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Contact School of Social Work The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2010 2 Contact | UNC School of Social Work T his issue of Contact presents a retro-spective view as we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the School of Social Work. Our program has evolved from a primar-ily training institution to one that has earned national prominence for its quality classroom and field instruction, cutting edge research, invaluable public service, community engaged scholarship and technical assistance. We are indeed proud of our rich history, and prouder still of where we are today and the exciting future that lies ahead. This year, our MSW program continued to experience tremendous growth in admis-sions applications. For the third year in a row, the number of applicants increased nearly 20%, resulting in an outstanding pool of new students. Doctoral applications rose as well. We have also added to our faculty. Na-tionally renowned child welfare expert Mark Testa joined us in January as the Spears- Turn-er Distinguished Professor. Please see p. 25 to read about his influential work. In addition, we are welcoming three new faculty members in July: Professor Michael Lambert, and assistant professors Trenette Clark ( MSW ‘ 03) and Amanda Sheely. Two, however, are moving on — Lynn Usher and Susan Parish. Lynn has retired, after being with the School of Social Work since 1993 as the Wal-lace H. Kuralt, Sr. Professor of Public Welfare Policy and Administration. Susan has been with the School since 2003 and is the director of the Developmen-tal Disabilities Training Institute. She has accepted a distinguished professorship at Brandeis University. A sincere and heartfelt thank you and best wishes to Lynn and Susan in their new endeavors. They will be missed. Budget realities are still difficult, with new cuts on the way, but we are making adjustments. Alumni and friends continue to support the School and our scholarship endeavors, which allow us to continue to help students with financial aid. Sam and Betsy Reeves have generously pledged $ 250,000 annually to provide multi- year funding for doctoral students. These are lean times but we are managing. Our faculty continue to be very successful in applying for and getting grants. To note just a few: Gina Chowa for AIDS research, Joelle Powers for a project to boost mental health in public schools, and Gary Bowen and Irene Zipper to connect resources to military fami-lies with developmental disabilities. The School’s leadership in social work research is further evidenced with two of our professors now editing journals. Mark Fraser was appointed editor- in- chief of the newly-launched Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research ( www. jsswr. org). And Matthew Howard has been appointed editor-in- chief of Social Work Research, the flagship journal of the National Association of Social Workers. Our leadership role extends nationally to mental health care as well. Mark Fraser and I are members of the National Academies of Practice, an interdisciplinary group in Washington, D. C. that advises public policy makers on health care issues. Mark was also recently inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare. And our international work continues. Faculty and students recently returned from study abroad in China. Shenyang Guo and I presented at the 2010 Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development in Hong Kong in June. Michal Grinstein- Weiss is leading a new initiative to implement child development savings accounts in Israel. You’ll read about helping Haiti post- earthquake, on p. 20. And we are planning an exciting new study abroad opportunity — India. Our students, faculty and alumni are accomplishing great things despite persistent economic challenges. With your support, together we can achieve another 90 years of innovative teaching, research and service. From the Dean... Jack M. Richman Contact | UNC School of Social Work 3 School of Social Work Celebrates its 90th Anniversary Honoring our past, shaping our future • 4 School becomes a research force • 8 Maeda Galinsky: For 45 years, ‘ Grand dame’ of the School • 10 Curriculum evolves over the years • 12 Students bring diversity, experience to the program • 13 Personal reflections • 14 School News Social work meets social media • 16 UNC study: Latino teens happier, healthier if families embrace biculturalism • 18 Student Darshan Mundada passionate about international social work • 19 Faculty members help Haitian agency serve earthquake’s youngest survivors • 20 Social workers will play important role in Haiti relief efforts • 21 Grinstein- Weiss leads effort to implement child development accounts in Israel • 22 School holds 89th annual commencement • 22 MSW and doctoral scholarships and awards • 24 Child welfare expert Mark Testa joins the School as distinguished professor • 25 Faculty spotlight • 26 New books • 29 Faculty member and children’s advocate Gary Shaffer dies • 29 Fraser becomes Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare • 29 Carlton- LaNey given national social work education award • 29 $ 1 million project connects resources to military families with developmental disabilities • 30 UNC study: Emotional support crucial to helping military families deal with deployments • 31 Contact Magazine website launches • 38 Winston- Salem MSW program expands • 38 Garland, Weller named Outstanding Doctoral Students • 38 Clinical Lecture Series fall schedule • 38 Alumni and Development News Distinguished alumni award winners • 32 Alumni update • 34 School receives $ 250,000 annual gift to doctoral program • 37 Alumni president’s letter • 39 Dean Jack Richman Associate Dean for Advancement Mary Beth Hernandez Director of the Annual Fund and Alumni Relations Kristen Huffman Editor and Designer Director of Communications Michelle Rogers Writers Michelle Rogers Susan White Contributing Writers Anna Scheyett Sharon Thomas Photography Tom Fuldner iStockPhoto Michelle Rogers Susan White School of Social Work The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB# 3550, 325 Pittsboro St. Chapel Hill, NC 27599 ( 919) 962- 1225 http:// ssw. unc. edu Printed with soy ink on recycled paper Contact contents Dean Morton Teicher ( 2nd from left) presents the Annie Kizer Bost Award to Betty Kelly, Lura Deaton and Paul Patterson, May 8,1973, in front of Alumni Hall. Image from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Photo on front cover: Class of 1985 4 4 Conttaacctt || UNC SScchooll off SSocciiaall Worrkk Honoring our past. Shaping our future. 1920 – 2010 The UNC School of Social Work Celebrates Florence Soltys teaching the course “ Death and Dying,” Summer 1989 Photo by Billy Barnes Contact | UNC School of Social Work 5 From humble beginnings to one of the country’s best, UNC’s School of Social Work has defined and redefined itself throughout its rich 90- year history. State lawmakers in North Carolina likely never envisioned the significance of their decision to establish the School of Public Welfare – the predecessor of today’s School. But in 1920, the course was set and renowned sociologist and reformer Howard W. Odum was tapped as the School’s first leader. O ver nine decades, UNC’s social work program has evolved from a primarily training institution to a program that has earned national prominence for its quality classroom and field instruction, cutting edge research, invaluable public service, community engaged scholarship and technical assistance. This tradition of excellence has enabled the School to produce practitioners and research leaders who are committed to providing innovative solutions to critical social problems such as poverty, mental health and domestic violence. After nearly a century, there is much to be proud of, said Dean Jack M. Richman, but much more work remains. “ I expect our School of Social Work will be leading in social work education — teaching, research and service — for the next 90 years.” M any people and moments are essential to the history of UNC’s School of Social Work, but three influential change-makers are largely credited for the program’s growth and success. Charlotte businessman John A. “ Jack” Tate, School Dean John Turner and TV journalist Charles Kuralt embraced the vision, pas-sion and tenacity that launched a historic movement in the 1980s and 1990s, firmly establishing the School’s fiscal, academic and physical presence. The numbers tell much of the story. Twenty- five years ago, the School’s endow-ment barely stood at $ 40,000. By 1996, it had grown to $ 4 million. That seed of success further flourished over the years, enabling the School to build an endowment now worth nearly $ 16 million, an amount that includes funding for student scholarships and chaired professorships. Although the School’s very first classes amounted to less than a dozen full- time students, more than 300 MSW and 45 Ph. D. students are enrolled today. In 2009, U. S. News & World Report ranked the UNC School of Social Work’s MSW program No. 8 out of 165 programs evaluated nationwide. The School has grown physically, too. Back then, there was a small central building with some office space and only a hodge-podge of additional offices and classrooms around campus. By 1995, students, faculty and staff were celebrating the opening of a $ 10 million, 75,000- square- foot facility, ap-propriately named for the men who fought for its construction: the late Tate, Turner and Kuralt. Without a doubt, this threesome’s efforts laid the foundation for the School of Social Work’s achievement as one of the top graduate programs in the country, agreed current and former School leaders and faculty members. “ They not only got the money, they got the people interested in social work,” said Maeda Galinsky, a Kenan Distinguished Professor and faculty member for 45 years. “ They helped raise the awareness of social work within this School, within the University and throughout the state.” Historically, the School’s journey began in 1920, one year after North Carolina lawmakers decided that the state needed well- trained welfare workers to serve the public’s needs. Ultimately, the newly founded School of Public Welfare — a title that evolved until 1950 when it became the School of Social Work — helped launch a new era in the social work profession. Over the next 50 years, the School enrolled American Red Cross workers, helped develop mental health services throughout the state and organized field placement work for students. With pioneer scholar Alan Keith- Lucas on faculty, the program also began to develop a reputation around group child care. The School transformed alongside the country as it encountered new challenges. According to an undated, written “ Historical Perspective,” the program “ shared the post- World War II preoccupation with a clinical emphasis, achieving eminence as a functional casework school. It responded to America’s awakening to poverty and civil rights with a range of field and classroom learning oppor-tunities … ( that included) work with groups and communities.” By the 1970s, student enrollment had risen to more than 100, and the School had extended its curriculum focus to prepare students for direct and indirect services. However, even with expansion and academic progress, the School still lacked status, including within the University’s stone walls. 5 By Susan White The School’s first leader, Howard Odum 6 Contact | UNC School of Social Work “ Today, it’s seen as an outstanding School of Social Work around the country, but it certainly wasn’t even mentioned within that same breath when I came here,” said Galinsky, who arrived in 1965. The drive to prominence began with John Turner. A writer, schol-ar and teacher, Turner joined the UNC faculty in 1974 as the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Social Work. He was named School dean in 1981, becoming the first African American dean at the University. He wasted no time in making his mark. In Turner’s view, the School was languishing. There was no Ph. D. program and very little research. Perhaps most striking, there was barely any funding, nor was there any plan in place to campaign for donations. “ When I started, it was kind of a joke that they had received a $ 75 gift that had been unsolicited,” recalled Elizabeth Benefield, the School’s former assistant dean for development. “ People just weren’t being asked to give.” Even by the mid ‘ 80s, the social work program still longed for a permanent home. For years, professors and students were scattered across campus in five different buildings, including the alumni build-ing, where faculty members often encountered pesky visitors. “ There were cockroaches in the basement,” said Galinsky, a native of New York. “ I would come in, turn on the light, close my eyes and go ( stomps feet on the ground). I wasn’t used to the southern animals that were here. “ Without a building, School officials were forced to beg for classrooms every year, a routine that resulted in instructors lugging teaching materials around campus. Turner and others worried that the School would struggle to attract and hold on to faculty members. “ You felt like you were the stepchild of the University,” recalled Louise Coggins, current chair of the School’s board of advisors and a 1980 MSW graduate. “ You felt like you had to be poor and not wear good clothes. That’s how we were viewed and where things were.” Under Turner’s helm, the School soon plotted a new path toward national recognition and respect. Turner’s first strategic move: asking retired banking executive and former UNC- Chapel Hill trustees’ chairman Jack Tate for help. Tate, according to a 1996 article in the Raleigh News & Observer, helped the School develop “ a five year plan to get better facilities, well- known professors and more resources for social work programs.” Tate and Turner also assembled a board of advisors, a power group of business leaders, philanthropists and politicians. Kuralt, whose father had graduated from the School in the 1930s, was among those tapped for the board. Together, the men mapped a plan for the School’s financial growth. The timing was perfect. The University was about to launch its Bicentennial campaign and had asked each school to submit a fundraising goal. With Benefield on board as the School’s first devel-opment director, Tate and Turner decided to pursue $ 5 million, an unheard of amount for a School that had no history of fundraising. But Tate, Turner and Kuralt made quite a persuasive team. Tate had deep business connections and was skilled at reaching out to the corporate community. He could reason with his peers that they had a responsibility to children and families in need. He was also determined. He had already begun traveling every other week from In 1966, Hortense McClinton ( far left, 1984) joined the School of Social Work, becoming the first black faculty member at UNC- Chapel Hill. Prior to moving into our current building, the School of Social Work’s home was at 223 E. Franklin Street. This small building housed offices only; classes and events had to be held elsewhere on campus wherever available space could be found. Photo by Linda Wilson, 1989. Contact | UNC School of Social Work 7 his Charlotte home to Raleigh to lobby lawmakers for the millions needed for a new School building. Turner was the charismatic visionary, who was highly respected for his knowledge of the field. He could convince potential supporters that for the School to develop as a top- notch research base and attract more well- known professors, it needed a Ph. D. program. Kuralt was the down- to- earth newsman who brought everyday America into homes across the country. As the son of a social worker, he valued the profession and could easily frame a message encouraging supporters to do the same. “ They were the perfect team in every way,” Benefield said. “ They had the passion, and they had a huge following of believers. It felt like there was nothing we couldn’t do.” Within five years, the accomplishments mounted. The School exceeded its fundraising goal, raising an impressive $ 6 million, an amount that wowed University leaders; many donors included family names UNC had courted for years. By 1992, the General Assembly had approved full funding for construction of the School’s five- story brick and concrete building. Within the following year, the Ph. D. program was underway, and the School was under new leadership, following Turner’s retirement. New Dean Richard L. Edwards picked up where his predecessor left off, guiding the School through more unprecedented growth and change. By 1996, all eyes were fixed once again on the School with the opening of the Jordan Institute for Families, a research, training and technical assistance institute focused on solving social problems and strengthening North Carolina’s families. Funded by a $ 1 million dona-tion from basketball great Michael Jordan, the institute boosted the School’s name recognition and influence. Additional money continued to flow in over the years, enabling the School to set up endowed profes-sorships, including ones to honor Tate, Turner and Kuralt. UNC’s School of Social Work had finally arrived. “ Long- standing families who had been committed to social justice issues in this state wanted to be a part of what we were doing,” said Mark Fraser, the John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need and associate dean for research. “ It became a movement.” And that movement led to an awakening, said Benefield, who also credits the School’s support to a newly crafted message. Instead of simply asking for money, the School had encouraged potential donors to invest in the economic and social well- being of the people of North Carolina. “ We wanted them to know that they were investing in the future of our state,” Benefield said. That investment continues to return benefits, adding to the School’s esteem. Last year alone, the School received $ 16.2 million in federal, state and foundation funding to support programs, training, and technical assistance that directly or indirectly impact the state’s nine million residents. A portion of this money also funds the research of faculty mem-bers who are seeking innovative solutions to society’s most challenging problems, including issues of addiction, aging, poverty, mental health, family violence and affordable housing. “ Our faculty and staff are incredibly strong, have global reputa-tions and produce important and meaningful research that leads to more effective social work practice,” said current Dean Jack M. Rich-man. “ They care about educating our students and are among the best in the world.” Financial growth also has enabled the School to attract a diverse group of students and to assist them in paying for their education. Over the last decade alone, the School raised $ 21.3 million through the University’s Carolina First campaign, 152% of its goal. Through these funds, the School has created three new endowed professorships and 14 new scholarships. A record amount of more than $ 240,000 in scholarships was awarded in 2007- 08. The School’s continued academic and financial success reflects the vital work of Tom Lambeth, who succeeded Tate as board chair, and Coggins, the board’s current leader, said Mary Beth Hernandez, the School’s current associate dean for advancement. Their leadership ensured that the School “ expanded and strengthened its relationships internally and externally,” she said. “ But I also give a lot of the credit for the past decade to our vol-unteers and to Dean Richman’s leadership and for having a vision and saying, ‘ This is what we need to do,’ and then inspiring people to give,” Hernandez added. Students play a critical role in this growth as well. Many continue to receive support long after graduation by participating in various School- sponsored trainings, workshops and lectures. They join the nearly 4,500 alumni who give back by serving in direct practice and management positions and working with racially diverse communities in rural, urban and suburban settings across the country. “ I think one of the biggest reasons for our growth and success is because of our students,” said Iris Carlton- LaNey, a social work pro-fessor. “ The students who graduate from this program are being placed in positions throughout the state where they are influencing policy, practice and hiring.” Collectively, the School’s achievements further support the suc-cessful social work program that Tate, Turner and Kuralt envisioned years ago, Coggins noted. And although the legacy is hardly complete, after 90 years, it’s nice to reflect on how much has changed, she said. “ It’s very interesting to have come so far from being that poor step-child to being somebody that everybody is listening to,” she said. “ Everyone now knows we make a difference.” 7 Our building namesakes at its dedication in 1996: businessman Jack Tate, former dean John Turner, and legendary journalist Charles Kuralt Pioneer scholar Alan Keith- Lucas 8 8 Conttaacctt || UNC SScchooll off SSocciiaall Worrkk S chool leaders knew the odds. Building a research program from scratch at UNC’s School of Social Work would involve a lot of heavy lifting. But by the late 1980s, the risks of not moving forward were too great. If the School wanted to take a place among the nation’s best graduate schools, it had to attract more top- notch scholars. In 20 years, it has done just that and more. “ We have gone from being an unknown to a known, from being mistrusted on campus to fully trusted ...,” explained Professor Dennis Orthner, who was hired in 1988 to help develop the School’s research funding. “ We now can walk into any door, and we’re known. We can walk next door to Public Health, and we’re respected. We can walk to Nursing or to the Frank Porter Graham ( Child Development Insti-tute) center, and we’re respected.” The pursuit to the top began in the late 1980s and in the most primitive environment, especially for scholars Maeda Galinsky, Gary Nelson and Gary Bowen. As Galinsky carved out a niche in social group work, Nelson and Bowen developed their expertise in aging policy and services to military families, respectively. The professors accomplished their work, although there was practically no money for research or even a research infrastructure, said current Dean Jack M. Richman. “ There was no development. There was no external funding. It simply didn’t exist,” recalled Richman, who joined the School as a clinical assistant professor in 1983. “ When we did research, it was small, and we had to fund it ourselves. “ We didn’t even have computers then,” Richman added. “ We had one computer with dial- up in a hallway, but that’s it. It was like we were in the Stone Age.” Still, John Turner, then dean of the School, saw much promise, including in Orthner, a professor from the University of Georgia. At the time, the decision to hire Orthner may have perplexed some. After all, his degrees were in sociology and economics, not social work. But Orthner’s research interests were rooted in issues affecting vulnerable children and families, including poverty and public educa-tion. Like Bowen, who happened to be a former student of Orthner’s, School of Social Work becomes a research force By Susan White “ Grant to Social Work,” July 3, 1968. Second from left: Samuel Fudge, director of the Group Child Care Project. Far right: Dean Alan Keith- Lucas, who started the Child Care Project at the School. Image from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Basketball great Michael Jordan, Carmen Hooker Odom, and then- Chancellor Michael Hooker, at the UNC School of Social Work on Oct. 1, 1996 for the dedication of the Jordan Institute for Families Coonnttaacctt || UNC SScchhooooll ooff SSoocciiaall Woorrkk 99 the Georgia professor was also interested in the welfare of military families. Perhaps most important, Turner believed Orthner could success-fully kick start the School’s research funding as he had done in Geor-gia. “ Dennis was really at the beginning of all of what we have now,” Richman said. One of Orthner’s first responsibilities was to establish the School’s Human Services Research and Design Laboratory, which helped promote and support faculty research interests. Orthner’s team quickly went to work, building a network infrastructure within the School, in-cluding its first email communications system. The new tools enabled the School to save thousands of dollars — money that the research lab in turn offered to faculty members as pilot funding to run small projects and test new ideas. School leaders hoped that these enterprises and others would spark further funding as well as boost the social work program’s overall presence within the scientific community. Historically, the School had dramatically grown as a training insti-tute, helping professional social workers stay up- to- date on the latest evidenced-based practices in child welfare, aging, mental health and substance abuse. But with a more intensive focus on interven-tion research, the School offered North Carolina an exciting opportunity — the chance to engage with academic scholars committed to providing cutting- edge solu-tions to some of the state’s most pressing social and economic problems. Projects flourished within a decade. The School’s new research and design lab managed nearly $ 2 million annually, including the first major research work for the state: a five- year evaluation of North Carolina’s welfare- to- work program. The state project became a stepping stone for the School’s efforts in supporting investigations that strengthen children and families. North Carolina leaders also welcomed the diverse contributions of faculty members and their groundbreak-ing work. There was a first- of- its- kind study that examined the effects of welfare reform on school performance and a project that tested a collaborative, holistic approach to improve the state’s adult services programs. The state valued the rigorous studies, not only because they informed practice and policies but perhaps more important to taxpayers, the research ensured that programs aimed at assisting the state’s most vulnerable were operating effectively. “ It was a very radical time because we were experimenting in lots of ways,” Orthner recalled. The innovative work demonstrated the School’s commitment to service, but a multi- million dollar fundraising campaign would posi-tion faculty closer to the goal of creating lasting social change. The campaign was spearheaded by Turner, Charlotte businessman John A. “ Jack” Tate, and TV journalist Charles Kuralt and ultimately garnered the School $ 6 million to support its academic core, including the cre-ation of a Ph. D. program. The money also provided the necessary financial capacity for the program to create endowed professorships to attract sought- after scholars. The School wasted little time filling the first two chaired posi-tions, hiring Mark Fraser, former director of the Ph. D. program at the University of Utah’s School of Social Work, and Lynn Usher, former director at the Center for Policy Studies at Research Triangle Institute. Fraser, the John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need, and Usher, the Wallace H. Kuralt, Sr., Professor of Public Welfare Policy and Administration, strengthened the School’s social interven-tion research, especially around at- risk children and families, and helped raise the UNC program’s profile nationally. Fraser also helped develop an internal base of people to assist faculty members with grant proposals, raising the School’s competitive edge for federal awards. “ For the faculty who came in initially, it was really risky,” Orthner noted. “ But I think those early steps were very, very important for get-ting our national reputation off the ground.” By 1996, the School had amassed a variety of national