Achieving Equal Opportunity, Equity, and Justice

VOLUME 25 | ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2018

The 22nd annual conference of SSWR was held on January 10-14, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Samuel Deutsch Professor Mark E. Courtney organized the symposium, “The California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH): Implications for Policy and Practice.” He spoke at the “Meet the Scientist Luncheon” and at the symposium entitled, “Invited Journal Editors Workshop I: Publishing Research in Peer-Reviewed Journals: Talk with the Editors.” He also co-authored a poster, “Examining the Non-Kin Support Networks of Orphaned Adolescents Participating in a Family-Based Economic Strengthening Intervention in Uganda. He co-authored papers entitled, “Influence of Extended Foster Care on Early Outcomes” (with Nathanael Okpych, PhD ’17, and SSA doctoral students Justin Harty and Sunggeun Park); “Trends in and Perceptions of the Utilization of Psychotropic Medications Among Foster Youth Transitioning to Adulthood” (with SSA doctoral student Keunhye Park); “Living Situations and Social Support in the Era of Extended Foster Care” (with SSA doctoral student Huiling Feng); and “Predictors of College Entry and Academic Preparedness Among Young People in California Foster Care” (with Nathanael Okpych).

Associate Professor Matthew Epperson presented in a roundtable discussion entitled, “Building Social Capacity: A Core Concept for the Promote Smart Decarceration Grand Challenge.” He co-presented “Promote Smart Decarceration (Grand Challenge)” and moderated “Mental Health and Criminal Justice” oral presentations. He also co-authored, “In Search of Legitimacy: Mental Health Treatment Coordination in Probation Programs” (with SSA doctoral students Julian Thompson and Sophia Sarantakos).

Assistant Professor Gina Fedock presented and co-authored, “A Life Course Perspective of Victimization, Child Welfare Involvement, and Mental Health for Women on Probation and Parole” (co-authored with SSA postdoctoral fellow Rachel Garthe and SSA doctoral student Sophia Sarantakos). She also co-authored a paper entitled, “Incarcerated Women’s Decisions Regarding the Reporting of Staff Sexual Misconduct: A Multi-Level Investigation That Sets Directions for Social Work.” 

Professor Colleen Grogan presented and co-authored, “Substance Use Disorder Treatment Benefits in Medicaid Managed Care” (coauthored with Christina Andrews, PhD ’12, and SSA doctoral student Bikki Tran Smith). She also co-authored papers, “Understanding Stakeholder Perspectives and the Implementation of Substance Use Disorder Services Under State-Level Health Policy Reforms” (with Helen Ross Professor Harold Pollack, Christina Andrews, and SSA doctoral students Clifford Bersamira and Bikki Tran Smith) and “Availability and Receipt of Substance Use Disorder Treatment after Medicaid Expansion” (with Christina Andrews and Harold Pollack).

Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor Sydney Hans co-authored posters, “Doula Home Visitors Are Effective at Promoting Sensitive Parenting during Early Infancy: A Randomized Controlled Study” (with SSA doctoral student Nora Medina; research scholar Renee Edwards, AB ’00, AM ’08, PhD ’11; and research project director Linda Henson, AM ’85 (Social Sciences), CER (Graham) and “Parenting Profiles of Young, Low-Income Mothers and Associations with Child Socioemotional Behavior in Infancy: A Latent Class Analysis” (with SSA doctoral student Yudong Zhang, AM ’15; research scholar Renee Edwards; and research project director Linda Henson). She also presented and co-authored, “Violence Experience and Parenting Among Women in Treatment for Opioid Dependence.”

Associate Professor Julia Henly was a discussant for symposia, “Minimum Wage Impacts on Poverty, Employment, and Health Coverage” and “Understanding the Complexity of Instability Experienced by Children of Low-Income Families.” She also presented in a roundtable discussion, “Rigorous, Responsive, and Relevant Policy Research: Developing and Sustaining Research-Policy Partnerships.”

Associate Professor Waldo E. Johnson, Jr. was a panelist for “Invited Symposium III: Decolonizing Research: Generating Community-Grounded Inquiry.” 

George Herbert Jones Distinguished Service Professor Jeanne C. Marsh co-authored the poster, “Integrated Service Delivery for Substance-Involved Parents in the Child Welfare System” (with SSA doctoral students Yu-An Lin, Keunhye Park, and Clifford Bersamira). 

Assistant Professor Reuben Miller co-authored a poster, “This is What Social Work Research Methods Look Like,” and a paper, “The ‘Prison within a Prison’ As a Barrier to Freedom: The Health Impact of Racial Disparities in Solitary Confinement in Michigan Prisons.”

Associate Professor Jennifer Mosley co-led the workshop “Building Capacity for Human Service Organizational and Managerial Research.”

Helen Ross Professor Harold Pollack co-authored papers, “Understanding Stakeholder Perspectives and the Implementation of Substance Use Disorder Services Under State-Level Health Policy Reforms” (with Professor Colleen Grogan, Christina Andrews, PhD ’12, and SSA doctoral students Clifford Bersamira and Bikki Tran Smith); “Availability and Receipt of Substance Use Disorder Treatment after Medicaid Expansion” (with Christina Andrews and Professor Colleen Grogan); and “Street Level Discretion in Interorganizational Implementation: Chicago Police and Emergency Response to Individuals Living with Mental Illness” (with SSA doctoral student Tonie Sadler, AM ’15).

Associate Professor Gina M. Samuels co-authored “Critical Conditions and Tipping Points into Couch Surfing” (with Chapin Hall postdoctoral fellow Susanna Curry); “Paperwork and Social Work: Two Sides of the Casework Coin?” (with SSA doctoral student Katherine Gibson); and “Practice-Informed Definitions of Well-Being: The Last (but not least) Principle of Child Welfare.”

Professor Dexter Voisin presented and co-authored “HIV Health Related Behaviors Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex with Men” (co-authored with SSA doctoral student Lance Keene and Associate Professor of Medicine John Schneider [Pritzker]). He also co-authored “‘Proud I Am Negative’: Maintaining HIV-Seronegativity Among Black MSM in New York City” and “Pathways from Peer Victimization to Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior Among African American Adolescents in Chicago’s Southside.”

Associate Professor Marci Ybarra co-authored a poster entitled, “Paid Leave Availability and Public Health and Nutrition Program Participation Following a Birth” (with SSA doctoral student Dylan Bellisle).