing with Services project in Portland, OR.

This evaluation was designed to assess the implementation process and impacts of a novel program of coordinated health and social services on behalf of over 1,400 residents of 11 affordable housing properties in Portland, Oregon. Affordable housing for older adults and persons with disabilities provides an important financial subsidy for persons with low incomes. To qualify for the affordable housing described in this report, individuals must have incomes of no more than $15,450 for a single person. In the U.S., over one million older …

Framing The Value Of Clinical And Field Education, Lisa Richardson Mss, Licsw, Rebecca Mcgill Edd, Rn, Christina Anderson Pt, Dpt, Linda Buxell Ma, Otr/L, Leah Harris Otr/L, Lisa Rovick Mhsc, Co, Comt

Interprofessional Papers and Writing

Community/university partnerships play a critical role in higher education. Community-based research, service learning, guest lectures, internships, and a host of other activities illustrate the shared opportunities for students, educators, practitioners, employers, and consumers, as communities and institutions collaborate to educate the future workforce and develop an informed and engaged citizenry.

Across the spectrum of health and professional disciplines, real world learning through community-based clinical/field education1 is essential to prepare practice-ready graduates. At St. Catherine University, for example, students complete over 7,000 clinical/field placements annually across multiple degrees and disciplines (see Appendix B). Without community/ university partnerships, our universities would not …

Problem Analysis In Community Violence Assessments: Reavealing Early Childhood Trauma As A Driver Of Youth And Gang Violence, Laurie Ross Phd, Samantha Arsenault, Sergeant Miguel Lopez

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Problem analysis conducted by a university-based research partner can provide communities with data-driven options to address the local drivers of serious youth and gang violence. Situated in Worcester, Massachusetts, this article describes how after early childhood trauma was identified as a potential driver of adolescent and young adult violence, problem analysis using local data confirmed that being the victim or witness of a traumatic incident before the age of 12 was significantly correlated with involvement in violence in adolescence or young adulthood. While there is a robust literature on the relationship between early childhood trauma and later delinquency, local decision-makers …

Poverty At St. Catherine University, Louise Edwards-Simpson

Events and Presentations

No abstract provided.

In Search Of Safety, Negotiating Everyday Forms Of Risk: Sex Work, Criminalization, And Hiv/Aids In The Slums Of Kampala, Serena Cruz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers an in-depth descriptive account of how women manage daily risks associated with sex work, criminalization, and HIV/AIDS. Primary data collection took place within two slums in Kampala, Uganda over the course of fourteen months. The emphasis was on ethnographic methodologies involving participant observation and informal and unstructured interviewing. Insights then informed document analysis of international and national policies concerning HIV prevention and treatment strategies in the context of Uganda. The dissertation finds social networks and social capital provide the basis for community formation in the sex trade. It holds that these interpersonal processes are necessary components for …

Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip): A Group Work Model In Workforce Development, Philip Young P. Hong

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This presentation introduces a newly developed social work group intervention model in workforce development. Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program empowers participants to develop self-awareness, confidence, hope, goal-orientation, leadership, accountability, conscientiousness, and grit, it is anticipated that it improves both employment and retention outcomes.

Wood County Project Connect: Final Report For Event Held October 15, 2014, Melissa W. Burek, Mamta Ojha, Morgan Fair

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Project Connect is an outreach and an awareness raising event based on a model endorsed by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The event is an opportunity to inform the community about the need that exists, as well as a chance to address that need. Project Connect (PC) is designed to provide immediate goods and services to at risk individuals in one day at one location. Our report presents that descriptive data and evaluation of a PC event that occurred in October of 2014 in Wood County, Ohio.

Community Violence Exposure And Sexual Behaviors In A Nationally Representative Sample Of Young Adults: The Effects Of Race/Ethnicity And Gender, Dexter R. Voisin, David B. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

This study examined whether exposure to community violence was related to sexual risk behaviors in a nationally representative sample of young adults and if there were gender or racial/ethnic differences in these relationships. The analytic sample for this study was drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and was composed of 7,726 unmarried, heterosexual African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic/Latino young adults aged 18 to 27 years old. Approximately 12% of participants reported some community violence exposures, with men and African Americans reporting the highest rates of such exposures. Regression analyses controlling for age, gender, parental education, and family …

Everyday Racial Interactions For Whites And College Students Of Color, Leslie H. Picca

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

While in the recent past overtly racist comments were tolerated and expected, now social pressures exist to avoid such racist statements (Feagin, 2006). However, subtle measures and tests in psychology and social psychology suggest a nonracist mask is covering an intact racist core, and that whites regularly underestimate the extent of their prejudice (Bonilla-Silva & Forman, 2000; Kawakami, Dunn, Karmali, & Dovidio, 2009). There is much social science literature on modern racism or colorblind racism: negative racial attitudes that haven't disappeared, they've just gone underground (Bonilla-Silva, 2006; Carr, 1997; Dovidio & Gaertner, 1991). Specifically, many argue that racism is hidden, …

Fearless Friday: Erin O'Connor, Christina L. Bassler

SURGE

For fearless Friday, Surge would like to commend Silent Leader Award recipient, Erin O’Connor. The Silent Leader Award was given this year in memory of Emily Silverstein ’11, a passionate member of the campus community and a fervent advocate for peace at yesterday’s Fall Convocation. [excerpt]

Social Connections, Safety, And Local Environment In Three Manchester, New Hampshire, Neighborhoods Survey Of Residents’ Perceptions, Justin R. Young

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This fact sheet uses data from a survey of Bakersville, Beech Street, and Gossler Park residents in Manchester, New Hampshire, to draw attention to the current state of connectedness, trust, and perceptions of the local environment in these three neighborhoods. Author Justin Young finds that residents of these neighborhoods report that they generally feel safe during the day, that they are comfortable reporting crimes to the police, and that they are hopeful that if a child was hurt or scared, there would be a trustworthy adult nearby to help. Only about half of respondents in these neighborhoods felt there was …

Housing With Services: Year 1 Evaluation, October 2014, Paula C. Carder

Institute on Aging Publications

This report describes the initial findings of an on-going evaluation of the Housing with Services project based in Portland, OR. Housing with Services was supported, in part, with funding from Oregon’s State Innovation Model (SIM) project grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovations to Cedar Sinai Park.

Housing with Services, LLC is a collaborative model of supportive services delivered or made available to low-income residents of affordable housing. The SIM grant helped to establish the project and funded the evaluation of the program implementation and resident- and system-level outcomes.

The collaborative model includes partnerships between health plans, coordinated …

Senior Mental Health Specialist Investment, Diana L. White, Linda Dreyer, Julie Reynolds, Alice Updike Scannell, Serena Worthington

Institute on Aging Publications

Participants: Thirty-five informants were interviewed or completed a survey for this report. They represented the Budget Note Workgroup and others identified by workgroup members. Informants represented aging services, mental health, advocacy, and other sectors such as long-term care, quality improvement, and health/medical care. Both those with a statewide focus and those with a local agency or community focus participated, including people from rural areas of the state.

The Problem: According to informants, mental health needs of older adults are not being met because:

• Systems are fragmented. The organizations that could address these needs work in silos with different funding priorities, …