experts specializing in school success, violence prevention, child welfare and eldercare. These scholars regularly published, bringing the program additional exposure and recognition. But with the founding of the Jordan Institute for Families, the School had a national research model. The institute, which was created with a $ 1 million donation from Mi-chael Jordan, brought together schol-ars who could work closely with North Carolina communities to address problems threatening to undermine the state’s most vulnerable families, including poverty, mental illness and substance abuse. Today, the institute houses more than a dozen research, training and technical assistance programs that benefit the state, including the N. C. Child Welfare Education Collabora-tive, the School Success Profile, the Behavioral Healthcare Resource Pro-gram, the Center for Aging Research and Educational Services ( CARES) and the N. C. Area Health Education Center Training Partnership. “ The Jordan Institute gave the programs name recognition, cred-ibility and a banner that we could use for a lot of different things,” said Gary Nelson, the institute’s associate direc-tor for program development and training initiatives. The institute also enabled the School to demonstrate its wealth of knowledge within the social work field, added Orthner, the institute’s associate director for policy development and analysis. “ Back then, we didn’t have the cachet of being competent in re-search,” he said. “ Now, there’s no question about our competency.” The work of individual faculty members, especially throughout North Carolina, only enhanced the School’s reputation. “ Not only are we doing training, we have projects throughout the state that are developing new ideas for how to improve the effective-ness of social and health services,” explained Fraser, who served as the first director of the Jordan Institute. “ We have Betsy Bledsoe who is working with adolescent mothers. We have Rebecca Macy who is working in the field of intimate partner violence. We have Natasha Bo- Continued on p. 23 1 100 Conttaacctt || UNC SScchooll off SSocciiaall Worrkk F or at least half of the School of Social Work’s 90- year existence, there has been one constant: Maeda Galinsky. In 45 years, hun-dreds of students, dozens of faculty members and nine deans have come and gone, but Galinsky, a Kenan Dis-tinguished Professor, has remained. Those who know her best are hardly surprised. Her name is as syn-onymous to the School and UNC as it is to the theory and practice of social group work. In social work circles, Galinsky is considered a pioneer scholar for her work on groups and on intervention research. “ She is the grand dame of the School of Social Work,” said Louise Coggins, MSW ’ 80, and chair of the School’s Board of Advisors. “ She represents what social work is.” “ She cares amazingly, deeply about students and about faculty and has helped this School to be what it is today,” added Dean Jack M. Richman. For the 75- year- old Galinsky, teaching, researching and writ-ing have been her passion since the start of her career in the 1950s, although the call to “ help others,” came much earlier. “ I’ve had a rebel-lious streak since I was little,” said Galinsky, who grew up in College Point, N. Y. “ I would always talk to the person in trouble — someone whom you weren’t supposed to talk to.” Galinsky said she fully realized her career path as an undergrad majoring in social relations at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass. While there, she served as a volunteer and then director of a program that enabled student volunteers to work with the mentally ill in a psychiatric hospital. “ I just knew that social work is what I wanted to do,” she said. Galinsky went on to receive her MSW and Ph. D at the University of Michigan, where she also taught for a year. Then, in 1965, her husband David was offered a position with UNC’s Department of Psychology. Soon after, Galinsky was hired as an assistant professor at UNC’s School of Social Work. Although excited about the new opportunity, she accepted the job with slight trepidation. After all, for a city girl raised up North, the South in the 1960s was a tinderbox. “ I learned, however, that many people here were eager for racial equality and that they were willing to work together to effect change,” Galinsky recalled. “ While the area and the culture felt strange at first, I grew to love living here.” Forty- five years later, she marvels at how much the University, but especially the School of Social Work, have evolved. Although trained as a researcher and practitioner, Galinsky arrived during an era when the School was focused on teaching students the functional model of social work. “ It was more about building the relationship and working within the agency requirements,” she said. “ It was really casework. Group work, community organization and research were kind of on the periphery at that point.” However, Galinsky was undeterred and despite the lack of funding, pursued various pilot studies with then colleague, Janice Schopler. They paid out- of- pocket for some of their early research. Over the following two decades, Galinsky’s work flourished along with respect from other scholars. “ She was on the ground floor of ( social group work),” Richman said. “ And over time, she became a stalwart. She historically represents this whole basis of group work.” Galinsky has always been a critical thinker and prolific writer, and she continues to write and publish today. Much of her work has been accomplished alongside colleagues who respect Galinsky’s willing-ness to join forces. Collaboration, she said, has taught her to be a better researcher. Time has shown her the value in embracing others’ perspectives, while standing firm for her own convictions. “ Her biggest strength is her extraordinary ability to ‘ think with,’” said Mark Fraser, who has co- authored and co- edited numerous jour-nal articles, journals, book chapters, books and other presentations with Galinsky. “ She has the unusual capacity to excite ideas in others. She simply makes us all better scholars and better people.” That admiration extends to the classroom, where students have often been in awe of Galinksy’s ability to “ translate theory to practice Maeda Galinsky: For 45 years, ‘ Grand dame’ of the School of Social Work By Susan White Galinsky holds a 2009 book she co- authored, “ Intervention Research.” Galinsky, sitting on the table, with her students, 1971 Coonnttaacctt || UNC SScchhooooll ooff SSoocciiaall Woorrkk 1111 with ease,” said Traci Wike, a doctoral student. “ She is creative and intellectually curious,” Wike said. “ This equates to interesting and sometimes challenging conversations that always involve my learning something from her.” Those meeting Galinsky for the first time also quickly learn that the petite professor packs quite a youthful spirit and a wry sense of humor. “ Every time my daughter is in the building, Maeda plies her with candy and then grins and lets me know ‘ She’s all yours now!’” said Anna Scheyett, the School’s associate dean for academic affairs. More often, her humor and generosity collide in very subtle ways, as Wike discovered last winter when she ran across Galinsky’s purple sweater hanging in the fifth- floor suite outside the professor’s office. Attached to the sweater was a note, offering the garment to anyone who might be chilly. “ It’s ugly, but it’s warm,” the note read. “ That is what I love about Maeda,” Wike said. “ She is a wonderful balance of intelligence, warmth, humor, and just general goodness.” That Galinsky would be thrilled to still be walking the halls of the Tate- Turner- Kuralt Building when the School celebrates its 100th an-niversary doesn’t surprise Dean Jack Richman. She remains a valued voice and will contribute wherever she can, he offered. At the same time, she is well aware that many others her age are fully embracing their retirements, enjoying life’s casual pace. And al-though she’s slowed a bit, she just isn’t ready to join them. “ It just feels good to be a part of a profession and a School that care about people and their environment,” Galinsky said. “ Students come here because they want to help people and make the world a better place for all. If you can help one person, you’ve done a lot.” Galinsky, Louise Coggins and Janice Schopler, 1980 The School of Social Work used to have a prominent Group Child Care Certificate Program. This photo was taken at the playground at the University Methodist Church Day Care Center on Nov. 20, 1975. At far right is Samuel Fudge, director of the Group Child Care Project. The children are Galinsky’s: Adam, Dana and Michael. Image from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. 12 Contact | UNC School of Social Work T his year, the School will celebrate its 90th anniversary. It’s hard to imagine that beginning. Cars and “ talkies” were novelties. Prohibition was in full force, and the Depression was around the corner. And in the midst of it all, the School of Pub-lic Welfare ( our original name) was founded. Looking back, many changes have occurred within the School and its curriculum since 1920. Originally focused on public welfare, the School expanded over the years to also emphasize social work practice across a range of fields, including health, mental health, community practice, administration and policy practice. Perhaps the most significant change has been the emphasis on research, including the production of and use of empiri-cal evidence in practice settings. This decision to strengthen our School with research hugely affected how students are taught. Even when I was a student ( back in 1987- 89), we were taught treatment models, such as object relations and other psychodynamic approaches and some basic functionalist approaches, but we never reviewed the literature to critically examine the evidence for the ef-ficacy of these models and approaches. We simply learned them, and we were expected to use them in our practice. Intervention research was hardly on the radar years ago. Now, the School’s curriculum requires critical thinking and the use of evidence- based and promising practices — interventions that have been shown to be effective based on empirical research. Social workers don’t just learn one model and stick with it. We are expected to keep learning and growing throughout our careers, critically exam-ining and evaluating our own practice and the research literature. What is really exciting and what we can truly be proud of today is that some of our own faculty members are leading the country’s ef-forts in generating the social work empirical literature. Students now have the opportunity to learn about innovative research findings in domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse, for example, within the same academic community where that research is taking place. Students can even participate in these research projects through the School’s assistantships and research awards programs. Although in 90 years much has changed, some of the School’s core elements remain the same. We still focus on social justice, on the importance of social work ethics, on education that combines class-room work with fieldwork in collaboration with community agencies, and on service to vulnerable individuals, families and communities. The School remains steadfast with its goal: We prepare social workers to make a difference. Curriculum evolves over the years By Anna Scheyett, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Reading Room, 1978 1925 tuition and fees = $ 47.33 Contact | UNC School of Social Work 13 D uring my junior year of college at the University of Michigan, I found social work — or rather social work found me. I had spent my undergraduate career searching for a major and discipline that addressed families and communities in need as well as creative intervention approaches and human service from a strengths-based perspective rather than a deficit model. I also needed a place where I believed I could make a dif-ference. Finally, one day a college senior I greatly respected who shared similar interests asked me a simple question: “ Have you ever con-sidered social work?” Once I researched the field and its mission, I was hooked! My goal in life was to now become a professional social worker and to find an MSW program that would prepare me for this journey. After researching numerous masters programs across the country, I decided to apply to UNC- Chapel Hill for fall enrollment in 1996. The School of Social Work’s national ranking, incredible faculty and the annual Black Experience Workshop directed by the late Dr. Audreye Johnson drew me to the program, not to mention the chance to break from the Midwest winters! I placed a call to the School’s admissions office and was greeted by the warm southern drawl of Linda Wilson, student services manager, who mailed me an information packet on the program. Needless to say, I was elated when I received my offer of admissions to UNC; I even sent my deposit without ever visiting the state of North Carolina. When I reflect on my cohort and time in the program, it’s hard to believe how much has changed. My full- time cohort included 39 people with only five ( 14%) students of color. This fall, we will welcome 68 full- time students with 17 ( 25%) representing students of color. Just like today’s students, I graduated with an amazing group of advanced standing and distance education ( formerly called part- time) students. My concentration year experience was definitely enriched by the diversity and life experience that the part- time students brought to the program as well as the social work practice knowledge and experience that the advanced standing students shared. This fall, the School will enroll 320 new and returning students in its MSW program. I believe that today’s students are motivated to enter the field of social work for the same reasons that their peers pursued careers years ago: We are all committed to improving the quality of life for individuals, families and communities in need. What has changed is the range of communities students seek to serve and the range of practice opportunities. Never before has there been such an interest in international social work settings and in serv-ing our global community. We have seen a substantial increase in stu-dents with international human service experience, including with the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, and from those with second language skills, particularly Spanish. It has been an honor and privilege to return to the School of Social Work as a faculty member and to serve as the director of recruitment, admissions and financial aid. It’s hard to believe that it has been 14 years since my first trip to North Carolina and my first meeting with School admissions officials in the same office where I now work every day. I’m pleased to continue the School’s commitment to recruiting some of the most talented and dedicated students from across the country and across the globe. Students bring diversity, experience to the program By Sharon Thomas, Director of Recruitment, Admissions and Financial Aid In the summer of 1975, 10 social work professionals from other countries studied at the School of Social Work as part of the “ Council of International Programs for Social Workers and Youth Leaders.” 14 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Personal Reflections 14 “ I think it’s a huge accomplishment to say that in 90 years, our School not only is in all 100 counties of the state but that it has also made a nationwide and global impact based on the research and the problems that the faculty focuses on and wants to solve.” – Michelle Turner, ( MSW ’ 03), President of the School of Social Work’s Alumni Council and member of the Board of Advisors “ I think ( the faculty and staff at UNC’s School of Social Work) should be very proud that they have educated people from all walks of life. I think the School continues to ground social workers in the understanding that they always need to connect to consumers and clients.” – Diann Dawson ( MSW ’ 74), Director, Office of Regional Operations, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families “ Having the MSW degree itself is something of a ticket for you. It tends to open doors. It gave me a foundation on which to practice social work.” – Bobby Boyd ( MSW ’ 69), retired Director of Catawba County Social Services with 30+ years of experience in social work and member of the School’s Board of Advisors “ We have become a place of both exquisite research ... and exquisite practice training.” – Mark Fraser, John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need and Associate Dean for Research “ I think the School gave us many opportunities and encouragement. You had the opportunity to apply a lot of coursework to actual practice. It all was very useful to me in the varied careers that I had, including working with welfare departments, military bases, large general hospitals, field hospi-tals and military hospitals.” – Ella Hobbs Craig ( MSW ’ 50), former disaster representative with the American Red Cross and retired social worker with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska “ Nothing speaks so well for the School than the work of our graduates. All over the state, the coun-try, and internationally, we have graduates commit-ted to improving the services, organizations and communities that support families in need. That is the best measure of our success.” – Dorothy “ Dee” Gamble, former Clinical Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Student Services “ The School’s service to some of the must vulner-able populations in North Carolina is a testament to the ideals and the values that the social work profession represents. I am proud to say that I am a graduate of such a service- oriented institution. Likewise, I am deeply honored and privileged to have the opportunity to serve on the faculty and to help educate the next generation of social work professionals.” – Travis Albritton, ( MSW, ‘ 03), Clinical Instructor and Director Triangle Distance Education MSW Program Faculty member Rachael Dedmon, future dean Jack Richman, and student Julie Gaskell ( MSW ‘ 85), 1984 Charles Kuralt in the auditorium, 1996 Coonnttaacctt || UNC SScchhooooll ooff SSoocciiaall Woorrkk 1155 “ I think the School can be most proud of turning out social workers who are really concerned about their clients and want to help people in any way they can. It’s not just a job.” – H. Carl Henley, former Professor, retired from the School in 1999 after 31 years “ My goal was to go into social services when I finished school. I really wanted to give back and to work in a field where I certainly felt I would have some impact. And I know that the School prepared me for that and for continuing to learn.” – Dana Courtney ( MSW ’ 74), independent consultant with Visions, Inc.; member of the School’s Board of Advisors; Alumni Council Past President; and former social worker with 25+ years of administrative and direct experience in human services, social work services and organizational development “ In some ways, what’s happened is the School grew up and became a player in a robust combination of research, public engagement and teaching. It came of age and strengthened itself in each of those di-mensions.” – Gary Nelson, Professor and Associate Director for Program Development and Training Initiatives with the Jordan Institute for Families “ I think our job is like the scholarship says, ‘ to help improve the quality of life for people.’ But I always say to students, you can’t be a social worker and go home at 5 o’clock and say, ‘ Day is done.’ If you’re committed to a system that’s equitable and just – you’re always a social worker.” – Iris Carlton- LaNey, Professor “ This School is really well- positioned to launch international social work because of the intervention scholars we have here now and the high value that we place on intervention research.” – Gina Chowa, Assistant Professor “ We are doing all kinds of interesting research here that helps make a difference in people’s lives. But the funding environment is incredibly competitive right now. So I think a key challenge for the School and the faculty is to find funding to sustain and extend the research that we are doing now.”– Rebecca Macy, Associate Professor “ Choosing UNC for my doctoral education was a great decision! I am mentored well, and faculty members have supported my research interests since day one. Also, I practiced as a social worker in North Carolina, so being here is a way of staying connected to the state through my research.” – Tiffany Washington, Doctoral Student “ I think we can be proud that we are serving North Carolina at the same time that we are advancing the knowledge base – getting ( the research) into com-munities as well as into our classrooms.” – Natasha Bowen, Associate Professor ( Ph. D. ’ 99, MSW ’ 96) See more 90th Anniversary stories and vintage photos online at http:// ssw. unc. edu/ 90 Student lounge, 1982 16 Contact | UNC School of Social Work A nna Scheyett never considered launching her own Internet blog until a UNC colleague suggested last spring that Scheyett should be sharing her social work leadership experience and expertise with a broader audience. “ I knew nothing about blogging, and I don’t particularly follow anybody else’s blog,” explained Scheyett, the UNC School of Social Work’s associate dean for academic affairs. “ But eventually kicking and screaming, I set up a blog.” What resulted was “ Social Work Leadership,” which Scheyett uses as a space for commentary on the roles social workers and others play in addressing social injustice issues. The blog is still building an audience but since finding her footing and developing her own writing voice, Scheyett said she has grown more comfortable with and has a greater appreciation for using social media. “ It really is a quick way to flag issues, which I think can be helpful,” she said. “ And I think [ blogging is] a great way to disseminate informa-tion and offer a secondary education around what social work is.” Social workers and social work educators have been using elec-tronic bulletin boards, e- mail and online forums to interact with one another and raise social consciousness for years. But the transition to social media, where users connect, create and share online content, has been much slower. Until now. Scheyett is among a growing group of academics and practicing professionals learning to navigate Web 2.0 technology, a virtual smorgasbord in which communication and inter-action more commonly occurs in waves of Twitter tweets, Facebook feeds, YouTube videos and Blogger posts. “ I have found Twitter very useful,” Scheyett said of the online mes-saging platform where news, opinions and personal information can be shared or “ tweeted” in 140 characters or less. “ It’s a way to push out information to people without being intrusive.” Like Scheyett, other faculty members at UNC’s School of Social Work were not initially sure what to make of the innovative technol-ogy or why they should even experiment with it. However, associate professors Rebecca Macy and Susan Parish were intrigued and quickly became the School’s most prolific social media users. Both regularly post news or social commentary around their research interests on Twitter. For Parish, the micro- blogging site has turned into a great personal assistant, helping her to organize and keep track of research news around her interests in disability, poverty and health care issues. Many state and federal government agencies and independent research institutes have established Twitter accounts and frequently post reports Social work meets social media By Susan White Researchers, social workers champion benefits of blogs, Twitter Contact | UNC School of Social Work 17 to their pages. “ Followers” of these groups receive tweet alerts when new information is posted. Parish is among those alerted when, for example, The Urban Institute issues a new report on children’s health. “[ Twitter] is a very efficient way to follow breaking news and the kinds of policy research that I need to follow,” Parish said. Rebecca Macy, Ph. D., addresses domestic violence issues in her blog. Macy started a blog in late 2008 after realizing she could use the site to connect with social workers in the field and others on her work around domestic violence and prevention issues. “ I had read an article that said academics should blog because how many people are really going to read our peer reviewed research, and it questioned whether our work is really that accessible,” Macy explained. “ So, I’m trying to take my research and evidence and make it more accessible. I’m really trying to connect to people out in the practice world.” That more social work re-searchers and clinicians are starting to embrace social media doesn’t surprise Karen Zgoda, a licensed clinical social worker and Ph. D. candidate at Boston College Gradu-ate School of Social Work. “ I think one of the biggest arguments for using these tools is that clients are already using them,” said Zgoda, whose research focuses on the role of technology in social work. Zgoda writes a regular column on the subject for The New Social Worker Online magazine. “ As social workers, I think it is important to go where the clients are and understand how they are using these tools and how we can use them to help folks,” she added. Blogs, which enable virtually anyone with Internet access to pub-lish their work or opinions, have exploded as evidenced by the tens of millions of online sites currently in existence. Although no one appears to track the total number of social work researchers and clinicians using social media, Zgoda has started com-piling several lists using Twitter. Many users already work in environ-ments where social media is gaining popularity. UNC’s School of Social Work is among numerous schools on the Chapel Hill campus that have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to keep up with alumni, attract prospective students and distribute news and information. Research shows that higher ed institutions are learning to harness social media to increase exposure and improve recruitment efforts. The National Association for College Admission Counseling reported this spring that more than half of the nation’s colleges and universities now monitor social media for “ buzz about their institution.” A third maintain blog sites, while more than a quarter maintain Internet social networking pages. The trend continues beyond college campuses. Businesses, phil-anthropic groups and others are also capitalizing on social media. For example, The National Association of Social Workers ( NASW) and The New Social Worker Online magazine have created blogs, Face-book pages and Twitter accounts to keep practitioners up- to- date on research, best practices and available jobs. Both also recently spon-sored online chats through socialworkchat. org to bring social workers together to discuss Internet predators and foster care. A few websites, such as “ Social Work Blogs,” help connect field clinicians with peers, including to those who regularly blog or tweet about their daily experiences working in mental health, aging or domestic violence agencies. Others offer research and statistics tips. The NASW launched “ SocialWorkersSpeak. org” as a way to get social workers talking about and influencing how they are portrayed in film, on television and in the news. “ Some of the most popular movies and television programs deal with issues social workers handle each day, including children and families, the aging, and health and wellness,” said James J. Kelly, NASW president. “ However, social workers and the issues they address are not always accurately portrayed in the media. Social Workers Speak will help us tell the real story and