Social Welfare Commons^™

Unaccompanied Migrant Children In The Mountain West, 2015-2023, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This fact sheet examines data on the number of unaccompanied migrant children who obtained sponsors and relocated to 22 cities in five Mountain West states from 2015 to 2023. Data from Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah are included from a New York Times report which includes U.S. Department of Human Health and Services data on unaccompanied migrant children in all 50 states and Washington D.C.

Archetypal Energies And Global Mental Health, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

As a keynote speaker at the Global Mental Health Conference 2024, held at Sophia University, Costa Mesa, CA, in-person and virtually, August 16-18, 2024, my topic was "Archetypal Energies As A Framework for Self-Empowerment and Well Being". The theme of this 2024 global conference was: Enlightened Minds, Compassionate Hearts, and Embodied Wisdom. To supplement my keynote address, I wrote this blog article titled "Archetypal Energies and Global Mental Health".

Evaluating The Client Base And Housing Outcomes Of A Community Based Organization Serving Unhoused Adults, Emi Caprio

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a well-documented, bidirectional relationship between mental health and housing instability. When coupled with the complex historical, societal, and political factors contributing to houselessness, the result is a unique set of mental health needs within this community. Despite this, there is a low rate of mental health service utilization and a dearth of research on how to tailor services to meet the needs of unhoused individuals. Additionally, first-hand perspectives are often omitted, as this population is seen as “hard to reach”. The goal of this two-phase mixed-methods program evaluation was to better understand the demographic and mental health profiles …

Socioeconomic Inequalities Between The Bronx And Other Counties In New York City, Mexican Studies Institute Cuny, Eliana Checo-Genaoa

CUNY Mexican Studies Institute

The Bronx, despite its proximity to the other boroughs of New York City, has the highest poverty rates among them. Using data from 2010 to 2022, this study examines the socioeconomic disparities between the Bronx and Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Key indicators analyzed include poverty levels, SNAP benefits, unemployment rates, median income, educational attainment, homeownership rates, business creation, and GDP per capita. Our study reveals that the Bronx has the highest poverty, unemployment, and SNAP benefit dependency rates, lower educational attainment, and the lowest median income and homeownership rates. Our findings underscore the persistent socioeconomic challenges faced by …

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 …

Aging In Newton: A Community Needs Assessment, Claire Wickersham, Katherine Burnes, Shu Xu, Caitlin E. Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report presents the results of a comprehensive examination of issues relating to aging in Newton. A needs assessment was undertaken to support planning on the part of the City of Newton and the Department of Older Adult Services. Results presented here focus on the characteristics and needs of Newton residents who are aged 60 and older. Data was collected via key informant interviews, focus groups with residents and stakeholders and a mailed survey of residents aged 60 and older. Respondents to the community survey included 2,869 Newton residents, which resulted in a response rate of more than 50%. As …

Book Review: Poor Atlanta: Poverty, Race, And The Limits Of Sunbelt Development, Michael Camp

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Praying To Tiktok, Seeking The Self: How Rhetoric Reveals And Conceals The World’S Most Powerful Guru Of The Postindustrial Age, Samantha L. Gillespie-Hoffman

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Imagine a world where the most powerful leader is a wellness guru that runs an elaborate church with millions of followers. The guru is so powerful that everyone believes they can read minds and make ordinary people rich and famous. The guru controls forms of communication, media channels, consumer tastes, and what people eat, drink, say, and even think. What if this guru was not human but actually an algorithm? Does this sound like the plot of a science fiction novel? I argue that this scenario is closer to reality than most will admit. In this project, readers encounter a …

Disparities Surrounding The Availability Of Feminine Hygiene Products In The Workplace, Marlene Ventura

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Menstrual inequality in the workplace continues to exist, affecting financial welfare, mental health, physical health, and access to care. Women have been enduring disparities related to menstruation, including stigma, shame, and period poverty, which are often exacerbated in the workplace. This study aims to explore the experiences of women who do not have access to free feminine hygiene products in the workplace.

The researcher conducted one-to-one interviews in person with employed women (n=9). The questions were semi-structured and based on a survey with nineteen questions addressing areas of menstrual inequality in the workplace. Seven themes were identified: 1) work performance, …

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.