generate a healthy dialog between the media and social workers.” Because social workers are held to ethical standards that ap-ply to confidentiality and conflicts of interests, understanding where to draw the line is a must, particu-larly for those in direct practice, said Kim Strom- Gottfried, the School of Social Work’s Smith P. Theimann Distinguished Profes-sor for Ethics and Professional Practice. “ I urge people to think about - is this something that you would tell somebody else who you have a general relationship with,” said Strom- Gottfried, who led a workshop on the “ Ethics of Social Networking” in April. “ Think of your clientele. How would this be perceived? Does this blur the boundaries? Does this make you feel more visible than you want to feel? What are the things that you are comfortable having known about you? “ To me, the important part of the conversation is around ethical challenges and where you set boundaries.” Still, Strom- Gottfried, who maintains Facebook and Linked- In ac-counts, appreciates the value of online platforms, especially for sharing academic research. “ We have knowledge to bring to the town square in this discourse,” she added. “ A lot of people are also using social media for problem solving. So I think the risk is worth it.” Linda Grobman, publisher and editor of The New Social Worker, and a licensed social worker, counts herself among the “ early adopters” of new social media, though she has been using the Internet for social work networking for years. She expects other social workers to eventu-ally invest in the communication tools. “ I think today’s traditional- age students already know about it because kids are growing up with technology- assisted learning,” Grob-man said. “ They already know about Facebook, text messaging, iPhone apps, YouTube and so forth. So as younger people enter the social work field, there will naturally be more social workers using social media.” Not everyone is eager to dive into the virtual realm. For many academics, including social work educators, the idea of developing an online presence stirs up mixed emotions. Many say they just don’t have the time to blog or tweet, and the rewards of doing either as a scholarly extension of their research or teaching are not clear. Even among those already plugged into the technology, the benefits are not always im-mediately evident. Rebecca Macy addresses domestic violence issues in her blog. Follow the School of Social Work on Facebook and Twitter: http:// ssw. unc. edu/ about/ social_ networks Continued on p. 23 18 Contact | UNC School of Social Work O ver the years, research has shown that Latino youth face nu-merous risk factors when integrating into American culture, including increased rates of alcohol and substance use and higher rates of dropping out of school. But a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows adolescents who actively embrace their native culture — and whose parents become more involved in U. S. culture — stand a greater chance of avoiding these risks and developing healthier behav-iors overall. The findings are from a longitudinal study by the UNC- based Latino Acculturation and Health Project, which is supported by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) and directed by Paul Smokowski, Ph. D., an associate professor at the UNC School of Social Work. Researchers interviewed 281 Latino youths and parents in North Carolina and Arizona, asking questions about a wide range of measures of lifestyle and mental health. Participants answered ac-cording to how much they agreed with each question ( for example, from “ not at all” to “ very much”), resulting in scores on a scale for each measure. “ We found teens who maintain strong ties to their Latino cul-tures perform better academically and adjust more easily socially,” Smokowski said. “ When we repeated the survey a year later, for every 1- point increase in involvement in their Latino cultures, we saw a 13 percent rise in self- esteem and a 12 to 13 percent decrease in hopeless-ness, social problems and aggressive behavior. “ Also, the study showed parents who develop a strong bicultural perspective have teen children who are less likely to feel anxiety and face fewer social problems,” he said. “ For every increase in a par-ent’s involvement in United States culture, we saw a 15 to 18 percent decrease in adolescent social problems, aggression and anxiety one year later. Parents who were more involved in U. S. culture were in a better position to proactively help their adolescents with peer relations, forming friendships and staying engaged in school. This decreases the chances of social problems arising.” “ Such results suggest that Latino youth and their parents benefit from biculturalism,” Smokowski said. The findings are presented as part of a series of articles featured next month in a special issue of The Journal of Primary Prevention, a collaborative initiative between UNC and the CDC. The special issue presents the latest research on how cultural adaptation influences. Latino youth behaviors — including involvement in violence, smoking and substance use, as well as overall emotional well- being — and offers suggestions for primary prevention programs that support minority families. “ Bicultural adolescents tend to do better in school, report higher self esteem, and experience less anxiety, depression and aggression,” said study co- author Martica Bacallao, Ph. D., an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, whose work is also featured in the special issue. “ It is interesting that, in order to obtain these benefits of biculturalism, adolescents and parents often need to do the op-posite of what their natural tendencies tell them. Parents who are strongly tied to their native cultures must reach out to learn skills in the new culture. Adolescents who quickly soak up new cultural behaviors should slow down and cultivate the richness in their native cultures.” Smokowski added: “ The burgeoning size of the Latino population and the increasingly important roles that Latino youth will play in American culture are worthy of community attention. Communities can either invest in prevention to nurture Latino youth as a national resource or pay a heavy price later in trying to help these youth address social problems such as substance use, aggression or dropping out of school; all of which often results from the stress of acculturation.” Along with Smokowski and Bacallao, Rachel L. Buchanan, Ph. D. ‘ 08, assistant professor of social work at Salisbury University in Mary-land, was a co- author of the study, titled “ Acculturation and Adjust-ment in Latino Adolescents: How Cultural Risk Factors and Assets Influence Multiple Domains of Adolescent Mental Health.” UNC study: Latino teens happier, healthier if families embrace biculturalism By Susan White Paul Smokowski Contact | UNC School of Social Work 19 S econd- year MSW student Darshan Mundada is passionately committed to international social work and empowering other young people to improve human rights for all. Such dedication is one of the main reasons why Mundada, a Rotary World Peace Fellow from India, never hesitates to pursue opportunities to learn from world leaders and why the 26- year- old often spends his semester breaks abroad. Last summer, Mundada joined hundreds of other college stu-dents, including a handful from UNC, to complete an internship with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Microfinance guru and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen, which provides the poor with microfinance loans to fund entrepreneurial endeavors so that individuals can lift themselves from poverty. During his time with Grameen, Mundada learned how mico-financing functions on a broad scale — the Bank now serves more than 7 million poor families. Since it’s founding in 1976, Grameen has exploded into an institutional family of companies, including one of-fering affordable health care and another developing renewable energy technologies. Mundada also received an insider’s view of the microfinance world with visits to other agencies in Bangladesh, including BRAC, one of the world’s largest nongovernment organizations, and Uddipan, a grass-roots nonprofit. Like Grameen, both agencies focus on empowering women through educational, financial and other social development services so that they can build independent, sustainable lives for their families. “ It was a great learning experience,” Mundada said. After several weeks with Grameen, Mundada spent the remaining half of his summer vacation in an internship with the Central Tibetan Administration ( CTA), Tibet’s government in exile in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh state. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, estab-lished the CTA in 1959. For Mundada, the experience was a chance to observe a govern-ment under a man he has admired since youth. Mundada, who met the Dalai Lama in 1996, still draws much of his inspiration from the exiled leader. Their chance meeting years ago encouraged Mundada to form the Friends’ Society — a community service, social awareness and eco-conservation organization in India. During his internship, Mundada observed each of the CTA’s departments, including health, education, and information and international relations. “ I learned about how policies are formed and how to get the support of the people,” he explained. “ I also learned how nonprofits and governments can function together.” He was most inspired, he said, in seeing that the government’s employees are “ not just there for the money.” “ They are there because they share a passion for their country and want it to be free,” he said. Mundada, who graduates this year, plans to return to India, where he intends to help further develop the country’s nonprofit sector. “ The work in India is important as the nonprofit sector is currently disorganized, and there is a lot of overlap in services and a replica-tion of models consuming multiple resources,” Mundada said. “ It is necessary to create a network that will enable organizations to share resources … and a support network for budding entrepreneurs.” Student Darshan Mundada passionate about international social work By Susan White Darshan Mundada with Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhummad Yunus 20 Contact | UNC School of Social Work T his summer, School of Social Work faculty members Mat Despard and Gina Chowa had planned to be developing two projects both hoped could assist in the long- term efforts of building a healthier and more economically stable Haiti. Then the Jan. 12 earthquake hit. The two UNC colleagues have since shifted their priorities and are now focusing their energy and expertise to provide more immediate relief to young survivors in one rural area of the country. Despard, a clinical assistant professor, and Chowa, an assistant professor, have partnered with Fondation Enfant Jesus ( FEJ), an orga-nization that operates a crèche, clean water project, micro- enterprise program and school programs in Lamardelle, a rural farming village about 20 miles east of Haiti’s capital, Port- au- Prince. Despard, who adopted a little girl from the organization almost two years ago, said the crèche, which is similar to an orphanage, sustained some damage from the quake, but the 70 children living there were uninjured. Prior to the disaster, he and Chowa were in the process of helping FEJ and its U. S.- based nonprofit, Village of Vision for Haiti Founda-tion, secure grant funding to establish a health clinic in Lamardelle and to expand the micro- enterprise program for women. But with the quake uprooting or leaving orphaned tens of thousands of Haiti’s chil-dren, government officials recently asked that the organizations step in to provide additional shelter and services to the disaster’s youngest victims. Despard and Chowa are now assisting the Haitian organizations with this call for help. First, the colleagues hope to find and help obtain the funding the groups will need to serve more children. “ Gina and I are trying to anticipate what channels of funding there are and where others could be,” Despard said. They are also spreading the message of other needed expertise, including public health experts who can ensure that accommodations for earthquake refugees have proper sanitation. “ I really want to emphasize that we are following FEJ’s lead because there is so much that we don’t know about Haiti,” Despard said. “ We really want to build a partnership and right now, that means just trying to figure out the help FEJ needs, even if it only means sending money and finding more of it.” Although billions of dollars in donations have been flowing into Haiti since the earthquake struck, a significant portion of this money is designated for the larger U. S.- based nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations working in the country. But getting the Haitian- operated aid organizations the financial support they need is equally important, Chowa said. Faculty members help Haitian agency serve earthquake’s youngest survivors By Susan White Gina Chowa Mat Despard 20 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Contact | UNC School of Social Work 21 Contact | UNC School of Social Work 21 “ International development organizations need to pay attention to and support smaller nongovernmental organizations like FEJ, because these small NGOs have been working in Haiti with people at the grass-roots for a long time and are committed to their people,” she said. The FEJ, in particular, has a solid reputation for helping children in its care reunite with their parents or find adoptive homes in the United States, Canada and France, Despard said. That reputation is likely one of the main reasons the government turned to the organization for help, especially with a rush of interest from around the world in increasing adoptions from Haiti. “ Part of the reason I think the government is turning to the FEJ is because of their success in ensuring that children don’t have other family to go live with first,” he said. “ They are really careful about assessing each child’s situation with their parents.” The School could potentially offer the organizations additional professional and academic expertise on adoption and foster care, but Despard cautioned that he wants to make sure that any efforts made are in response to specific needs and requests. As someone who has closely followed Haiti’s political, economic and social history, Despard is very sensitive to the country’s challenges and the tradition of other nations, especially the United States, to jump in with money and ideas. ( Despard, who writes a blog on nonprofit issues, has written several posts since the earthquake address-ing relief efforts and Haiti’s challenges.) Organizations like the FEJ are rooted in Haiti, employ Haitians and are ultimately linked to the country’s ability to dig its way out of poverty, Chowa said. They are founded on long- term sus-tainable solutions “ that will improve the well- being of Haitians,” she added. “ There is a need … for solutions that address health, education, economic well- being and livelihoods,” she said. Projects, including the ones the colleagues were originally pursu-ing before the earthquake, also offer these kinds of promises, Despard and Chowa agreed. The proposals, they said, would enable Haitians to care for each other and work together to rebuild the country’s economy. L ong before a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, social workers were already among the countless humanitarian workers and aid organizations attending to the impover-ished country’s physical and emotional needs. In the months ahead, these same workers will play an even more vital role as extensive efforts to rebuild shattered infrastructure and lives begin. Although treating the immediate physical needs of Haiti’s sick and injured remains a top priority, providing needed psychological first aid must also be a part of growing relief efforts and the kind of assistance that social workers are well- equipped to offer, said Joanne Caye, a UNC School of Social Work clinical as-sistant professor. Research has shown that such mental health assistance, especially within the first four to six weeks of a disaster, can help survivors reduce their chances of developing acute stress and post- traumatic stress disorder, said Caye, co- author of, “ When Their World Falls Apart: Helping Families and Children Manage the Effects of Disasters.” “ What this means is providing people with accurate information, listening to their needs, letting them know that what they are experi-encing is normal and giving them hope. That’s what psychological first aid does,” Caye said. “ Some people may ask, ‘ What good does that do?’ But the research tells us that … with a therapeutic response fairly early on, people will be able to gain some sense of control over their lives.” Since the Jan. 12 earthquake, much of Haiti has been mired in chaos. The catastrophe disabled most of the country’s already worn or damaged infrastructure, including roads and seaport, hampering efforts to get medical supplies, food and water to quake victims. Ac-cording to media reports, the death toll is expected to rise to at least 200,000 in and around the capital city of Port- au- Prince, with thou-sands more presumed dead around the country and close to 200,000 more injured. Nearly 1 million people have been left homeless in Port-au- Prince, and thousands of others are reportedly living in squalor in makeshift camps. Shelter — even temporary but close to home — can help children and adults retain a sense of normalcy, a lesson researchers learned firsthand following Hurricane Katrina, said Caye, who served in 2007 as a co- director for the “ New Orleans Recovery Initiative,” a rebuilding project through the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. Although thousands of displaced Gulf Coast residents were evacuated to the Houston Astrodome, many of these evacuees were unable to immediately find other housing and in the interim, adopted the astrodome as their “ new home.” When these families were forced to leave, many were “ re- traumatized” as if they were physically losing their houses once again, Caye explained. “ So if people can be kept relatively close to where their homes are, they don’t go through that,” she explained. For Haiti’s children, many of whom lost parents and their homes, the real-ity of the catastrophic event may be difficult to resolve, Caye said. Social workers can help children deal with the emotions that even adults find hard to face, she said. “ One of the big things we know is that children look to adults in terms of how they should respond to a situation, especially younger kids,” she explained. “ But if there has been a significant loss, we know that sometimes adults can try and act like they’re not upset or try to shield a child from that loss. And in some instances, that’s not very help-ful because it can give kids the impression that they’re not allowed to grieve or to get angry.” Social workers can assist parents with interpreting cues from their children, including depression that may initially mask itself as moodi-ness, irritability or rebelliousness, Caye said. “ Understanding a child’s development — where kids are and what that means to them cognitively, emotionally and physically — is so critical when you’re doing this ( type of emergency aid),” Caye added. “ You have to be able to connect with where that kid is, not where you are.” Social workers will play important role in Haiti relief efforts By Susan White Joanne Caye Continued on p. 23 22 Contact | UNC School of Social Work U NC School of Social Work assistant professor Michal Grin-stein- Weiss, Ph. D. is leading a new initiative to implement child development accounts ( CDAs) in Israel. In March, she traveled to Israel for three days of meetings with Israeli government officials and United States experts on asset building. Grinstein- Weiss, who is from Israel, and her team presented a proposal for an Israeli national CDA policy and a demonstration project to test the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a CDA program building on the child allowance structure and education system. The feedback from Minister Isaac Herzog and the Directors General was very positive. The Israelis decided to form a steering committee for CDAs in Israel to move the proposal forward, which will include Grinstein- Weiss and her team. The following week Minister Herzog released details about the proposal to the public. The Marker, an Israeli daily newspaper, pub-lished an article entitled, “ Herzog’s revolutionary proposal: Long- term savings in child benefit.” The article covers the specifics of the pro-posed long- term child development accounts and states that Herzog is determined to champion this effort. Meeting participants, pictured left to right, included: Esther Dominissini, Director General of the Israeli National Insurance In-stitute; Michael Sherraden, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor and the founding director of the Center for Social Development at Washington University; Isaac Herzog, Israeli Minister of Social Affairs and Services; Mark Iwry, Senior Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy in the U. S. Department of the Treasury; Ray Boshara, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation; Michal Grinstein- Weiss; Nachum Itzkovitz, Director General of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Services; Daniel Gottlieb, Deputy Director General, Research and Planning National Insurance Institute. Kneeling: Yekutiel Sabah, Head of Research and Planning Division at the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs and Services. Grinstein- Weiss leads effort to implement child development accounts in Israel By Michelle Rogers Michal Grinstein- Weiss T he UNC School of Social Work held its annual commencement on May 8. Over 1,000 people packed Memorial Hall to cel-ebrate about 120 MSW and three doctoral students receiving diplomas. The speaker was community activist Marisol Jimenez McGee, MSW ‘ 03. Erica Dunkle, MSW ‘ 10, gave a touching tribute in song to the late Dr. Gary Shaffer. In a presentation by Dean Jack Richman, JoAnn McCachern Swart, MSW ‘ 78, and the late Myrna Miller Wellons, MSW ‘ 96, were honored as winners of the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award. The students recognized Melissa Grady as Overall Outstanding Professor; Mat Despard, Most Innovative Teacher; Marilyn Ghezzi, Most Supportive Faculty Member; and Beth Sauer, Most Supportive Staff Member. Shenyang Guo was honored by doctoral students. School holds 89th annual commencement Kristie Diehn and Matthew Duncan See our graduation photo gallery online at: www. flickr. com/ photos/ unc_ school_ of_ social_ work By Michelle Rogers Contact | UNC School of Social Work 23 The proposed health clinic that Despard was helping to write a grant for would be based on the community- care model pioneered by the humanitarian organization, Partners in Health. “ A cornerstone of their model is they hire local people to act as community health workers and train them to do things like take daily anti- retroviral medications to people where they are living and monitor them to make sure they are taking them correctly,” Despard explained. “ They provide outreach to let people know about the clinic that is available and education about different diseases and how to prevent them.” Chowa’s part of the project focused on educating and training some of Lamardelle’s young single mothers in the business of micro-enterprise. Many of the women are extremely poor and have five or six children, most of whom are malnourished, Chowa said. Her proposal explored the potential of bringing women together with dif-ferent strengths and talents to operate and own shares in a business, enabling them to fiscally capitalize on their collective efforts. But Chowa was also interested in how such a business venture and the revenue the women hopefully would earn would affect their children’s health. “ With five or six children, can you imagine the impact if you just make the mother economically stable? The children can then have health care and money to go to school,” she said. Despard and Chowa hope that they can eventually pick these projects back up. In the meantime, they’re eager to help the Haitian organizations where they can and expect the School of Social Work’s reach into Haiti to continue. “ I was interested in Haiti before the earthquake,” Despard said. “ The questions have always been in my mind … When might there be opportunities to do research in a way that’s really helpful and not exploitive? The big question is how can we help but embedded in that is being accountable to what the Haitians want.” Mat Despard, a School of Social Work clinical assistant professor, blogs on “ All Things Nonprofit” and “ Macro Social Work.” Despard sees a functional purpose in using blogs for “ content management and connecting people to ideas and perspectives,” and generally uses his sites to assist students on classroom discussions as well as others interested in philanthropy. After Haiti’s devastat-ing earthquake in January, Despard turned to his nonprofit blog as a space for sharing his knowledge of the country and his personal expe-riences working with an organization there that cares for children. Scheyett and others agree their initial hesitancy stemmed from the unconventional way that social media requires people to com-municate. “ I think a part of it is that social work, probably more than any other profession, is about interpersonal relationships,” Scheyett explained. “ Being able to conceptualize an interpersonal virtual relationship is kind of challenging. So I think social workers might be a little more hesitant than other academics. That personal connection just isn’t there as much. It’s not how we communicate.” Yet globally, the Internet and social media are forcing a culture shift over how communication occurs, who participates and what information is spread. As a self- proclaimed technology geek, Macy eagerly praises social media for the advantages she thinks it affords. For example, Facebook, Twitter and blogs enable her to receive more immediate feedback on her research, she said. They also let her explore others’ thoughts for preventing physical, psychological and sexual violence. With just a few mouse clicks, Macy can tap into the brainpower of people and experts she probably would never have another chance of meeting. And as she noted in her first blog posting in November 2008, the opportunity for such back and forth dialog may lead to new ideas for social change. “ I have come to realize that finding the best ways to help violence survivors and … [ preventing] violence require creativity and innova-tion,” Macy said. “ And I believe that creativity and innovation do not occur in isolation. Creative and innovative solutions develop in conversations with others.” Social work meets social media, continued from p. 17 Faculty members help Haitian agency, continued from p. 21 wen, who is working in elementary schools on assessment and match-ing kids’ needs to evidenced- based programs. We have Matt Howard’s work in the field of substance abuse. “ Almost everywhere you look now, you find people who are leading scholars, not just in North Carolina, but in the country.” Support for these scholars has grown exponentially, largely because of generous gifts from donors who value the importance of social work research. In 2004, the School received a $ 1.2 million gift to recruit and retain faculty from former social worker Miriam McFadden, a Tennes-see resident and member of the School’s board of advisors. Three years later, Sam and Betsy Reeves of Fresno, Calif. donated $ 1 million to establish the Sandra Reeves Spears and John B. Turner Distinguished Professorship. In 2008, the Armfield- Reeves Innova-tions Fund was created to provide pilot funding for faculty and student research. The fund was developed with a $ 333,000 gift from the Reeves and a $ 250,000 gift from Janie and Billy Armfield of Richmond, Va. That same year, alumna Mel Adair ( MSW, ’ 76) established a charitable gift annuity with the UNC Foundation, directing nearly $ 1.4 million to the School of Social Work, one of the largest gifts in the School’s history. Adair’s gift created a $ 1 million endowment for the Johnson- Howard- Adair Distinguished Professorship, bringing the total number of endowed professorships at the School to eight. “ Private funding has greatly enhanced our ability to conduct in-novative research and outreach by enabling us to attract and retain top faculty and students and to support them in their work,” said Mary Beth Hernandez, the School’s associate dean for advancement. Today, with 28 tenured and tenured- track faculty members as well as more than 50 clinical and research faculty, the School continues to make new contributions to the social work field, including studies that address HIV prevention, domestic violence, children with disabilities and homelessness. Collectively, the school’s faculty members bring in more than $ 15 million annually in state, federal and foundation fund-ing to support research and training initiatives. A few scholars, such as Gina Chowa, are even helping to expand the School’s reach internationally. Chowa, whose research focuses on the impact of asset building interventions in Sub- Saharan Africa, hopes the School will strengthen its ties to international research over the next 10 years. “ What happens globally affects what happens here,” she said. “ And if you look at what is developing internationally, social work has a big role to play.” Hiring creative people who have ingenious ideas will continue to determine the School’s long- term research success, Fraser added. “ It will depend upon the people who stay and how committed they are to reforming social work,” he said. “ The crucial question is what is it we’re trying to do? We’re trying to change the image of social work. We’re trying to make social work the go- to profession for social justice, for the design and development of creative social programs that will solve social problems. This is where the action could be, and we have a wonderful start at it.” School becomes a research force, continued from p. 9 24 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Melvarene J. Howard Adair Scholarship Christopher Earl Nealy Jane Hall and William Johnston Armfield Scholarship Jennifer Haynes Bates, Darrell Lewis Coleman, Jr., Tobirus Mozelle Newby, April Smith Parker Annie Kizer Bost Award Martina Battle Baldwin, Danielle Renee Doyle, Mary Catherine Hartley Chaney- Jacobs- Preyer Scholarship Elina Michailovna Alterman, Tara Elizabeth Hopkins Robert and Peggy Culbertson Scholarship Sharon Webber Davis, Bang Dinh Duong William E. and Catherine M. Cummins Award for Outstanding School Social Work Practice Carlie Beth Ewen Dean’s Research Award Lindsey Natasha Atkins, Ryan Franklin Frack, Laura Bibiana Gonzalez, Laurie Michelle Graham, Lauren Jacqueline Hart, Madeline McIntyre Seltman Martha Sherrill Dunn Scholarship Martina Battle Baldwin Bertie Oscar Edwards Scholarship Christopher Mark de Beer Joanna Finkelstein Gorham Scholarship Lee Enoch Abernathy, Laura Xiomara Aponte- Hughes, Limor Bachar- Schwartz, Kindra Maren Clemence, Moira Patricia Conlon, Solita Ann Denard, Erica Shane Dunkle, Sarah Michele Dunsmore, Carlie Beth Ewen, Ryan Franklin Frack, Kayla Anne Fuga, Sarah Elizabeth Furman, Kendra Malia Johnson, Patricia Anne McGovern, Kate Troxler Mitchell, Kathryn Colleen Mulvaney, Lindsay Marie Penny, Alison Leigh Prevost, Erin Amelia Ridout, Kristen Jane Russell, Rebecca Lin Spence Kirsten E. Hewitt Scholarship Kathryn Boswell Brockett, Sabrina Alise Jennette Alan Keith- Lucas Scholarship Katherine Vogler Bonanno, Shandra Taneika Chambers, Beth Noel Rupp Jeffrey Langston Scholarship Erin Renee Bowman Meehan Scholarship Laura Bibiana Gonzalez, Nicole Doreen Moore Betsy Rogers Millar Scholarship Halley Mira Carmack, Elizabeth Aull Clift, Julie Owen Goldberg, Lizette Alicia Lopez, Erica TerChera Mayes- Gordon, Christopher Earl Nealy Jane Curtis Parker Award Erin L. Krauss, Lindsey Anne O’Hare Joan Phillips- Trimmer Scholarship Regina Shannelle Boone Ellen E. Power Scholarship Lee Enoch Abernathy Thomas Reid Sr. Scholarship Shandra Taneika Chambers Kenneth C. Royall, Jr. Scholarship Shannon Elizabeth Beavin, Anna Olivia Kirby Janice Hough Schopler Scholarship Jenny Bibiana Forero, Jianrong Zhang Social Justice Fund Scholarship Julie Owen Goldberg Tannenbaum Scholarship Terronda Lenette Beatty, Sardie Rochelle Izzard, Kendra Malia Johnson, Erik Brandon Osborne, Glenn Robinson, Lauren Amelia Thompson, Danielle Yvette Whitaker Kristen Marie TenHarmsel Anderson Scholarship Rachel Marie Coots Smith P. Theimann Scholarship Elizabeth Aull Clift, Aislinn Eve Jobes Walsh- Cioffi Scholarship Kate Troxler Mitchell Ellen Black Winston Scholarship Guadalupe Valentina Huitron 2009- 10 MSW Scholarships and Awards Armfield Reeves Innovation Fund Carrie Pettus- Davis Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation, University Research Day 2009, UNC Eric Lee Garland Center for Development and Learning Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Fellowship Sarah Dababnah Maternal and Child Health Leadership Consortium Fellowship Sarah Dababnah Center for Global Initiatives Pre- Dissertation Travel Award Sarah Dababnah Center for Global Initiatives Pre- Dissertation Field Research Award Dari Jigjidsuren The Council of Nephrology Social Workers Educational Stipend from the National Kidney Foundation Tiffany Renee Washington Council on Social Work Education Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Minority Clinical Training Fellowship Carmen Michelle Crosby Council on Social Work Education National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship, Minority Fellowship Program Sharon Denise Parker Tasanee Ross Walsh Duke Child and Family Study Center Post- Doctoral Fellow Bridget Elizabeth Weller Gordon H. DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Award Susan Kay Fletcher Fahs- Beck Scholar for Research and Experimentation from The New York Community Trust Carrie Pettus- Davis Hartford Doctoral Fellowship Susan Kay Fletcher Hartford Pre- Dissertation Award Tiffany Renee Washington Lovick P. Corn Dissertation Completion Fellowship Traci L. Wike NIH Ruth Kirschstein NRSA post-doctoral fellowship with the UNC Program on Integrative Medicine Eric Lee Garland Shaver Hitchings Scholarship Award for Service in the Area of Alcohol and Drug Addictions, from The Triangle Community Foundation Carrie Pettus- Davis Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Northeast Region Scholarship Tiffany Renee Washington Southeast SAS Users Group 2009 Scholar Keesha Dunbar Benson Turner Dissertation Fund Carrie Pettus- Davis Tashuna Albritton World Forum Travel Award to attend the Conference in Belfast, U. K., from the World Forum Dari Jigjidsuren 2nd Place for Oral Presentation in Social Science, University Research Day 2010 Carrie Pettus- Davis Travel Award to attend the 2010 Summer Training Workshop on African American Aging Research Tiffany Renee Washington 24 2009- 10 Doctoral Student Awards Contact | UNC School of Social Work By Susan White A nationally recognized child welfare expert and the architect of innovative reforms in the fields of child protection and foster care is bringing his research and professional leadership exper-tise to the Tar Heel state. Mark Testa, Ph. D., a professor and director of the Children and Family Research Center at the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, joined UNC- Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work in January as the first Sandra Reeves Spears and John B. Turner Distinguished Professor. “ I am so pleased that Dr. Testa has accepted our offer to join the faculty,” said School Dean Jack M. Richman. “ Mark is a gifted teacher and his strengths will greatly enhance our School, the University and our ability to serve the people of North Carolina.” Testa said he is equally thrilled to be associated with the School, which he said he has always considered one of the country’s “ centers for child welfare research.” He is also eager, he said, to work with students and share his experiences, including lessons he has learned over the years in reforming public child welfare systems and increasing opportunities for children in foster care. Testa brings to UNC more than 30 years of research and service, most of which has focused on improving the lives of at- risk children and families. Perhaps most notable is his work in Illinois, which led to a significant overhaul of that state’s Department of Children and Fam-ily Services and ultimately, a model for national legislation. For years, more Illinois children were removed from homes and placed in foster care and more cases were assigned to state child welfare workers than the nation as a whole. The state’s track record, which included 52,000 in foster care by the late 1990s and caseworkers managing three times the number of recommended cases, was highly criticized. The American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU) pushed for a major overhaul of the existing federal consent decree, charging that the system was failing to protect and care for children in state custody. Testa’s innovative research helped turn the state around. In 1994, he was appointed Illinois’ research director for the Department of Children and Family Services. His leadership and policy analysis led to a federal child welfare demonstration that enabled the state to assist relatives who were named legal guardians of children formerly under their foster care. Guardians were given financial subsidies, funding that had not previously been available to relative caregivers. The demonstration and its companion legislation helped move children out of the foster care system more quickly and into perma-nent homes. According to Illinois’ Children and Family Research Center, by 2003, the number of children in foster care had dropped nearly 62 percent to less than 20,000. The results were so successful, similar demonstrations were replicated in Tennessee and Wisconsin. Congress acted on the findings from these demonstrations and created the kinship guardianship assistance program as part of the “ Fostering Connections” Act that was signed into federal law last year. Testa recently completed a book, Fostering Accountability ( Oxford University Press), with John Poertner on the reform experiences in Illinois. He hopes the lessons learned will also form the backbone for a collaborative research project at UNC. Policymakers and academics in Illinois, Maryland, and North Carolina will have the opportunity to work with UNC School of Social Work faculty, including research associate professor Dean Duncan, on how to further improve child welfare and child practice, Testa said. The new professor will remain actively involved in other states. Testa, who is helping states to adapt to the new national foster care legislation, was recently named as the independent verification agent under a federal consent decree for Baltimore’s child welfare system. For more than 20 years, the Maryland city has been under federal court oversight to improve services and care for children in state custody. Testa will ensure the city system follows required standards. With Testa’s arrival to UNC, Richman has also approved for the School of Social Work to be included among a list of national agencies affiliated with the Fostering Connections Resource Center. This center, which spawned from the federal foster care law, offers states access to data, training information and research experts. “ I think it’s good for us in that it highlights ( the School) as a resource, and it creates opportunities for our doctoral students and faculty to engage in some pretty interesting and new child welfare work,” Testa said. Testa has been widely honored over the years for his academic and professional achievements. He is the recipient of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Adoption 2002 Excellence Award for Applied Scholarship and Research on kinship care and permanence. In 2004, he received the Blue Bow Award for research and leadership in improving systems of care for children from the Children’s Home and Aid Society of Illinois, and in 2006, he was nominated by Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Illinois, and received the Angel in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Long- term, Testa hopes to help the School engage in an even more active role, locally and nationally, in child welfare reform efforts. One of his goals is to establish a policy institute from which an education and training program would be created to merge the best in foster care research with the best in foster care practices. “ We have to become smarter in how we serve families and rec-ognize when child welfare should be more of a support system rather than one that disrupts lives by needlessly removing children into foster care,” he said. “ We also need to use the research and knowledge within the university system to improve the quality of policy and practice.” Such efforts, Testa said, could offer some real solutions to North Carolina and other public child welfare systems. “ The challenge is to improve the evidence base for what works best in each of these systems and translate the knowledge into more effec-tive policies and practices for children and families in North Carolina and across the nation as a whole,” Testa said. Child welfare expert Mark Testa joins the School as distinguished professor Mark Testa Contact | UNC School of Social Work 25 26 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Faculty spotlight By Michelle Rogers Deborah Barrett Barrett had two articles published in Fibromyalgia Aware magazine, entitled “ Caring for Kids — and Yourself ” ( Fall 2009) and “ Steering Clear of Scams” ( Winter 2010). Betsy Bledsoe Bledsoe was named a BIRCWH (“ Building Interdisci-plinary Research Careers in Women’s Health”) Scholar for 2009- 12. An NIH- funded program, BIRCWH sup-ports career development of junior faculty members who are commencing research relevant to women’s health. Bledsoe was awarded a $ 2,000 grant for her project, “ Per-ceptions of Breastfeeding Success in Depressed and Non- Depressed Mothers.” The study will run through March 31, 2011. Funding was provided by the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute ( TraCS) at UNC. Bledsoe is a collaborator with a UNC group on a project looking at the relationship between perinatal depression and breastfeeding. The $ 50,000 study, “ Neuroendocrine Pathophysiology in Postpartum Depression and Lactation Failure,” is funded through TraCS. Bledsoe was selected for a 2010 NCDEU New Investigator Award. NCDEU is a meeting that focuses on new research approaches for mental health interventions, and is co- sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Society of Clinical Psy-chopharmacology. It will be held in June 2010 in Boca Raton, Fla. The award entitles her to participate in a closed full- day educational work-shop. She will also present a poster, “ Treating Perinatal Depression in Low- Income Adolescents: Results from a Pilot Feasibility Study of Culturally Relevant, Brief Interpersonal Psychotherapy.” Two master’s students ( Anne- Marie Olarte, 1st Year; Abby Zeveloff, 2nd Year) and alumna Amy Sommer, MSW ‘ 04, are coauthors on the poster. Gary Bowen Bowen, Kenan Distinguished Professor, was a fea-tured speaker and panelist at the 2009 RTI Fellows Symposium: Integrating Basic and Applied Research, in November. Bowen discussed “ Pathways to School Persistence” in the section on education opportunity and achievement. Bowen was an invited guest speaker at the 2009 Annual Confer-ence of the National Council on Family Relations in San Francisco. He served on a panel with Drs. Shelley MacDermid and Dennis Orthner in a session designed to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to resilience in military families. Bowen facilitated a special session at the conference on “ Building Bridges to Support Military and Veteran Families.” Bowen spoke to approximately 50 spouses of the Army’s most senior combat commanders and their command sergeants major on “ Building Resilient Families through Community Capacity Building.” The Commander’s Conference was held in November in Atlanta. Bowen traveled to the Pentagon in Washington, D. C., on Feb. 23, 2010, to deliver a briefing to the Warfighter and Family Program Managers from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The brief-ing was sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy. Bowen discussed his community capacity work that is currently informing intervention and prevention planning activities in both the Air Force and the Marine Corps. Natasha Bowen Bowen and three doctoral students — Aaron Thompson, Krysti Webber and Kate Wegmann — spent the first four days of June 2009 in North Hampton County teach-ing students at KIPP Pride High School about mental health, research methods and how to play acoustic gui-tar. Although KIPP Pride High is a public charter school in a rural, economically depressed part of North Carolina, 100% of its graduating seniors are going to college in the fall. Bowen was invited by the lead school social worker in Wake County Public School System to serve on the WCPSS School Social Work Advisory Council. As an advisor, she will help school social workers in the school district evaluate their practices and show their impact on student success. Bowen was also invited by the superintendent of the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City School district to serve on the Community Ac-tion Committee for the Success of all Students. The goal of this new committee is to involve the community in raising the achievement of African- American, Latino and economically disadvantaged students. Bowen and Joelle Powers were invited to present on their project in the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City School district at the Triangle Donors Forum on March 24, 2010. Bowen and Powers are directing a three-year longitudinal study at four North Carolina elementary schools. They are looking at how experiences in neighborhoods, schools, fami-lies and with friends affect learning, and how to help schools develop interventions to improve student achievement. The information is col-lected from students, parents and teachers using an assessment called the Elementary School Success Profile ( ESSP), created by Bowen. Iris Carlton- LaNey Carlton- LaNey participated in the 23rd Women’s His-tory Month Lecture Series at the University of Texas- Arlington in March 2009. The theme was “ Life on the Edge: Women and Hard Times.” She was also the keynote speaker for the 29th Annual Social Work Educa-tion Conference at Mississippi Valley State University in April 2009. Carlton- LaNey was invited to speak as part of the Summer Lecture Series at Smith College School of Social Work. She presented “ African Americans Aging in the Rural South: Stories of Faith, Family and Community” in July 2009 in Northampton, Mass. Contact | UNC School of Social Work 27 Joanne Caye Caye and first- year MSW student Megan Key joined faculty and students from nursing, physical therapy and public health on an “ Alternate Spring Break Trip” to Tyrell County, N. C. in March 2010. The group provided a health fair in the small community of Alligator with disaster planning, nutrition items, stress and depres-sion screenings, exercises, games and other activities. They also helped some older residents ( referred by Tyrell County DSS), with cooking, cleaning and yard work. Mimi Chapman Chapman was named the Carolina Women’s Center Faculty Scholar for Fall 2010. Her project will be “ Gang Affiliation Among Middle School New Immigrant Latinas in Siler City.” She will investigate the scope of the problem in the community and develop intervention models and strategies. Jodi Flick Flick is featured in an informative new video on suicide prevention produced by the Mecklenburg County Health Department. It is called “ This Will Pass: Suicide Preven-tion.” The video is available online in the Health Depart-ment section of the website http:// www. charmeck. org. Mark Fraser Fraser, John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Chil-dren in Need, presented at the Los Angeles Conference on Intervention Research in Social Work. The October 2009 conference, hosted by the University of Southern California School of Social Work’s Hamovitch Center for Science in the Human Services, in collaboration with the Institute for Advancement of Social Work Research, provided an arena for social workers to present their research findings, elaborate on the importance of research and discuss issues pertinent to the future of intervention research. Michal Grinstein- Weiss Grinstein- Weiss received a $ 145,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, with Janneke Ratcliffe of UNC’s Center for Community Capital, for their project “ Learning from $ aveNYC: Facilitating Savings for Low- Income Work-ers.” This research project is a collaboration with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Financial Empowerment to evaluate their pilot program aimed at promoting savings among eligible New Yorkers. $ aveNYC encourages Earned Income Tax Credit recipients to save a portion of their tax refund, and leave those funds in savings for at least one full year. Grinstein- Weiss and doctoral student Pajarita Charles were awarded one of four nationwide $ 20,000 grants from the National Cen-ter of Marriage Research for their one- year project, “ Does Homeown-ership Affect Relationship Stability: Evidence from an Event History Analysis.” P. I. Grinstein- Weiss’ and Co- P. I. Charles’ paper will address key questions about the linkages between family instability and well-being. Grinstein- Weiss received renewal grant awards from the An-nie E. Casey Foundation ($ 40,000) and the F. B. Heron Foundation ($ 25,000) to support the American Dream Demonstration Wave 4 ( ADD4) study, which is testing the long- term effects of individual development accounts. This study is supported by seven funders and has raised over $ 1.6 million. Grinstein- Weiss and Andréa Taylor were awarded a $ 94,638 grant from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Admin-istration for Children and Families ( ACF) as part of the Assets for Independence Knowledge Development Initiative. The Assets for In-dependence ( AFI) Program, administered by ACF, provides the largest source of funding for IDAs in the U. S. Shenyang Guo Guo was given UNC’s prestigious 2010 Distinguished Teaching Award for Post- Baccalaureate Instruction. “ The University Committee on Teaching Awards was greatly impressed by the abundant evidence they found for your outstanding contributions to post- baccalaureate teaching on our campus,” wrote Chancellor Holden Thorp. “ Both your students and faculty colleagues were enthusiastic in their praise of your commitment to the highest standards. You have clearly provided your students with a rich, supportive environment for higher learn-ing and [ an] exceptionally positive role model for their own careers.” Award recipients were recognized during a half- time ceremony at the UNC- GA Tech men’s basketball game in January 2010. In addition, Guo received an award certificate and $ 5,000 prize at an awards ban-quet in April. Guo was promoted to the rank of full professor. Matthew Howard Howard, Frank A. Daniels Distinguished Professor for Human Services Policy Information, was appointed a member of the National Institute of Health’s ( NIH) Epi-demiology and Behavior Genetics Study Section. The Center for Scientific Review of the NIH and the Italian Ministry of Health, Directorate for Health and Technologies Research have recently signed a memorandum of under-standing to collaborate on evaluation of grant applications from Italian researchers in biomedical fields. Howard was asked to review a portion of these grants. Howard presented on inhalant abuse to the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D. C. in October 2009. In addi-tion, Howard was a member of the Epidemiology and Behavior Genet-ics Grant Review Study Section at the National Institutes of Health on Oct. 6 and 7. Howard was asked to review grants for the Italian Ministry of Health for 2010. Howard will have a lead article on inhalant abuse published on the website of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in their journal Addic-tion Science and Clinical Practice. Howard was asked to serve on the NIH Epidemiology and Behav-ior Genetics Study Section for 2010. He was also named regional editor of the Open Social Science Journal. Joelle Powers Powers is the 2010 recipient of the C. Felix Harvey Award to Advance Institutional Priorities. Given by UNC’s Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, the $ 75,000 award recognizes exemplary faculty scholarship that reflects one of the University’s top priorities. This year’s award focuses on engagement and outreach. Powers’ proposed project is a pilot test of an urgently needed part-nership between Durham Public Schools and Durham’s public mental health provider, The Durham Center. The partnership will include training staff in one school to recognize mental health problems in students, creating a school- based referral process, and bringing profes-sional mental health providers into the school to serve students. Continued on p. 28 28 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Jack Richman Dean Jack Richman presented “ Intervention Research: Responding to the Gap between Knowledge Building and Social Work Practice” and “ Intervention Develop-ment: Data Driven Practice” at the 4th Annual BYU School of Social Work Conference: Research and Clini-cal Perspectives in Social Work Practice in Provo, Utah in October 2009. Richman, along with Miriam Brodersen, MSW ‘ 07, and Danielle Swick, Ph. D. ‘ 07, have an article published in the Journal of Social Work Education, “ Risks and mitigating factors in decisions to accept students with criminal records.” Richman was among a group of 35 experts from various social work higher education, professional association and military back-grounds who participated in a Washington, D. C., meeting in January 2010 with the Council on Social Work Education ( CSWE). CSWE has launched an advanced practice in military social work education initiative to bridge the gap between the number of available prepared practitioners and the demand for social services with military person-nel and their families. The initiative will result in an educators’ guide to advanced social work practice competencies in military social work. Richman was invited to present at the International Conference on Social Work Localization, in March 2010 in Shenzhen, China. His presentation was entitled “ The Role of Government in the Develop-ment of Social Work Education and Practice in the United States.” Kathleen Rounds Rounds and Joanne Caye served on a panel at the 2nd Annual Training Institute on Trauma- Affected Women, Children & Families. It was held in June 2009 in New York City and sponsored by the Association of States and Territorial Public Health Social Workers. Their panel was called “ Public Health and Social Work: Academia’s Role in Educating on Trauma.” Rounds also gave a second presentation on “ Leadership Programs and MCH ( maternal and child health) Bureau Resources for Public Health Social Workers.” Paul Smokowski Smokowski was asked to review the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s blueprint for a national youth violence prevention initiative. He was also awarded