Bunuh Diri Dan Untai Problematikanya: Sebuah Rekonstruksi Teoritik Atas Bunuh Diri, Nastiti Soegeng Lestari

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

In Indonesia, suicide research has largely overlooked structural factors at the meso and macro levels, whether as primary causes, contributing factors, or considerations for prevention strategies. The dominance of psychological and psychiatric approaches has marginalized sociological perspectives, limiting a more holistic understanding of suicide. Existing heuristic models primarily frame suicide as a consequence of mental health disorders or economic conditions, reinforcing a dichotomy: one perspective views suicide as a psychological and/or psychiatric phenomenon, while the other treats it as a sociological fact. However, suicide encompasses a far more complex reality that transcends this binary. This study offers a comprehensive theoretical …

How Housing Insecurity And Welfare Systems Retraumatize Women In Southern California, Yesika Menera

McNair Summer Research Program

Studies show that individuals experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity also experience trauma and mental illnesses. Despite this evidence, many resources provided through state welfare services seldom allocate sufficient funds and personnel to help address mental health. This study investigates the relationship between housing insecurity and trauma for adult women who have tried to access assistance throughout Southern California. To do this, I conducted in-depth interviews and DSM-5 questionnaires with twenty-six women during the summer of 2023 and 2024 via Zoom. My findings show that adult women who have experienced homelessness and housing insecurity in Southern California were more susceptible to …

Participating In Childcare Subsidy Programs Increases Employment And Annual Earnings For Working Parents, William Clay Fannin, Colleen Heflin, Taryn Morrissey, Siobhan O'Keefe

Center for Policy Research

Finding affordable childcare can be a struggle. Childcare subsidy programs help reduce barriers to stable childcare options and support parents’ employment, but due to administrative hurdles, such as recertification periods and income reporting requirements, many eligible parents are not using these programs. Using quarterly employment and earnings data from 2016-2019 Virginia administrative data, this brief describes associations between childcare subsidy program participation and household employment and earnings outcomes among low-income families in Virginia. Results show that, following initial childcare subsidy receipt, working parents increased their labor force participation, earned more money, and experienced more economic and employment stability compared to …

Three Essays In Food Security And The U.S. Sugar Program, Jacob Michels

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Chapter one devises an approach to adjust estimates of the number of food insecure for changes in sedentarism over time. Existing methodologies are biased upwards and date back several decades. We build a household model utilizing a Stone-Geary utility function, which rationalizes households shifting their labor decisions towards sedentary activities. Our comparative statics examine the impacts of changes in the productivities of sedentary types, as opposed to my physically demanding types, of activities and also their returns. Our empirical approach is informed by our theoretical model and comparative statics, in which we construct a unique pseudo-panel dataset. Sitting time serves …

Average Child Care Costs In Nevada And The Mountain West, 2024, Monserrat Cristando-Romo, Maryam Raja, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet reports data on the average costs of child care in the five most populous cities in each Mountain West state and the ten most populous cities in Nevada based on the “2020: ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles” United States Census Bureau (Salt Lake City, UT; Albuquerque, NM; Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; and Las Vegas, NV). The original report from care.com provides child care data for all U.S. cities to assess the costs of child care nationally.

Examining Dietary Disparities And Associated Factors Among Young Children Across Diverse Racial, Ethnic And Immigrant Households In Nebraska, Naveta Bhatti

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Early childhood is a crucial stage for developing eating behaviors which in turn plays a major role in determining health outcomes. Assessing children’s diet plays a crucial role in tackling the obesity epidemic. One of the ways to assess children’s dietary intake is by evaluating their dietary quality. Dietary quality refers to the overall healthfulness and nutritional value of an individual's diet, considering the combination of foods consumed over time. Research has consistently demonstrated that a high-quality diet is associated with a reduced risk of several health issues, such as all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence or mortality, cancer incidence or …

Lived Experiences, Perceptions, And Caregiving Trajectories Of Family Caregivers Of Youth With Substance Use Disorders (Suds) In Zambia, Ireen Manase Kabembo

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

There is unequivocal evidence that family caregivers contribute to healthcare systems worldwide by providing care for persons with chronic illnesses in the home setting. his study explores the lived experiences, perceptions, and caregiving trajectories of 30 family caregivers of youth aged 16-24 diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) in Zambia. Data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, a caregiving timeline, and participant observation and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Guided by the integrated theoretical framework of positioning theory and the theory of caregiving dynamics, this study offers a new lens for understanding caregiver’s experiences regarding caregiver identity, self-perceptions, interpersonal relationships, …

Salary Needed To Live Comfortably In The Mountain West, 2024, Mohit Pande, Anirudh Polagani, Monserrat Cristando-Romo, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data on the annual salary needed to live comfortably in selected cities in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico as of February 2024. A report by Smart Asset titled, “Salary Needed to Live Comfortably – 2024 Study,” provided wage data for the 99 largest cities in the United States.

Exploring Cultural, Health, And Technology Intersections: A Focus On Migrant Experiences, Merna Mina, Sahij Gill

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Despite the plethora of theories and frameworks addressing culture, health, and technology adoption, there remains a notable absence of a unifying theory that comprehensively encompasses all three aspects, particularly concerning newcomers. The Health Belief Model, for example, underscores individual perceptions and attitudes toward health yet fails to consider the intricate interplay between cultural factors and technology adoption among immigrant populations. The Healthy Immigrant Effect, which posits that immigrants often exhibit better health outcomes than native-born individuals, does not mention the role of technology on health outcomes. Acculturation theories, while shedding light on the adaptation process, often fall short of explaining …