a highly competitive research leave for 2010- 11 from the UNC- Chapel Hill Office of the Provost. He will be writing grant proposals. Tina Souders Souders was elected for a three year term to the delegate assembly of the National Association of Social Workers, N. C. chapter ( NASW- NC). In addition, Souders deliv-ered a keynote presentation at the 12th Annual NASW-NC Clinical Social Work Summer Institute in July 2009, on “ Terminating Therapeutic Work with Clients.” Kim Strom- Gottfried Strom- Gottfried, Smith P. Theimann Distinguished Professor for Ethics and Professional Practice, trav-eled to China in October 2009. She was invited to teach social work assessment and interventions in Shanghai at the East China University of Science and Technology. On the same trip, faculty member Katherine Dunlap and Strom- Gottfried presented on social work practice, interviewing, and grief and loss at a conference for social work practitioners, field instructors and students from a variety of agencies in the city. Sheryl Zimmerman UNC- Chapel Hill has named Zimmerman a Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham Distinguished Professor. This distinguished professorship is one of the most presti-gious honors the University can bestow upon a faculty member. Zimmerman is the director of aging research at the School of Social Work; director of UNC’s Interdisciplinary Certificate in Aging; co- director of UNC’s Interdisciplinary Center for Ag-ing Research; co- director of the Program on Aging, Disability and Long- Term Care at UNC’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research; and an adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiol-ogy at the School of Public Health. Zimmerman’s research has focused on social gerontology, evalua-tion of practice, psychosocial aspects of health, dementia, hip fractures, and improving care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Her work in the field of residential long- term care for older adults has been highly influential for policy and practice. In other news, Zimmerman was a speaker at a November 2009 NASW symposium in Washington, D. C., to launch a new social work policy institute. Looking for a job? Have a job to post? Visit our job board at http:// ssw. unc. edu/ alumnissw/ jobs Follow the School of Social Work on Facebook and Twitter Links at: http:// ssw. unc. edu/ about/ social_ networks Contact | UNC School of Social Work 29 Professor Iris Carlton- LaNey, Ph. D., was awarded the inaugural Distinguished Achievement in Social Work Education Award on April 8, 2010, from the National Association of Black Social Workers ( NABSW). NABSW wrote the following about Carlton- LaNey: “ For over 30 years you have served with distinc-tion as a social work educator. Your scholarship in the areas of African American social welfare history and social gerontology have been vital to preserving the story of the African American experience, highlight-ing the vast mutual aid efforts and institution building that took place in the Black community, and providing tangible recommendations for practitioners and schol-ars to build upon to further culturally competent and effective practice.” Carlton- LaNey given national social work education award By Michelle Rogers Iris Carlton- LaNey Mark Fraser, Ph. D., was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare. The organization, established in 2009, is an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitio-ners dedicated to achieving excellence in the field of social work and social welfare through high impact work that advances social good. Fraser is the John A. Tate Dis-tinguished Professor for Children in Need, and the associate dean for research, at the UNC School of Social Work. He has authored or edited nine books and more than 100 journal articles and chapters, and is the editor- in- chief of the newly- launched Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. The induction event was held at the National Press Club in Washington, D. C., on April 21, 2010. Fraser becomes Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare By Michelle Rogers Mark Fraser Gary L. Shaffer, Ph. D., one of the state’s leading experts on social work practice and a staunch advocate for children who became a recogniz-able voice against the use of corporal punishment within North Carolina’s public schools, died on Sept. 4, 2009. He was 62. Shaffer, who dedicated more than half of his life to the social work field and to preparing students for social work practice, joined UNC- Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work in 1986 as director of the field education pro-gram. He was later named director of the School’s summer program. Although he had been battling colon cancer for several years, the associate professor remained extremely active at UNC and within the North Carolina community, focusing much of his time and energy on international social work and the development of the social work practice within the state’s public schools. Shaffer is survived by his wife Denise; daughter Lisa; brother Gil and numerous nieces and nephews. Faculty member and children’s advocate Gary Shaffer dies By Susan White Gary Shaffer new books Professor Shenyang Guo’s book, “ Survival Analysis,” was published by Oxford University Press. Mark Fraser’s book, “ Risk and Resilience in Childhood: An Ecological Perspective,” was published in Japanese by the National Association of Social Workers Press. Fraser is the John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need, and the associate dean for research. Mark Testa’s book, “ Fostering Accountability: Using Evidence to Guide and Improve Child Welfare Policy” was published by Oxford University Press. Testa is the Spears- Turner Distinguished Professor. Marie Weil, Berg- Beach Distinguished Professor, and emerita faculty member Dorothy Gamble had a book published by Columbia University Press, “ Community Practice Skills: Local to Global Perspectives.” 30 Contact | UNC School of Social Work M ilitary families struggling to find services for their children with developmental disabilities will soon have a new net-work of support. UNC’s School of Social Work and the Family Support Network at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities are developing a project that aims to connect military families more directly to state and local resources, activities and services using a “ one- stop” model. The federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities of the Adminis-tration on Children and Families is funding the $ 1 million project. Known as “ Strengthening Military Families with Children Who Have Developmental Disabilities,” the project is being piloted at Camp Lejeune and will target Marine Corps service members who live off base, said Irene Nathan Zipper, a School of Social Work clinical pro-fessor. Zipper and Gary Bowen, a Kenan Distinguished Professor, are co- investigators of the five- year project. Although lower- ranking Marines are usually required to live off the installation, such arrangements can be challenging for families who have children with special needs, Zipper and Bowen agreed. Navigat-ing the military and civilian systems can be intimidating and frustrat-ing, Zipper added. “ These are usually the most vulnerable families,” Bowen said. Through the Strengthening Military Families project, service agen-cies within the community and the military will work together to give families one primary place to turn to when they need help and assist them in quickly identifying available programs and resources, such as children’s camps and assistive technology. The project, which expects to serve 20 families in the first year and 60 by the second, began in late September and is currently focusing on establishing the program and informing families of its availability. Peer support groups will also be established. “ Parent- to- Parent support will match families who share common concerns and common experiences,” Zipper said. “ A family that has learned to navigate the system can be a real aid to someone who has a child with developmental disabilities and is new to the system.” As part of the project, Bowen is also developing a graduate course that will teach social work students how to work with military service members and their families. He expects the course to be offered in spring 2011. $ 1 million project connects resources to military families with developmental disabilities By Susan White Gary Bowen and Irene Zipper Contact | UNC School of Social Work 31 W ives of active- duty soldiers are at risk for psychological problems such as depression, loneliness and burnout, a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found. However, spouses are more likely to handle stress well if they are encouraged to build stronger relationships with their friends and communities, and can potentially lower their long- term medi-cal costs if they receive military support services — including mental health care — early, the study concluded. “ When the military services focus some of their resources and attention on getting their families ready for deployments, this clearly pays off in the readiness of their personnel for duty and can result in fewer emotional and family problems when they return home,” said UNC School of Social Work professor, Dennis Orthner, Ph. D. Orthner co- authored the study with Roderick Rose, a research associate at the school’s Jordan Institute for Families. The report is published in the October 2009 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Family Relations. The study was commissioned by the U. S. Army Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command. Or-thner has been providing research assistance to the Army since 1979. Orthner said the study’s findings reinforce that on- going efforts to strengthen military families do work but more preventative programs are needed to help couples address problems before they become unmanageable. “ I think the tendency in any large system is to mobilize a mental health system in response to a crisis and then allocate to that side pretty aggressively,” he said. “ What our study points out is that there really is a need to shift some portion — if not a large portion — of those dollars to early identification, so that you’re beginning to ID the risks before they become a crisis.” The effects of combat tours on the whole family have grabbed more public attention in recent years because of the U. S.’ s engagement in two on- going conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and because of the frequency and length of deployments. Military families repeatedly deal with constant separation and reunification, forcing moms and dads, for example, to frequently adjust parental authority. For their study, Orthner and Rose explored how well Army wives adjust psychologically when their husbands’ jobs take them away from their families. Their research was based on data the Army collected from 8,056 female spouses between September 2004 and January 2005. About a third of the spouses were “ quite distressed,” and those that were tended to be younger, have younger children and have longer periods of separation. Orthner said that was not surprising, consider-ing the makeup of the Army. “ It has a high concentration of young couples who are just starting out their adult lives, and they’re just starting to have kids. So it’s dif-ficult when a young soldier goes away for 12 to 18 months and leaves a wife at home with a 2- year- old or a 4- year- old.” Still, the study found that the risks for psychological troubles are almost cut in half when spouses receive supportive services from the military, including relationship skills traini
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Title | Contact : a newsletter for the School of Social Work and its alumni |
Date | 2010 |
Description | 2010 |
Digital Characteristics-A | 3582 KB; 40 p. |
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application/pdf |
Full Text | Contact School of Social Work The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2010 2 Contact | UNC School of Social Work T his issue of Contact presents a retro-spective view as we celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the School of Social Work. Our program has evolved from a primar-ily training institution to one that has earned national prominence for its quality classroom and field instruction, cutting edge research, invaluable public service, community engaged scholarship and technical assistance. We are indeed proud of our rich history, and prouder still of where we are today and the exciting future that lies ahead. This year, our MSW program continued to experience tremendous growth in admis-sions applications. For the third year in a row, the number of applicants increased nearly 20%, resulting in an outstanding pool of new students. Doctoral applications rose as well. We have also added to our faculty. Na-tionally renowned child welfare expert Mark Testa joined us in January as the Spears- Turn-er Distinguished Professor. Please see p. 25 to read about his influential work. In addition, we are welcoming three new faculty members in July: Professor Michael Lambert, and assistant professors Trenette Clark ( MSW ‘ 03) and Amanda Sheely. Two, however, are moving on — Lynn Usher and Susan Parish. Lynn has retired, after being with the School of Social Work since 1993 as the Wal-lace H. Kuralt, Sr. Professor of Public Welfare Policy and Administration. Susan has been with the School since 2003 and is the director of the Developmen-tal Disabilities Training Institute. She has accepted a distinguished professorship at Brandeis University. A sincere and heartfelt thank you and best wishes to Lynn and Susan in their new endeavors. They will be missed. Budget realities are still difficult, with new cuts on the way, but we are making adjustments. Alumni and friends continue to support the School and our scholarship endeavors, which allow us to continue to help students with financial aid. Sam and Betsy Reeves have generously pledged $ 250,000 annually to provide multi- year funding for doctoral students. These are lean times but we are managing. Our faculty continue to be very successful in applying for and getting grants. To note just a few: Gina Chowa for AIDS research, Joelle Powers for a project to boost mental health in public schools, and Gary Bowen and Irene Zipper to connect resources to military fami-lies with developmental disabilities. The School’s leadership in social work research is further evidenced with two of our professors now editing journals. Mark Fraser was appointed editor- in- chief of the newly-launched Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research ( www. jsswr. org). And Matthew Howard has been appointed editor-in- chief of Social Work Research, the flagship journal of the National Association of Social Workers. Our leadership role extends nationally to mental health care as well. Mark Fraser and I are members of the National Academies of Practice, an interdisciplinary group in Washington, D. C. that advises public policy makers on health care issues. Mark was also recently inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare. And our international work continues. Faculty and students recently returned from study abroad in China. Shenyang Guo and I presented at the 2010 Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development in Hong Kong in June. Michal Grinstein- Weiss is leading a new initiative to implement child development savings accounts in Israel. You’ll read about helping Haiti post- earthquake, on p. 20. And we are planning an exciting new study abroad opportunity — India. Our students, faculty and alumni are accomplishing great things despite persistent economic challenges. With your support, together we can achieve another 90 years of innovative teaching, research and service. From the Dean... Jack M. Richman Contact | UNC School of Social Work 3 School of Social Work Celebrates its 90th Anniversary Honoring our past, shaping our future • 4 School becomes a research force • 8 Maeda Galinsky: For 45 years, ‘ Grand dame’ of the School • 10 Curriculum evolves over the years • 12 Students bring diversity, experience to the program • 13 Personal reflections • 14 School News Social work meets social media • 16 UNC study: Latino teens happier, healthier if families embrace biculturalism • 18 Student Darshan Mundada passionate about international social work • 19 Faculty members help Haitian agency serve earthquake’s youngest survivors • 20 Social workers will play important role in Haiti relief efforts • 21 Grinstein- Weiss leads effort to implement child development accounts in Israel • 22 School holds 89th annual commencement • 22 MSW and doctoral scholarships and awards • 24 Child welfare expert Mark Testa joins the School as distinguished professor • 25 Faculty spotlight • 26 New books • 29 Faculty member and children’s advocate Gary Shaffer dies • 29 Fraser becomes Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare • 29 Carlton- LaNey given national social work education award • 29 $ 1 million project connects resources to military families with developmental disabilities • 30 UNC study: Emotional support crucial to helping military families deal with deployments • 31 Contact Magazine website launches • 38 Winston- Salem MSW program expands • 38 Garland, Weller named Outstanding Doctoral Students • 38 Clinical Lecture Series fall schedule • 38 Alumni and Development News Distinguished alumni award winners • 32 Alumni update • 34 School receives $ 250,000 annual gift to doctoral program • 37 Alumni president’s letter • 39 Dean Jack Richman Associate Dean for Advancement Mary Beth Hernandez Director of the Annual Fund and Alumni Relations Kristen Huffman Editor and Designer Director of Communications Michelle Rogers Writers Michelle Rogers Susan White Contributing Writers Anna Scheyett Sharon Thomas Photography Tom Fuldner iStockPhoto Michelle Rogers Susan White School of Social Work The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB# 3550, 325 Pittsboro St. Chapel Hill, NC 27599 ( 919) 962- 1225 http:// ssw. unc. edu Printed with soy ink on recycled paper Contact contents Dean Morton Teicher ( 2nd from left) presents the Annie Kizer Bost Award to Betty Kelly, Lura Deaton and Paul Patterson, May 8,1973, in front of Alumni Hall. Image from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Photo on front cover: Class of 1985 4 4 Conttaacctt || UNC SScchooll off SSocciiaall Worrkk Honoring our past. Shaping our future. 1920 – 2010 The UNC School of Social Work Celebrates Florence Soltys teaching the course “ Death and Dying,” Summer 1989 Photo by Billy Barnes Contact | UNC School of Social Work 5 From humble beginnings to one of the country’s best, UNC’s School of Social Work has defined and redefined itself throughout its rich 90- year history. State lawmakers in North Carolina likely never envisioned the significance of their decision to establish the School of Public Welfare – the predecessor of today’s School. But in 1920, the course was set and renowned sociologist and reformer Howard W. Odum was tapped as the School’s first leader. O ver nine decades, UNC’s social work program has evolved from a primarily training institution to a program that has earned national prominence for its quality classroom and field instruction, cutting edge research, invaluable public service, community engaged scholarship and technical assistance. This tradition of excellence has enabled the School to produce practitioners and research leaders who are committed to providing innovative solutions to critical social problems such as poverty, mental health and domestic violence. After nearly a century, there is much to be proud of, said Dean Jack M. Richman, but much more work remains. “ I expect our School of Social Work will be leading in social work education — teaching, research and service — for the next 90 years.” M any people and moments are essential to the history of UNC’s School of Social Work, but three influential change-makers are largely credited for the program’s growth and success. Charlotte businessman John A. “ Jack” Tate, School Dean John Turner and TV journalist Charles Kuralt embraced the vision, pas-sion and tenacity that launched a historic movement in the 1980s and 1990s, firmly establishing the School’s fiscal, academic and physical presence. The numbers tell much of the story. Twenty- five years ago, the School’s endow-ment barely stood at $ 40,000. By 1996, it had grown to $ 4 million. That seed of success further flourished over the years, enabling the School to build an endowment now worth nearly $ 16 million, an amount that includes funding for student scholarships and chaired professorships. Although the School’s very first classes amounted to less than a dozen full- time students, more than 300 MSW and 45 Ph. D. students are enrolled today. In 2009, U. S. News & World Report ranked the UNC School of Social Work’s MSW program No. 8 out of 165 programs evaluated nationwide. The School has grown physically, too. Back then, there was a small central building with some office space and only a hodge-podge of additional offices and classrooms around campus. By 1995, students, faculty and staff were celebrating the opening of a $ 10 million, 75,000- square- foot facility, ap-propriately named for the men who fought for its construction: the late Tate, Turner and Kuralt. Without a doubt, this threesome’s efforts laid the foundation for the School of Social Work’s achievement as one of the top graduate programs in the country, agreed current and former School leaders and faculty members. “ They not only got the money, they got the people interested in social work,” said Maeda Galinsky, a Kenan Distinguished Professor and faculty member for 45 years. “ They helped raise the awareness of social work within this School, within the University and throughout the state.” Historically, the School’s journey began in 1920, one year after North Carolina lawmakers decided that the state needed well- trained welfare workers to serve the public’s needs. Ultimately, the newly founded School of Public Welfare — a title that evolved until 1950 when it became the School of Social Work — helped launch a new era in the social work profession. Over the next 50 years, the School enrolled American Red Cross workers, helped develop mental health services throughout the state and organized field placement work for students. With pioneer scholar Alan Keith- Lucas on faculty, the program also began to develop a reputation around group child care. The School transformed alongside the country as it encountered new challenges. According to an undated, written “ Historical Perspective,” the program “ shared the post- World War II preoccupation with a clinical emphasis, achieving eminence as a functional casework school. It responded to America’s awakening to poverty and civil rights with a range of field and classroom learning oppor-tunities … ( that included) work with groups and communities.” By the 1970s, student enrollment had risen to more than 100, and the School had extended its curriculum focus to prepare students for direct and indirect services. However, even with expansion and academic progress, the School still lacked status, including within the University’s stone walls. 5 By Susan White The School’s first leader, Howard Odum 6 Contact | UNC School of Social Work “ Today, it’s seen as an outstanding School of Social Work around the country, but it certainly wasn’t even mentioned within that same breath when I came here,” said Galinsky, who arrived in 1965. The drive to prominence began with John Turner. A writer, schol-ar and teacher, Turner joined the UNC faculty in 1974 as the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Social Work. He was named School dean in 1981, becoming the first African American dean at the University. He wasted no time in making his mark. In Turner’s view, the School was languishing. There was no Ph. D. program and very little research. Perhaps most striking, there was barely any funding, nor was there any plan in place to campaign for donations. “ When I started, it was kind of a joke that they had received a $ 75 gift that had been unsolicited,” recalled Elizabeth Benefield, the School’s former assistant dean for development. “ People just weren’t being asked to give.” Even by the mid ‘ 80s, the social work program still longed for a permanent home. For years, professors and students were scattered across campus in five different buildings, including the alumni build-ing, where faculty members often encountered pesky visitors. “ There were cockroaches in the basement,” said Galinsky, a native of New York. “ I would come in, turn on the light, close my eyes and go ( stomps feet on the ground). I wasn’t used to the southern animals that were here. “ Without a building, School officials were forced to beg for classrooms every year, a routine that resulted in instructors lugging teaching materials around campus. Turner and others worried that the School would struggle to attract and hold on to faculty members. “ You felt like you were the stepchild of the University,” recalled Louise Coggins, current chair of the School’s board of advisors and a 1980 MSW graduate. “ You felt like you had to be poor and not wear good clothes. That’s how we were viewed and where things were.” Under Turner’s helm, the School soon plotted a new path toward national recognition and respect. Turner’s first strategic move: asking retired banking executive and former UNC- Chapel Hill trustees’ chairman Jack Tate for help. Tate, according to a 1996 article in the Raleigh News & Observer, helped the School develop “ a five year plan to get better facilities, well- known professors and more resources for social work programs.” Tate and Turner also assembled a board of advisors, a power group of business leaders, philanthropists and politicians. Kuralt, whose father had graduated from the School in the 1930s, was among those tapped for the board. Together, the men mapped a plan for the School’s financial growth. The timing was perfect. The University was about to launch its Bicentennial campaign and had asked each school to submit a fundraising goal. With Benefield on board as the School’s first devel-opment director, Tate and Turner decided to pursue $ 5 million, an unheard of amount for a School that had no history of fundraising. But Tate, Turner and Kuralt made quite a persuasive team. Tate had deep business connections and was skilled at reaching out to the corporate community. He could reason with his peers that they had a responsibility to children and families in need. He was also determined. He had already begun traveling every other week from In 1966, Hortense McClinton ( far left, 1984) joined the School of Social Work, becoming the first black faculty member at UNC- Chapel Hill. Prior to moving into our current building, the School of Social Work’s home was at 223 E. Franklin Street. This small building housed offices only; classes and events had to be held elsewhere on campus wherever available space could be found. Photo by Linda Wilson, 1989. Contact | UNC School of Social Work 7 his Charlotte home to Raleigh to lobby lawmakers for the millions needed for a new School building. Turner was the charismatic visionary, who was highly respected for his knowledge of the field. He could convince potential supporters that for the School to develop as a top- notch research base and attract more well- known professors, it needed a Ph. D. program. Kuralt was the down- to- earth newsman who brought everyday America into homes across the country. As the son of a social worker, he valued the profession and could easily frame a message encouraging supporters to do the same. “ They were the perfect team in every way,” Benefield said. “ They had the passion, and they had a huge following of believers. It felt like there was nothing we couldn’t do.” Within five years, the accomplishments mounted. The School exceeded its fundraising goal, raising an impressive $ 6 million, an amount that wowed University leaders; many donors included family names UNC had courted for years. By 1992, the General Assembly had approved full funding for construction of the School’s five- story brick and concrete building. Within the following year, the Ph. D. program was underway, and the School was under new leadership, following Turner’s retirement. New Dean Richard L. Edwards picked up where his predecessor left off, guiding the School through more unprecedented growth and change. By 1996, all eyes were fixed once again on the School with the opening of the Jordan Institute for Families, a research, training and technical assistance institute focused on solving social problems and strengthening North Carolina’s families. Funded by a $ 1 million dona-tion from basketball great Michael Jordan, the institute boosted the School’s name recognition and influence. Additional money continued to flow in over the years, enabling the School to set up endowed profes-sorships, including ones to honor Tate, Turner and Kuralt. UNC’s School of Social Work had finally arrived. “ Long- standing families who had been committed to social justice issues in this state wanted to be a part of what we were doing,” said Mark Fraser, the John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need and associate dean for research. “ It became a movement.” And that movement led to an awakening, said Benefield, who also credits the School’s support to a newly crafted message. Instead of simply asking for money, the School had encouraged potential donors to invest in the economic and social well- being of the people of North Carolina. “ We wanted them to know that they were investing in the future of our state,” Benefield said. That investment continues to return benefits, adding to the School’s esteem. Last year alone, the School received $ 16.2 million in federal, state and foundation funding to support programs, training, and technical assistance that directly or indirectly impact the state’s nine million residents. A portion of this money also funds the research of faculty mem-bers who are seeking innovative solutions to society’s most challenging problems, including issues of addiction, aging, poverty, mental health, family violence and affordable housing. “ Our faculty and staff are incredibly strong, have global reputa-tions and produce important and meaningful research that leads to more effective social work practice,” said current Dean Jack M. Rich-man. “ They care about educating our students and are among the best in the world.” Financial growth also has enabled the School to attract a diverse group of students and to assist them in paying for their education. Over the last decade alone, the School raised $ 21.3 million through the University’s Carolina First campaign, 152% of its goal. Through these funds, the School has created three new endowed professorships and 14 new scholarships. A record amount of more than $ 240,000 in scholarships was awarded in 2007- 08. The School’s continued academic and financial success reflects the vital work of Tom Lambeth, who succeeded Tate as board chair, and Coggins, the board’s current leader, said Mary Beth Hernandez, the School’s current associate dean for advancement. Their leadership ensured that the School “ expanded and strengthened its relationships internally and externally,” she said. “ But I also give a lot of the credit for the past decade to our vol-unteers and to Dean Richman’s leadership and for having a vision and saying, ‘ This is what we need to do,’ and then inspiring people to give,” Hernandez added. Students play a critical role in this growth as well. Many continue to receive support long after graduation by participating in various School- sponsored trainings, workshops and lectures. They join the nearly 4,500 alumni who give back by serving in direct practice and management positions and working with racially diverse communities in rural, urban and suburban settings across the country. “ I think one of the biggest reasons for our growth and success is because of our students,” said Iris Carlton- LaNey, a social work pro-fessor. “ The students who graduate from this program are being placed in positions throughout the state where they are influencing policy, practice and hiring.” Collectively, the School’s achievements further support the suc-cessful social work program that Tate, Turner and Kuralt envisioned years ago, Coggins noted. And although the legacy is hardly complete, after 90 years, it’s nice to reflect on how much has changed, she said. “ It’s very interesting to have come so far from being that poor step-child to being somebody that everybody is listening to,” she said. “ Everyone now knows we make a difference.” 7 Our building namesakes at its dedication in 1996: businessman Jack Tate, former dean John Turner, and legendary journalist Charles Kuralt Pioneer scholar Alan Keith- Lucas 8 8 Conttaacctt || UNC SScchooll off SSocciiaall Worrkk S chool leaders knew the odds. Building a research program from scratch at UNC’s School of Social Work would involve a lot of heavy lifting. But by the late 1980s, the risks of not moving forward were too great. If the School wanted to take a place among the nation’s best graduate schools, it had to attract more top- notch scholars. In 20 years, it has done just that and more. “ We have gone from being an unknown to a known, from being mistrusted on campus to fully trusted ...,” explained Professor Dennis Orthner, who was hired in 1988 to help develop the School’s research funding. “ We now can walk into any door, and we’re known. We can walk next door to Public Health, and we’re respected. We can walk to Nursing or to the Frank Porter Graham ( Child Development Insti-tute) center, and we’re respected.” The pursuit to the top began in the late 1980s and in the most primitive environment, especially for scholars Maeda Galinsky, Gary Nelson and Gary Bowen. As Galinsky carved out a niche in social group work, Nelson and Bowen developed their expertise in aging policy and services to military families, respectively. The professors accomplished their work, although there was practically no money for research or even a research infrastructure, said current Dean Jack M. Richman. “ There was no development. There was no external funding. It simply didn’t exist,” recalled Richman, who joined the School as a clinical assistant professor in 1983. “ When we did research, it was small, and we had to fund it ourselves. “ We didn’t even have computers then,” Richman added. “ We had one computer with dial- up in a hallway, but that’s it. It was like we were in the Stone Age.” Still, John Turner, then dean of the School, saw much promise, including in Orthner, a professor from the University of Georgia. At the time, the decision to hire Orthner may have perplexed some. After all, his degrees were in sociology and economics, not social work. But Orthner’s research interests were rooted in issues affecting vulnerable children and families, including poverty and public educa-tion. Like Bowen, who happened to be a former student of Orthner’s, School of Social Work becomes a research force By Susan White “ Grant to Social Work,” July 3, 1968. Second from left: Samuel Fudge, director of the Group Child Care Project. Far right: Dean Alan Keith- Lucas, who started the Child Care Project at the School. Image from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. Basketball great Michael Jordan, Carmen Hooker Odom, and then- Chancellor Michael Hooker, at the UNC School of Social Work on Oct. 1, 1996 for the dedication of the Jordan Institute for Families Coonnttaacctt || UNC SScchhooooll ooff SSoocciiaall Woorrkk 99 the Georgia professor was also interested in the welfare of military families. Perhaps most important, Turner believed Orthner could success-fully kick start the School’s research funding as he had done in Geor-gia. “ Dennis was really at the beginning of all of what we have now,” Richman said. One of Orthner’s first responsibilities was to establish the School’s Human Services Research and Design Laboratory, which helped promote and support faculty research interests. Orthner’s team quickly went to work, building a network infrastructure within the School, in-cluding its first email communications system. The new tools enabled the School to save thousands of dollars — money that the research lab in turn offered to faculty members as pilot funding to run small projects and test new ideas. School leaders hoped that these enterprises and others would spark further funding as well as boost the social work program’s overall presence within the scientific community. Historically, the School had dramatically grown as a training insti-tute, helping professional social workers stay up- to- date on the latest evidenced-based practices in child welfare, aging, mental health and substance abuse. But with a more intensive focus on interven-tion research, the School offered North Carolina an exciting opportunity — the chance to engage with academic scholars committed to providing cutting- edge solu-tions to some of the state’s most pressing social and economic problems. Projects flourished within a decade. The School’s new research and design lab managed nearly $ 2 million annually, including the first major research work for the state: a five- year evaluation of North Carolina’s welfare- to- work program. The state project became a stepping stone for the School’s efforts in supporting investigations that strengthen children and families. North Carolina leaders also welcomed the diverse contributions of faculty members and their groundbreak-ing work. There was a first- of- its- kind study that examined the effects of welfare reform on school performance and a project that tested a collaborative, holistic approach to improve the state’s adult services programs. The state valued the rigorous studies, not only because they informed practice and policies but perhaps more important to taxpayers, the research ensured that programs aimed at assisting the state’s most vulnerable were operating effectively. “ It was a very radical time because we were experimenting in lots of ways,” Orthner recalled. The innovative work demonstrated the School’s commitment to service, but a multi- million dollar fundraising campaign would posi-tion faculty closer to the goal of creating lasting social change. The campaign was spearheaded by Turner, Charlotte businessman John A. “ Jack” Tate, and TV journalist Charles Kuralt and ultimately garnered the School $ 6 million to support its academic core, including the cre-ation of a Ph. D. program. The money also provided the necessary financial capacity for the program to create endowed professorships to attract sought- after scholars. The School wasted little time filling the first two chaired posi-tions, hiring Mark Fraser, former director of the Ph. D. program at the University of Utah’s School of Social Work, and Lynn Usher, former director at the Center for Policy Studies at Research Triangle Institute. Fraser, the John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need, and Usher, the Wallace H. Kuralt, Sr., Professor of Public Welfare Policy and Administration, strengthened the School’s social interven-tion research, especially around at- risk children and families, and helped raise the UNC program’s profile nationally. Fraser also helped develop an internal base of people to assist faculty members with grant proposals, raising the School’s competitive edge for federal awards. “ For the faculty who came in initially, it was really risky,” Orthner noted. “ But I think those early steps were very, very important for get-ting our national reputation off the ground.” By 1996, the School had amassed a variety of national experts specializing in school success, violence prevention, child welfare and eldercare. These scholars regularly published, bringing the program additional exposure and recognition. But with the founding of the Jordan Institute for Families, the School had a national research model. The institute, which was created with a $ 1 million donation from Mi-chael Jordan, brought together schol-ars who could work closely with North Carolina communities to address problems threatening to undermine the state’s most vulnerable families, including poverty, mental illness and substance abuse. Today, the institute houses more than a dozen research, training and technical assistance programs that benefit the state, including the N. C. Child Welfare Education Collabora-tive, the School Success Profile, the Behavioral Healthcare Resource Pro-gram, the Center for Aging Research and Educational Services ( CARES) and the N. C. Area Health Education Center Training Partnership. “ The Jordan Institute gave the programs name recognition, cred-ibility and a banner that we could use for a lot of different things,” said Gary Nelson, the institute’s associate direc-tor for program development and training initiatives. The institute also enabled the School to demonstrate its wealth of knowledge within the social work field, added Orthner, the institute’s associate director for policy development and analysis. “ Back then, we didn’t have the cachet of being competent in re-search,” he said. “ Now, there’s no question about our competency.” The work of individual faculty members, especially throughout North Carolina, only enhanced the School’s reputation. “ Not only are we doing training, we have projects throughout the state that are developing new ideas for how to improve the effective-ness of social and health services,” explained Fraser, who served as the first director of the Jordan Institute. “ We have Betsy Bledsoe who is working with adolescent mothers. We have Rebecca Macy who is working in the field of intimate partner violence. We have Natasha Bo- Continued on p. 23 1 100 Conttaacctt || UNC SScchooll off SSocciiaall Worrkk F or at least half of the School of Social Work’s 90- year existence, there has been one constant: Maeda Galinsky. In 45 years, hun-dreds of students, dozens of faculty members and nine deans have come and gone, but Galinsky, a Kenan Dis-tinguished Professor, has remained. Those who know her best are hardly surprised. Her name is as syn-onymous to the School and UNC as it is to the theory and practice of social group work. In social work circles, Galinsky is considered a pioneer scholar for her work on groups and on intervention research. “ She is the grand dame of the School of Social Work,” said Louise Coggins, MSW ’ 80, and chair of the School’s Board of Advisors. “ She represents what social work is.” “ She cares amazingly, deeply about students and about faculty and has helped this School to be what it is today,” added Dean Jack M. Richman. For the 75- year- old Galinsky, teaching, researching and writ-ing have been her passion since the start of her career in the 1950s, although the call to “ help others,” came much earlier. “ I’ve had a rebel-lious streak since I was little,” said Galinsky, who grew up in College Point, N. Y. “ I would always talk to the person in trouble — someone whom you weren’t supposed to talk to.” Galinsky said she fully realized her career path as an undergrad majoring in social relations at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass. While there, she served as a volunteer and then director of a program that enabled student volunteers to work with the mentally ill in a psychiatric hospital. “ I just knew that social work is what I wanted to do,” she said. Galinsky went on to receive her MSW and Ph. D at the University of Michigan, where she also taught for a year. Then, in 1965, her husband David was offered a position with UNC’s Department of Psychology. Soon after, Galinsky was hired as an assistant professor at UNC’s School of Social Work. Although excited about the new opportunity, she accepted the job with slight trepidation. After all, for a city girl raised up North, the South in the 1960s was a tinderbox. “ I learned, however, that many people here were eager for racial equality and that they were willing to work together to effect change,” Galinsky recalled. “ While the area and the culture felt strange at first, I grew to love living here.” Forty- five years later, she marvels at how much the University, but especially the School of Social Work, have evolved. Although trained as a researcher and practitioner, Galinsky arrived during an era when the School was focused on teaching students the functional model of social work. “ It was more about building the relationship and working within the agency requirements,” she said. “ It was really casework. Group work, community organization and research were kind of on the periphery at that point.” However, Galinsky was undeterred and despite the lack of funding, pursued various pilot studies with then colleague, Janice Schopler. They paid out- of- pocket for some of their early research. Over the following two decades, Galinsky’s work flourished along with respect from other scholars. “ She was on the ground floor of ( social group work),” Richman said. “ And over time, she became a stalwart. She historically represents this whole basis of group work.” Galinsky has always been a critical thinker and prolific writer, and she continues to write and publish today. Much of her work has been accomplished alongside colleagues who respect Galinsky’s willing-ness to join forces. Collaboration, she said, has taught her to be a better researcher. Time has shown her the value in embracing others’ perspectives, while standing firm for her own convictions. “ Her biggest strength is her extraordinary ability to ‘ think with,’” said Mark Fraser, who has co- authored and co- edited numerous jour-nal articles, journals, book chapters, books and other presentations with Galinsky. “ She has the unusual capacity to excite ideas in others. She simply makes us all better scholars and better people.” That admiration extends to the classroom, where students have often been in awe of Galinksy’s ability to “ translate theory to practice Maeda Galinsky: For 45 years, ‘ Grand dame’ of the School of Social Work By Susan White Galinsky holds a 2009 book she co- authored, “ Intervention Research.” Galinsky, sitting on the table, with her students, 1971 Coonnttaacctt || UNC SScchhooooll ooff SSoocciiaall Woorrkk 1111 with ease,” said Traci Wike, a doctoral student. “ She is creative and intellectually curious,” Wike said. “ This equates to interesting and sometimes challenging conversations that always involve my learning something from her.” Those meeting Galinsky for the first time also quickly learn that the petite professor packs quite a youthful spirit and a wry sense of humor. “ Every time my daughter is in the building, Maeda plies her with candy and then grins and lets me know ‘ She’s all yours now!’” said Anna Scheyett, the School’s associate dean for academic affairs. More often, her humor and generosity collide in very subtle ways, as Wike discovered last winter when she ran across Galinsky’s purple sweater hanging in the fifth- floor suite outside the professor’s office. Attached to the sweater was a note, offering the garment to anyone who might be chilly. “ It’s ugly, but it’s warm,” the note read. “ That is what I love about Maeda,” Wike said. “ She is a wonderful balance of intelligence, warmth, humor, and just general goodness.” That Galinsky would be thrilled to still be walking the halls of the Tate- Turner- Kuralt Building when the School celebrates its 100th an-niversary doesn’t surprise Dean Jack Richman. She remains a valued voice and will contribute wherever she can, he offered. At the same time, she is well aware that many others her age are fully embracing their retirements, enjoying life’s casual pace. And al-though she’s slowed a bit, she just isn’t ready to join them. “ It just feels good to be a part of a profession and a School that care about people and their environment,” Galinsky said. “ Students come here because they want to help people and make the world a better place for all. If you can help one person, you’ve done a lot.” Galinsky, Louise Coggins and Janice Schopler, 1980 The School of Social Work used to have a prominent Group Child Care Certificate Program. This photo was taken at the playground at the University Methodist Church Day Care Center on Nov. 20, 1975. At far right is Samuel Fudge, director of the Group Child Care Project. The children are Galinsky’s: Adam, Dana and Michael. Image from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. 12 Contact | UNC School of Social Work T his year, the School will celebrate its 90th anniversary. It’s hard to imagine that beginning. Cars and “ talkies” were novelties. Prohibition was in full force, and the Depression was around the corner. And in the midst of it all, the School of Pub-lic Welfare ( our original name) was founded. Looking back, many changes have occurred within the School and its curriculum since 1920. Originally focused on public welfare, the School expanded over the years to also emphasize social work practice across a range of fields, including health, mental health, community practice, administration and policy practice. Perhaps the most significant change has been the emphasis on research, including the production of and use of empiri-cal evidence in practice settings. This decision to strengthen our School with research hugely affected how students are taught. Even when I was a student ( back in 1987- 89), we were taught treatment models, such as object relations and other psychodynamic approaches and some basic functionalist approaches, but we never reviewed the literature to critically examine the evidence for the ef-ficacy of these models and approaches. We simply learned them, and we were expected to use them in our practice. Intervention research was hardly on the radar years ago. Now, the School’s curriculum requires critical thinking and the use of evidence- based and promising practices — interventions that have been shown to be effective based on empirical research. Social workers don’t just learn one model and stick with it. We are expected to keep learning and growing throughout our careers, critically exam-ining and evaluating our own practice and the research literature. What is really exciting and what we can truly be proud of today is that some of our own faculty members are leading the country’s ef-forts in generating the social work empirical literature. Students now have the opportunity to learn about innovative research findings in domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse, for example, within the same academic community where that research is taking place. Students can even participate in these research projects through the School’s assistantships and research awards programs. Although in 90 years much has changed, some of the School’s core elements remain the same. We still focus on social justice, on the importance of social work ethics, on education that combines class-room work with fieldwork in collaboration with community agencies, and on service to vulnerable individuals, families and communities. The School remains steadfast with its goal: We prepare social workers to make a difference. Curriculum evolves over the years By Anna Scheyett, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Reading Room, 1978 1925 tuition and fees = $ 47.33 Contact | UNC School of Social Work 13 D uring my junior year of college at the University of Michigan, I found social work — or rather social work found me. I had spent my undergraduate career searching for a major and discipline that addressed families and communities in need as well as creative intervention approaches and human service from a strengths-based perspective rather than a deficit model. I also needed a place where I believed I could make a dif-ference. Finally, one day a college senior I greatly respected who shared similar interests asked me a simple question: “ Have you ever con-sidered social work?” Once I researched the field and its mission, I was hooked! My goal in life was to now become a professional social worker and to find an MSW program that would prepare me for this journey. After researching numerous masters programs across the country, I decided to apply to UNC- Chapel Hill for fall enrollment in 1996. The School of Social Work’s national ranking, incredible faculty and the annual Black Experience Workshop directed by the late Dr. Audreye Johnson drew me to the program, not to mention the chance to break from the Midwest winters! I placed a call to the School’s admissions office and was greeted by the warm southern drawl of Linda Wilson, student services manager, who mailed me an information packet on the program. Needless to say, I was elated when I received my offer of admissions to UNC; I even sent my deposit without ever visiting the state of North Carolina. When I reflect on my cohort and time in the program, it’s hard to believe how much has changed. My full- time cohort included 39 people with only five ( 14%) students of color. This fall, we will welcome 68 full- time students with 17 ( 25%) representing students of color. Just like today’s students, I graduated with an amazing group of advanced standing and distance education ( formerly called part- time) students. My concentration year experience was definitely enriched by the diversity and life experience that the part- time students brought to the program as well as the social work practice knowledge and experience that the advanced standing students shared. This fall, the School will enroll 320 new and returning students in its MSW program. I believe that today’s students are motivated to enter the field of social work for the same reasons that their peers pursued careers years ago: We are all committed to improving the quality of life for individuals, families and communities in need. What has changed is the range of communities students seek to serve and the range of practice opportunities. Never before has there been such an interest in international social work settings and in serv-ing our global community. We have seen a substantial increase in stu-dents with international human service experience, including with the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, and from those with second language skills, particularly Spanish. It has been an honor and privilege to return to the School of Social Work as a faculty member and to serve as the director of recruitment, admissions and financial aid. It’s hard to believe that it has been 14 years since my first trip to North Carolina and my first meeting with School admissions officials in the same office where I now work every day. I’m pleased to continue the School’s commitment to recruiting some of the most talented and dedicated students from across the country and across the globe. Students bring diversity, experience to the program By Sharon Thomas, Director of Recruitment, Admissions and Financial Aid In the summer of 1975, 10 social work professionals from other countries studied at the School of Social Work as part of the “ Council of International Programs for Social Workers and Youth Leaders.” 14 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Personal Reflections 14 “ I think it’s a huge accomplishment to say that in 90 years, our School not only is in all 100 counties of the state but that it has also made a nationwide and global impact based on the research and the problems that the faculty focuses on and wants to solve.” – Michelle Turner, ( MSW ’ 03), President of the School of Social Work’s Alumni Council and member of the Board of Advisors “ I think ( the faculty and staff at UNC’s School of Social Work) should be very proud that they have educated people from all walks of life. I think the School continues to ground social workers in the understanding that they always need to connect to consumers and clients.” – Diann Dawson ( MSW ’ 74), Director, Office of Regional Operations, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families “ Having the MSW degree itself is something of a ticket for you. It tends to open doors. It gave me a foundation on which to practice social work.” – Bobby Boyd ( MSW ’ 69), retired Director of Catawba County Social Services with 30+ years of experience in social work and member of the School’s Board of Advisors “ We have become a place of both exquisite research ... and exquisite practice training.” – Mark Fraser, John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need and Associate Dean for Research “ I think the School gave us many opportunities and encouragement. You had the opportunity to apply a lot of coursework to actual practice. It all was very useful to me in the varied careers that I had, including working with welfare departments, military bases, large general hospitals, field hospi-tals and military hospitals.” – Ella Hobbs Craig ( MSW ’ 50), former disaster representative with the American Red Cross and retired social worker with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska “ Nothing speaks so well for the School than the work of our graduates. All over the state, the coun-try, and internationally, we have graduates commit-ted to improving the services, organizations and communities that support families in need. That is the best measure of our success.” – Dorothy “ Dee” Gamble, former Clinical Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Student Services “ The School’s service to some of the must vulner-able populations in North Carolina is a testament to the ideals and the values that the social work profession represents. I am proud to say that I am a graduate of such a service- oriented institution. Likewise, I am deeply honored and privileged to have the opportunity to serve on the faculty and to help educate the next generation of social work professionals.” – Travis Albritton, ( MSW, ‘ 03), Clinical Instructor and Director Triangle Distance Education MSW Program Faculty member Rachael Dedmon, future dean Jack Richman, and student Julie Gaskell ( MSW ‘ 85), 1984 Charles Kuralt in the auditorium, 1996 Coonnttaacctt || UNC SScchhooooll ooff SSoocciiaall Woorrkk 1155 “ I think the School can be most proud of turning out social workers who are really concerned about their clients and want to help people in any way they can. It’s not just a job.” – H. Carl Henley, former Professor, retired from the School in 1999 after 31 years “ My goal was to go into social services when I finished school. I really wanted to give back and to work in a field where I certainly felt I would have some impact. And I know that the School prepared me for that and for continuing to learn.” – Dana Courtney ( MSW ’ 74), independent consultant with Visions, Inc.; member of the School’s Board of Advisors; Alumni Council Past President; and former social worker with 25+ years of administrative and direct experience in human services, social work services and organizational development “ In some ways, what’s happened is the School grew up and became a player in a robust combination of research, public engagement and teaching. It came of age and strengthened itself in each of those di-mensions.” – Gary Nelson, Professor and Associate Director for Program Development and Training Initiatives with the Jordan Institute for Families “ I think our job is like the scholarship says, ‘ to help improve the quality of life for people.’ But I always say to students, you can’t be a social worker and go home at 5 o’clock and say, ‘ Day is done.’ If you’re committed to a system that’s equitable and just – you’re always a social worker.” – Iris Carlton- LaNey, Professor “ This School is really well- positioned to launch international social work because of the intervention scholars we have here now and the high value that we place on intervention research.” – Gina Chowa, Assistant Professor “ We are doing all kinds of interesting research here that helps make a difference in people’s lives. But the funding environment is incredibly competitive right now. So I think a key challenge for the School and the faculty is to find funding to sustain and extend the research that we are doing now.”– Rebecca Macy, Associate Professor “ Choosing UNC for my doctoral education was a great decision! I am mentored well, and faculty members have supported my research interests since day one. Also, I practiced as a social worker in North Carolina, so being here is a way of staying connected to the state through my research.” – Tiffany Washington, Doctoral Student “ I think we can be proud that we are serving North Carolina at the same time that we are advancing the knowledge base – getting ( the research) into com-munities as well as into our classrooms.” – Natasha Bowen, Associate Professor ( Ph. D. ’ 99, MSW ’ 96) See more 90th Anniversary stories and vintage photos online at http:// ssw. unc. edu/ 90 Student lounge, 1982 16 Contact | UNC School of Social Work A nna Scheyett never considered launching her own Internet blog until a UNC colleague suggested last spring that Scheyett should be sharing her social work leadership experience and expertise with a broader audience. “ I knew nothing about blogging, and I don’t particularly follow anybody else’s blog,” explained Scheyett, the UNC School of Social Work’s associate dean for academic affairs. “ But eventually kicking and screaming, I set up a blog.” What resulted was “ Social Work Leadership,” which Scheyett uses as a space for commentary on the roles social workers and others play in addressing social injustice issues. The blog is still building an audience but since finding her footing and developing her own writing voice, Scheyett said she has grown more comfortable with and has a greater appreciation for using social media. “ It really is a quick way to flag issues, which I think can be helpful,” she said. “ And I think [ blogging is] a great way to disseminate informa-tion and offer a secondary education around what social work is.” Social workers and social work educators have been using elec-tronic bulletin boards, e- mail and online forums to interact with one another and raise social consciousness for years. But the transition to social media, where users connect, create and share online content, has been much slower. Until now. Scheyett is among a growing group of academics and practicing professionals learning to navigate Web 2.0 technology, a virtual smorgasbord in which communication and inter-action more commonly occurs in waves of Twitter tweets, Facebook feeds, YouTube videos and Blogger posts. “ I have found Twitter very useful,” Scheyett said of the online mes-saging platform where news, opinions and personal information can be shared or “ tweeted” in 140 characters or less. “ It’s a way to push out information to people without being intrusive.” Like Scheyett, other faculty members at UNC’s School of Social Work were not initially sure what to make of the innovative technol-ogy or why they should even experiment with it. However, associate professors Rebecca Macy and Susan Parish were intrigued and quickly became the School’s most prolific social media users. Both regularly post news or social commentary around their research interests on Twitter. For Parish, the micro- blogging site has turned into a great personal assistant, helping her to organize and keep track of research news around her interests in disability, poverty and health care issues. Many state and federal government agencies and independent research institutes have established Twitter accounts and frequently post reports Social work meets social media By Susan White Researchers, social workers champion benefits of blogs, Twitter Contact | UNC School of Social Work 17 to their pages. “ Followers” of these groups receive tweet alerts when new information is posted. Parish is among those alerted when, for example, The Urban Institute issues a new report on children’s health. “[ Twitter] is a very efficient way to follow breaking news and the kinds of policy research that I need to follow,” Parish said. Rebecca Macy, Ph. D., addresses domestic violence issues in her blog. Macy started a blog in late 2008 after realizing she could use the site to connect with social workers in the field and others on her work around domestic violence and prevention issues. “ I had read an article that said academics should blog because how many people are really going to read our peer reviewed research, and it questioned whether our work is really that accessible,” Macy explained. “ So, I’m trying to take my research and evidence and make it more accessible. I’m really trying to connect to people out in the practice world.” That more social work re-searchers and clinicians are starting to embrace social media doesn’t surprise Karen Zgoda, a licensed clinical social worker and Ph. D. candidate at Boston College Gradu-ate School of Social Work. “ I think one of the biggest arguments for using these tools is that clients are already using them,” said Zgoda, whose research focuses on the role of technology in social work. Zgoda writes a regular column on the subject for The New Social Worker Online magazine. “ As social workers, I think it is important to go where the clients are and understand how they are using these tools and how we can use them to help folks,” she added. Blogs, which enable virtually anyone with Internet access to pub-lish their work or opinions, have exploded as evidenced by the tens of millions of online sites currently in existence. Although no one appears to track the total number of social work researchers and clinicians using social media, Zgoda has started com-piling several lists using Twitter. Many users already work in environ-ments where social media is gaining popularity. UNC’s School of Social Work is among numerous schools on the Chapel Hill campus that have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to keep up with alumni, attract prospective students and distribute news and information. Research shows that higher ed institutions are learning to harness social media to increase exposure and improve recruitment efforts. The National Association for College Admission Counseling reported this spring that more than half of the nation’s colleges and universities now monitor social media for “ buzz about their institution.” A third maintain blog sites, while more than a quarter maintain Internet social networking pages. The trend continues beyond college campuses. Businesses, phil-anthropic groups and others are also capitalizing on social media. For example, The National Association of Social Workers ( NASW) and The New Social Worker Online magazine have created blogs, Face-book pages and Twitter accounts to keep practitioners up- to- date on research, best practices and available jobs. Both also recently spon-sored online chats through socialworkchat. org to bring social workers together to discuss Internet predators and foster care. A few websites, such as “ Social Work Blogs,” help connect field clinicians with peers, including to those who regularly blog or tweet about their daily experiences working in mental health, aging or domestic violence agencies. Others offer research and statistics tips. The NASW launched “ SocialWorkersSpeak. org” as a way to get social workers talking about and influencing how they are portrayed in film, on television and in the news. “ Some of the most popular movies and television programs deal with issues social workers handle each day, including children and families, the aging, and health and wellness,” said James J. Kelly, NASW president. “ However, social workers and the issues they address are not always accurately portrayed in the media. Social Workers Speak will help us tell the real story and generate a healthy dialog between the media and social workers.” Because social workers are held to ethical standards that ap-ply to confidentiality and conflicts of interests, understanding where to draw the line is a must, particu-larly for those in direct practice, said Kim Strom- Gottfried, the School of Social Work’s Smith P. Theimann Distinguished Profes-sor for Ethics and Professional Practice. “ I urge people to think about - is this something that you would tell somebody else who you have a general relationship with,” said Strom- Gottfried, who led a workshop on the “ Ethics of Social Networking” in April. “ Think of your clientele. How would this be perceived? Does this blur the boundaries? Does this make you feel more visible than you want to feel? What are the things that you are comfortable having known about you? “ To me, the important part of the conversation is around ethical challenges and where you set boundaries.” Still, Strom- Gottfried, who maintains Facebook and Linked- In ac-counts, appreciates the value of online platforms, especially for sharing academic research. “ We have knowledge to bring to the town square in this discourse,” she added. “ A lot of people are also using social media for problem solving. So I think the risk is worth it.” Linda Grobman, publisher and editor of The New Social Worker, and a licensed social worker, counts herself among the “ early adopters” of new social media, though she has been using the Internet for social work networking for years. She expects other social workers to eventu-ally invest in the communication tools. “ I think today’s traditional- age students already know about it because kids are growing up with technology- assisted learning,” Grob-man said. “ They already know about Facebook, text messaging, iPhone apps, YouTube and so forth. So as younger people enter the social work field, there will naturally be more social workers using social media.” Not everyone is eager to dive into the virtual realm. For many academics, including social work educators, the idea of developing an online presence stirs up mixed emotions. Many say they just don’t have the time to blog or tweet, and the rewards of doing either as a scholarly extension of their research or teaching are not clear. Even among those already plugged into the technology, the benefits are not always im-mediately evident. Rebecca Macy addresses domestic violence issues in her blog. Follow the School of Social Work on Facebook and Twitter: http:// ssw. unc. edu/ about/ social_ networks Continued on p. 23 18 Contact | UNC School of Social Work O ver the years, research has shown that Latino youth face nu-merous risk factors when integrating into American culture, including increased rates of alcohol and substance use and higher rates of dropping out of school. But a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows adolescents who actively embrace their native culture — and whose parents become more involved in U. S. culture — stand a greater chance of avoiding these risks and developing healthier behav-iors overall. The findings are from a longitudinal study by the UNC- based Latino Acculturation and Health Project, which is supported by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) and directed by Paul Smokowski, Ph. D., an associate professor at the UNC School of Social Work. Researchers interviewed 281 Latino youths and parents in North Carolina and Arizona, asking questions about a wide range of measures of lifestyle and mental health. Participants answered ac-cording to how much they agreed with each question ( for example, from “ not at all” to “ very much”), resulting in scores on a scale for each measure. “ We found teens who maintain strong ties to their Latino cul-tures perform better academically and adjust more easily socially,” Smokowski said. “ When we repeated the survey a year later, for every 1- point increase in involvement in their Latino cultures, we saw a 13 percent rise in self- esteem and a 12 to 13 percent decrease in hopeless-ness, social problems and aggressive behavior. “ Also, the study showed parents who develop a strong bicultural perspective have teen children who are less likely to feel anxiety and face fewer social problems,” he said. “ For every increase in a par-ent’s involvement in United States culture, we saw a 15 to 18 percent decrease in adolescent social problems, aggression and anxiety one year later. Parents who were more involved in U. S. culture were in a better position to proactively help their adolescents with peer relations, forming friendships and staying engaged in school. This decreases the chances of social problems arising.” “ Such results suggest that Latino youth and their parents benefit from biculturalism,” Smokowski said. The findings are presented as part of a series of articles featured next month in a special issue of The Journal of Primary Prevention, a collaborative initiative between UNC and the CDC. The special issue presents the latest research on how cultural adaptation influences. Latino youth behaviors — including involvement in violence, smoking and substance use, as well as overall emotional well- being — and offers suggestions for primary prevention programs that support minority families. “ Bicultural adolescents tend to do better in school, report higher self esteem, and experience less anxiety, depression and aggression,” said study co- author Martica Bacallao, Ph. D., an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, whose work is also featured in the special issue. “ It is interesting that, in order to obtain these benefits of biculturalism, adolescents and parents often need to do the op-posite of what their natural tendencies tell them. Parents who are strongly tied to their native cultures must reach out to learn skills in the new culture. Adolescents who quickly soak up new cultural behaviors should slow down and cultivate the richness in their native cultures.” Smokowski added: “ The burgeoning size of the Latino population and the increasingly important roles that Latino youth will play in American culture are worthy of community attention. Communities can either invest in prevention to nurture Latino youth as a national resource or pay a heavy price later in trying to help these youth address social problems such as substance use, aggression or dropping out of school; all of which often results from the stress of acculturation.” Along with Smokowski and Bacallao, Rachel L. Buchanan, Ph. D. ‘ 08, assistant professor of social work at Salisbury University in Mary-land, was a co- author of the study, titled “ Acculturation and Adjust-ment in Latino Adolescents: How Cultural Risk Factors and Assets Influence Multiple Domains of Adolescent Mental Health.” UNC study: Latino teens happier, healthier if families embrace biculturalism By Susan White Paul Smokowski Contact | UNC School of Social Work 19 S econd- year MSW student Darshan Mundada is passionately committed to international social work and empowering other young people to improve human rights for all. Such dedication is one of the main reasons why Mundada, a Rotary World Peace Fellow from India, never hesitates to pursue opportunities to learn from world leaders and why the 26- year- old often spends his semester breaks abroad. Last summer, Mundada joined hundreds of other college stu-dents, including a handful from UNC, to complete an internship with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Microfinance guru and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen, which provides the poor with microfinance loans to fund entrepreneurial endeavors so that individuals can lift themselves from poverty. During his time with Grameen, Mundada learned how mico-financing functions on a broad scale — the Bank now serves more than 7 million poor families. Since it’s founding in 1976, Grameen has exploded into an institutional family of companies, including one of-fering affordable health care and another developing renewable energy technologies. Mundada also received an insider’s view of the microfinance world with visits to other agencies in Bangladesh, including BRAC, one of the world’s largest nongovernment organizations, and Uddipan, a grass-roots nonprofit. Like Grameen, both agencies focus on empowering women through educational, financial and other social development services so that they can build independent, sustainable lives for their families. “ It was a great learning experience,” Mundada said. After several weeks with Grameen, Mundada spent the remaining half of his summer vacation in an internship with the Central Tibetan Administration ( CTA), Tibet’s government in exile in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh state. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, estab-lished the CTA in 1959. For Mundada, the experience was a chance to observe a govern-ment under a man he has admired since youth. Mundada, who met the Dalai Lama in 1996, still draws much of his inspiration from the exiled leader. Their chance meeting years ago encouraged Mundada to form the Friends’ Society — a community service, social awareness and eco-conservation organization in India. During his internship, Mundada observed each of the CTA’s departments, including health, education, and information and international relations. “ I learned about how policies are formed and how to get the support of the people,” he explained. “ I also learned how nonprofits and governments can function together.” He was most inspired, he said, in seeing that the government’s employees are “ not just there for the money.” “ They are there because they share a passion for their country and want it to be free,” he said. Mundada, who graduates this year, plans to return to India, where he intends to help further develop the country’s nonprofit sector. “ The work in India is important as the nonprofit sector is currently disorganized, and there is a lot of overlap in services and a replica-tion of models consuming multiple resources,” Mundada said. “ It is necessary to create a network that will enable organizations to share resources … and a support network for budding entrepreneurs.” Student Darshan Mundada passionate about international social work By Susan White Darshan Mundada with Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhummad Yunus 20 Contact | UNC School of Social Work T his summer, School of Social Work faculty members Mat Despard and Gina Chowa had planned to be developing two projects both hoped could assist in the long- term efforts of building a healthier and more economically stable Haiti. Then the Jan. 12 earthquake hit. The two UNC colleagues have since shifted their priorities and are now focusing their energy and expertise to provide more immediate relief to young survivors in one rural area of the country. Despard, a clinical assistant professor, and Chowa, an assistant professor, have partnered with Fondation Enfant Jesus ( FEJ), an orga-nization that operates a crèche, clean water project, micro- enterprise program and school programs in Lamardelle, a rural farming village about 20 miles east of Haiti’s capital, Port- au- Prince. Despard, who adopted a little girl from the organization almost two years ago, said the crèche, which is similar to an orphanage, sustained some damage from the quake, but the 70 children living there were uninjured. Prior to the disaster, he and Chowa were in the process of helping FEJ and its U. S.- based nonprofit, Village of Vision for Haiti Founda-tion, secure grant funding to establish a health clinic in Lamardelle and to expand the micro- enterprise program for women. But with the quake uprooting or leaving orphaned tens of thousands of Haiti’s chil-dren, government officials recently asked that the organizations step in to provide additional shelter and services to the disaster’s youngest victims. Despard and Chowa are now assisting the Haitian organizations with this call for help. First, the colleagues hope to find and help obtain the funding the groups will need to serve more children. “ Gina and I are trying to anticipate what channels of funding there are and where others could be,” Despard said. They are also spreading the message of other needed expertise, including public health experts who can ensure that accommodations for earthquake refugees have proper sanitation. “ I really want to emphasize that we are following FEJ’s lead because there is so much that we don’t know about Haiti,” Despard said. “ We really want to build a partnership and right now, that means just trying to figure out the help FEJ needs, even if it only means sending money and finding more of it.” Although billions of dollars in donations have been flowing into Haiti since the earthquake struck, a significant portion of this money is designated for the larger U. S.- based nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations working in the country. But getting the Haitian- operated aid organizations the financial support they need is equally important, Chowa said. Faculty members help Haitian agency serve earthquake’s youngest survivors By Susan White Gina Chowa Mat Despard 20 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Contact | UNC School of Social Work 21 Contact | UNC School of Social Work 21 “ International development organizations need to pay attention to and support smaller nongovernmental organizations like FEJ, because these small NGOs have been working in Haiti with people at the grass-roots for a long time and are committed to their people,” she said. The FEJ, in particular, has a solid reputation for helping children in its care reunite with their parents or find adoptive homes in the United States, Canada and France, Despard said. That reputation is likely one of the main reasons the government turned to the organization for help, especially with a rush of interest from around the world in increasing adoptions from Haiti. “ Part of the reason I think the government is turning to the FEJ is because of their success in ensuring that children don’t have other family to go live with first,” he said. “ They are really careful about assessing each child’s situation with their parents.” The School could potentially offer the organizations additional professional and academic expertise on adoption and foster care, but Despard cautioned that he wants to make sure that any efforts made are in response to specific needs and requests. As someone who has closely followed Haiti’s political, economic and social history, Despard is very sensitive to the country’s challenges and the tradition of other nations, especially the United States, to jump in with money and ideas. ( Despard, who writes a blog on nonprofit issues, has written several posts since the earthquake address-ing relief efforts and Haiti’s challenges.) Organizations like the FEJ are rooted in Haiti, employ Haitians and are ultimately linked to the country’s ability to dig its way out of poverty, Chowa said. They are founded on long- term sus-tainable solutions “ that will improve the well- being of Haitians,” she added. “ There is a need … for solutions that address health, education, economic well- being and livelihoods,” she said. Projects, including the ones the colleagues were originally pursu-ing before the earthquake, also offer these kinds of promises, Despard and Chowa agreed. The proposals, they said, would enable Haitians to care for each other and work together to rebuild the country’s economy. L ong before a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, social workers were already among the countless humanitarian workers and aid organizations attending to the impover-ished country’s physical and emotional needs. In the months ahead, these same workers will play an even more vital role as extensive efforts to rebuild shattered infrastructure and lives begin. Although treating the immediate physical needs of Haiti’s sick and injured remains a top priority, providing needed psychological first aid must also be a part of growing relief efforts and the kind of assistance that social workers are well- equipped to offer, said Joanne Caye, a UNC School of Social Work clinical as-sistant professor. Research has shown that such mental health assistance, especially within the first four to six weeks of a disaster, can help survivors reduce their chances of developing acute stress and post- traumatic stress disorder, said Caye, co- author of, “ When Their World Falls Apart: Helping Families and Children Manage the Effects of Disasters.” “ What this means is providing people with accurate information, listening to their needs, letting them know that what they are experi-encing is normal and giving them hope. That’s what psychological first aid does,” Caye said. “ Some people may ask, ‘ What good does that do?’ But the research tells us that … with a therapeutic response fairly early on, people will be able to gain some sense of control over their lives.” Since the Jan. 12 earthquake, much of Haiti has been mired in chaos. The catastrophe disabled most of the country’s already worn or damaged infrastructure, including roads and seaport, hampering efforts to get medical supplies, food and water to quake victims. Ac-cording to media reports, the death toll is expected to rise to at least 200,000 in and around the capital city of Port- au- Prince, with thou-sands more presumed dead around the country and close to 200,000 more injured. Nearly 1 million people have been left homeless in Port-au- Prince, and thousands of others are reportedly living in squalor in makeshift camps. Shelter — even temporary but close to home — can help children and adults retain a sense of normalcy, a lesson researchers learned firsthand following Hurricane Katrina, said Caye, who served in 2007 as a co- director for the “ New Orleans Recovery Initiative,” a rebuilding project through the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. Although thousands of displaced Gulf Coast residents were evacuated to the Houston Astrodome, many of these evacuees were unable to immediately find other housing and in the interim, adopted the astrodome as their “ new home.” When these families were forced to leave, many were “ re- traumatized” as if they were physically losing their houses once again, Caye explained. “ So if people can be kept relatively close to where their homes are, they don’t go through that,” she explained. For Haiti’s children, many of whom lost parents and their homes, the real-ity of the catastrophic event may be difficult to resolve, Caye said. Social workers can help children deal with the emotions that even adults find hard to face, she said. “ One of the big things we know is that children look to adults in terms of how they should respond to a situation, especially younger kids,” she explained. “ But if there has been a significant loss, we know that sometimes adults can try and act like they’re not upset or try to shield a child from that loss. And in some instances, that’s not very help-ful because it can give kids the impression that they’re not allowed to grieve or to get angry.” Social workers can assist parents with interpreting cues from their children, including depression that may initially mask itself as moodi-ness, irritability or rebelliousness, Caye said. “ Understanding a child’s development — where kids are and what that means to them cognitively, emotionally and physically — is so critical when you’re doing this ( type of emergency aid),” Caye added. “ You have to be able to connect with where that kid is, not where you are.” Social workers will play important role in Haiti relief efforts By Susan White Joanne Caye Continued on p. 23 22 Contact | UNC School of Social Work U NC School of Social Work assistant professor Michal Grin-stein- Weiss, Ph. D. is leading a new initiative to implement child development accounts ( CDAs) in Israel. In March, she traveled to Israel for three days of meetings with Israeli government officials and United States experts on asset building. Grinstein- Weiss, who is from Israel, and her team presented a proposal for an Israeli national CDA policy and a demonstration project to test the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a CDA program building on the child allowance structure and education system. The feedback from Minister Isaac Herzog and the Directors General was very positive. The Israelis decided to form a steering committee for CDAs in Israel to move the proposal forward, which will include Grinstein- Weiss and her team. The following week Minister Herzog released details about the proposal to the public. The Marker, an Israeli daily newspaper, pub-lished an article entitled, “ Herzog’s revolutionary proposal: Long- term savings in child benefit.” The article covers the specifics of the pro-posed long- term child development accounts and states that Herzog is determined to champion this effort. Meeting participants, pictured left to right, included: Esther Dominissini, Director General of the Israeli National Insurance In-stitute; Michael Sherraden, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor and the founding director of the Center for Social Development at Washington University; Isaac Herzog, Israeli Minister of Social Affairs and Services; Mark Iwry, Senior Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy in the U. S. Department of the Treasury; Ray Boshara, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation; Michal Grinstein- Weiss; Nachum Itzkovitz, Director General of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Services; Daniel Gottlieb, Deputy Director General, Research and Planning National Insurance Institute. Kneeling: Yekutiel Sabah, Head of Research and Planning Division at the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs and Services. Grinstein- Weiss leads effort to implement child development accounts in Israel By Michelle Rogers Michal Grinstein- Weiss T he UNC School of Social Work held its annual commencement on May 8. Over 1,000 people packed Memorial Hall to cel-ebrate about 120 MSW and three doctoral students receiving diplomas. The speaker was community activist Marisol Jimenez McGee, MSW ‘ 03. Erica Dunkle, MSW ‘ 10, gave a touching tribute in song to the late Dr. Gary Shaffer. In a presentation by Dean Jack Richman, JoAnn McCachern Swart, MSW ‘ 78, and the late Myrna Miller Wellons, MSW ‘ 96, were honored as winners of the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award. The students recognized Melissa Grady as Overall Outstanding Professor; Mat Despard, Most Innovative Teacher; Marilyn Ghezzi, Most Supportive Faculty Member; and Beth Sauer, Most Supportive Staff Member. Shenyang Guo was honored by doctoral students. School holds 89th annual commencement Kristie Diehn and Matthew Duncan See our graduation photo gallery online at: www. flickr. com/ photos/ unc_ school_ of_ social_ work By Michelle Rogers Contact | UNC School of Social Work 23 The proposed health clinic that Despard was helping to write a grant for would be based on the community- care model pioneered by the humanitarian organization, Partners in Health. “ A cornerstone of their model is they hire local people to act as community health workers and train them to do things like take daily anti- retroviral medications to people where they are living and monitor them to make sure they are taking them correctly,” Despard explained. “ They provide outreach to let people know about the clinic that is available and education about different diseases and how to prevent them.” Chowa’s part of the project focused on educating and training some of Lamardelle’s young single mothers in the business of micro-enterprise. Many of the women are extremely poor and have five or six children, most of whom are malnourished, Chowa said. Her proposal explored the potential of bringing women together with dif-ferent strengths and talents to operate and own shares in a business, enabling them to fiscally capitalize on their collective efforts. But Chowa was also interested in how such a business venture and the revenue the women hopefully would earn would affect their children’s health. “ With five or six children, can you imagine the impact if you just make the mother economically stable? The children can then have health care and money to go to school,” she said. Despard and Chowa hope that they can eventually pick these projects back up. In the meantime, they’re eager to help the Haitian organizations where they can and expect the School of Social Work’s reach into Haiti to continue. “ I was interested in Haiti before the earthquake,” Despard said. “ The questions have always been in my mind … When might there be opportunities to do research in a way that’s really helpful and not exploitive? The big question is how can we help but embedded in that is being accountable to what the Haitians want.” Mat Despard, a School of Social Work clinical assistant professor, blogs on “ All Things Nonprofit” and “ Macro Social Work.” Despard sees a functional purpose in using blogs for “ content management and connecting people to ideas and perspectives,” and generally uses his sites to assist students on classroom discussions as well as others interested in philanthropy. After Haiti’s devastat-ing earthquake in January, Despard turned to his nonprofit blog as a space for sharing his knowledge of the country and his personal expe-riences working with an organization there that cares for children. Scheyett and others agree their initial hesitancy stemmed from the unconventional way that social media requires people to com-municate. “ I think a part of it is that social work, probably more than any other profession, is about interpersonal relationships,” Scheyett explained. “ Being able to conceptualize an interpersonal virtual relationship is kind of challenging. So I think social workers might be a little more hesitant than other academics. That personal connection just isn’t there as much. It’s not how we communicate.” Yet globally, the Internet and social media are forcing a culture shift over how communication occurs, who participates and what information is spread. As a self- proclaimed technology geek, Macy eagerly praises social media for the advantages she thinks it affords. For example, Facebook, Twitter and blogs enable her to receive more immediate feedback on her research, she said. They also let her explore others’ thoughts for preventing physical, psychological and sexual violence. With just a few mouse clicks, Macy can tap into the brainpower of people and experts she probably would never have another chance of meeting. And as she noted in her first blog posting in November 2008, the opportunity for such back and forth dialog may lead to new ideas for social change. “ I have come to realize that finding the best ways to help violence survivors and … [ preventing] violence require creativity and innova-tion,” Macy said. “ And I believe that creativity and innovation do not occur in isolation. Creative and innovative solutions develop in conversations with others.” Social work meets social media, continued from p. 17 Faculty members help Haitian agency, continued from p. 21 wen, who is working in elementary schools on assessment and match-ing kids’ needs to evidenced- based programs. We have Matt Howard’s work in the field of substance abuse. “ Almost everywhere you look now, you find people who are leading scholars, not just in North Carolina, but in the country.” Support for these scholars has grown exponentially, largely because of generous gifts from donors who value the importance of social work research. In 2004, the School received a $ 1.2 million gift to recruit and retain faculty from former social worker Miriam McFadden, a Tennes-see resident and member of the School’s board of advisors. Three years later, Sam and Betsy Reeves of Fresno, Calif. donated $ 1 million to establish the Sandra Reeves Spears and John B. Turner Distinguished Professorship. In 2008, the Armfield- Reeves Innova-tions Fund was created to provide pilot funding for faculty and student research. The fund was developed with a $ 333,000 gift from the Reeves and a $ 250,000 gift from Janie and Billy Armfield of Richmond, Va. That same year, alumna Mel Adair ( MSW, ’ 76) established a charitable gift annuity with the UNC Foundation, directing nearly $ 1.4 million to the School of Social Work, one of the largest gifts in the School’s history. Adair’s gift created a $ 1 million endowment for the Johnson- Howard- Adair Distinguished Professorship, bringing the total number of endowed professorships at the School to eight. “ Private funding has greatly enhanced our ability to conduct in-novative research and outreach by enabling us to attract and retain top faculty and students and to support them in their work,” said Mary Beth Hernandez, the School’s associate dean for advancement. Today, with 28 tenured and tenured- track faculty members as well as more than 50 clinical and research faculty, the School continues to make new contributions to the social work field, including studies that address HIV prevention, domestic violence, children with disabilities and homelessness. Collectively, the school’s faculty members bring in more than $ 15 million annually in state, federal and foundation fund-ing to support research and training initiatives. A few scholars, such as Gina Chowa, are even helping to expand the School’s reach internationally. Chowa, whose research focuses on the impact of asset building interventions in Sub- Saharan Africa, hopes the School will strengthen its ties to international research over the next 10 years. “ What happens globally affects what happens here,” she said. “ And if you look at what is developing internationally, social work has a big role to play.” Hiring creative people who have ingenious ideas will continue to determine the School’s long- term research success, Fraser added. “ It will depend upon the people who stay and how committed they are to reforming social work,” he said. “ The crucial question is what is it we’re trying to do? We’re trying to change the image of social work. We’re trying to make social work the go- to profession for social justice, for the design and development of creative social programs that will solve social problems. This is where the action could be, and we have a wonderful start at it.” School becomes a research force, continued from p. 9 24 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Melvarene J. Howard Adair Scholarship Christopher Earl Nealy Jane Hall and William Johnston Armfield Scholarship Jennifer Haynes Bates, Darrell Lewis Coleman, Jr., Tobirus Mozelle Newby, April Smith Parker Annie Kizer Bost Award Martina Battle Baldwin, Danielle Renee Doyle, Mary Catherine Hartley Chaney- Jacobs- Preyer Scholarship Elina Michailovna Alterman, Tara Elizabeth Hopkins Robert and Peggy Culbertson Scholarship Sharon Webber Davis, Bang Dinh Duong William E. and Catherine M. Cummins Award for Outstanding School Social Work Practice Carlie Beth Ewen Dean’s Research Award Lindsey Natasha Atkins, Ryan Franklin Frack, Laura Bibiana Gonzalez, Laurie Michelle Graham, Lauren Jacqueline Hart, Madeline McIntyre Seltman Martha Sherrill Dunn Scholarship Martina Battle Baldwin Bertie Oscar Edwards Scholarship Christopher Mark de Beer Joanna Finkelstein Gorham Scholarship Lee Enoch Abernathy, Laura Xiomara Aponte- Hughes, Limor Bachar- Schwartz, Kindra Maren Clemence, Moira Patricia Conlon, Solita Ann Denard, Erica Shane Dunkle, Sarah Michele Dunsmore, Carlie Beth Ewen, Ryan Franklin Frack, Kayla Anne Fuga, Sarah Elizabeth Furman, Kendra Malia Johnson, Patricia Anne McGovern, Kate Troxler Mitchell, Kathryn Colleen Mulvaney, Lindsay Marie Penny, Alison Leigh Prevost, Erin Amelia Ridout, Kristen Jane Russell, Rebecca Lin Spence Kirsten E. Hewitt Scholarship Kathryn Boswell Brockett, Sabrina Alise Jennette Alan Keith- Lucas Scholarship Katherine Vogler Bonanno, Shandra Taneika Chambers, Beth Noel Rupp Jeffrey Langston Scholarship Erin Renee Bowman Meehan Scholarship Laura Bibiana Gonzalez, Nicole Doreen Moore Betsy Rogers Millar Scholarship Halley Mira Carmack, Elizabeth Aull Clift, Julie Owen Goldberg, Lizette Alicia Lopez, Erica TerChera Mayes- Gordon, Christopher Earl Nealy Jane Curtis Parker Award Erin L. Krauss, Lindsey Anne O’Hare Joan Phillips- Trimmer Scholarship Regina Shannelle Boone Ellen E. Power Scholarship Lee Enoch Abernathy Thomas Reid Sr. Scholarship Shandra Taneika Chambers Kenneth C. Royall, Jr. Scholarship Shannon Elizabeth Beavin, Anna Olivia Kirby Janice Hough Schopler Scholarship Jenny Bibiana Forero, Jianrong Zhang Social Justice Fund Scholarship Julie Owen Goldberg Tannenbaum Scholarship Terronda Lenette Beatty, Sardie Rochelle Izzard, Kendra Malia Johnson, Erik Brandon Osborne, Glenn Robinson, Lauren Amelia Thompson, Danielle Yvette Whitaker Kristen Marie TenHarmsel Anderson Scholarship Rachel Marie Coots Smith P. Theimann Scholarship Elizabeth Aull Clift, Aislinn Eve Jobes Walsh- Cioffi Scholarship Kate Troxler Mitchell Ellen Black Winston Scholarship Guadalupe Valentina Huitron 2009- 10 MSW Scholarships and Awards Armfield Reeves Innovation Fund Carrie Pettus- Davis Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation, University Research Day 2009, UNC Eric Lee Garland Center for Development and Learning Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Fellowship Sarah Dababnah Maternal and Child Health Leadership Consortium Fellowship Sarah Dababnah Center for Global Initiatives Pre- Dissertation Travel Award Sarah Dababnah Center for Global Initiatives Pre- Dissertation Field Research Award Dari Jigjidsuren The Council of Nephrology Social Workers Educational Stipend from the National Kidney Foundation Tiffany Renee Washington Council on Social Work Education Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Minority Clinical Training Fellowship Carmen Michelle Crosby Council on Social Work Education National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship, Minority Fellowship Program Sharon Denise Parker Tasanee Ross Walsh Duke Child and Family Study Center Post- Doctoral Fellow Bridget Elizabeth Weller Gordon H. DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Award Susan Kay Fletcher Fahs- Beck Scholar for Research and Experimentation from The New York Community Trust Carrie Pettus- Davis Hartford Doctoral Fellowship Susan Kay Fletcher Hartford Pre- Dissertation Award Tiffany Renee Washington Lovick P. Corn Dissertation Completion Fellowship Traci L. Wike NIH Ruth Kirschstein NRSA post-doctoral fellowship with the UNC Program on Integrative Medicine Eric Lee Garland Shaver Hitchings Scholarship Award for Service in the Area of Alcohol and Drug Addictions, from The Triangle Community Foundation Carrie Pettus- Davis Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Northeast Region Scholarship Tiffany Renee Washington Southeast SAS Users Group 2009 Scholar Keesha Dunbar Benson Turner Dissertation Fund Carrie Pettus- Davis Tashuna Albritton World Forum Travel Award to attend the Conference in Belfast, U. K., from the World Forum Dari Jigjidsuren 2nd Place for Oral Presentation in Social Science, University Research Day 2010 Carrie Pettus- Davis Travel Award to attend the 2010 Summer Training Workshop on African American Aging Research Tiffany Renee Washington 24 2009- 10 Doctoral Student Awards Contact | UNC School of Social Work By Susan White A nationally recognized child welfare expert and the architect of innovative reforms in the fields of child protection and foster care is bringing his research and professional leadership exper-tise to the Tar Heel state. Mark Testa, Ph. D., a professor and director of the Children and Family Research Center at the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, joined UNC- Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work in January as the first Sandra Reeves Spears and John B. Turner Distinguished Professor. “ I am so pleased that Dr. Testa has accepted our offer to join the faculty,” said School Dean Jack M. Richman. “ Mark is a gifted teacher and his strengths will greatly enhance our School, the University and our ability to serve the people of North Carolina.” Testa said he is equally thrilled to be associated with the School, which he said he has always considered one of the country’s “ centers for child welfare research.” He is also eager, he said, to work with students and share his experiences, including lessons he has learned over the years in reforming public child welfare systems and increasing opportunities for children in foster care. Testa brings to UNC more than 30 years of research and service, most of which has focused on improving the lives of at- risk children and families. Perhaps most notable is his work in Illinois, which led to a significant overhaul of that state’s Department of Children and Fam-ily Services and ultimately, a model for national legislation. For years, more Illinois children were removed from homes and placed in foster care and more cases were assigned to state child welfare workers than the nation as a whole. The state’s track record, which included 52,000 in foster care by the late 1990s and caseworkers managing three times the number of recommended cases, was highly criticized. The American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU) pushed for a major overhaul of the existing federal consent decree, charging that the system was failing to protect and care for children in state custody. Testa’s innovative research helped turn the state around. In 1994, he was appointed Illinois’ research director for the Department of Children and Family Services. His leadership and policy analysis led to a federal child welfare demonstration that enabled the state to assist relatives who were named legal guardians of children formerly under their foster care. Guardians were given financial subsidies, funding that had not previously been available to relative caregivers. The demonstration and its companion legislation helped move children out of the foster care system more quickly and into perma-nent homes. According to Illinois’ Children and Family Research Center, by 2003, the number of children in foster care had dropped nearly 62 percent to less than 20,000. The results were so successful, similar demonstrations were replicated in Tennessee and Wisconsin. Congress acted on the findings from these demonstrations and created the kinship guardianship assistance program as part of the “ Fostering Connections” Act that was signed into federal law last year. Testa recently completed a book, Fostering Accountability ( Oxford University Press), with John Poertner on the reform experiences in Illinois. He hopes the lessons learned will also form the backbone for a collaborative research project at UNC. Policymakers and academics in Illinois, Maryland, and North Carolina will have the opportunity to work with UNC School of Social Work faculty, including research associate professor Dean Duncan, on how to further improve child welfare and child practice, Testa said. The new professor will remain actively involved in other states. Testa, who is helping states to adapt to the new national foster care legislation, was recently named as the independent verification agent under a federal consent decree for Baltimore’s child welfare system. For more than 20 years, the Maryland city has been under federal court oversight to improve services and care for children in state custody. Testa will ensure the city system follows required standards. With Testa’s arrival to UNC, Richman has also approved for the School of Social Work to be included among a list of national agencies affiliated with the Fostering Connections Resource Center. This center, which spawned from the federal foster care law, offers states access to data, training information and research experts. “ I think it’s good for us in that it highlights ( the School) as a resource, and it creates opportunities for our doctoral students and faculty to engage in some pretty interesting and new child welfare work,” Testa said. Testa has been widely honored over the years for his academic and professional achievements. He is the recipient of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Adoption 2002 Excellence Award for Applied Scholarship and Research on kinship care and permanence. In 2004, he received the Blue Bow Award for research and leadership in improving systems of care for children from the Children’s Home and Aid Society of Illinois, and in 2006, he was nominated by Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Illinois, and received the Angel in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Long- term, Testa hopes to help the School engage in an even more active role, locally and nationally, in child welfare reform efforts. One of his goals is to establish a policy institute from which an education and training program would be created to merge the best in foster care research with the best in foster care practices. “ We have to become smarter in how we serve families and rec-ognize when child welfare should be more of a support system rather than one that disrupts lives by needlessly removing children into foster care,” he said. “ We also need to use the research and knowledge within the university system to improve the quality of policy and practice.” Such efforts, Testa said, could offer some real solutions to North Carolina and other public child welfare systems. “ The challenge is to improve the evidence base for what works best in each of these systems and translate the knowledge into more effec-tive policies and practices for children and families in North Carolina and across the nation as a whole,” Testa said. Child welfare expert Mark Testa joins the School as distinguished professor Mark Testa Contact | UNC School of Social Work 25 26 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Faculty spotlight By Michelle Rogers Deborah Barrett Barrett had two articles published in Fibromyalgia Aware magazine, entitled “ Caring for Kids — and Yourself ” ( Fall 2009) and “ Steering Clear of Scams” ( Winter 2010). Betsy Bledsoe Bledsoe was named a BIRCWH (“ Building Interdisci-plinary Research Careers in Women’s Health”) Scholar for 2009- 12. An NIH- funded program, BIRCWH sup-ports career development of junior faculty members who are commencing research relevant to women’s health. Bledsoe was awarded a $ 2,000 grant for her project, “ Per-ceptions of Breastfeeding Success in Depressed and Non- Depressed Mothers.” The study will run through March 31, 2011. Funding was provided by the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute ( TraCS) at UNC. Bledsoe is a collaborator with a UNC group on a project looking at the relationship between perinatal depression and breastfeeding. The $ 50,000 study, “ Neuroendocrine Pathophysiology in Postpartum Depression and Lactation Failure,” is funded through TraCS. Bledsoe was selected for a 2010 NCDEU New Investigator Award. NCDEU is a meeting that focuses on new research approaches for mental health interventions, and is co- sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Society of Clinical Psy-chopharmacology. It will be held in June 2010 in Boca Raton, Fla. The award entitles her to participate in a closed full- day educational work-shop. She will also present a poster, “ Treating Perinatal Depression in Low- Income Adolescents: Results from a Pilot Feasibility Study of Culturally Relevant, Brief Interpersonal Psychotherapy.” Two master’s students ( Anne- Marie Olarte, 1st Year; Abby Zeveloff, 2nd Year) and alumna Amy Sommer, MSW ‘ 04, are coauthors on the poster. Gary Bowen Bowen, Kenan Distinguished Professor, was a fea-tured speaker and panelist at the 2009 RTI Fellows Symposium: Integrating Basic and Applied Research, in November. Bowen discussed “ Pathways to School Persistence” in the section on education opportunity and achievement. Bowen was an invited guest speaker at the 2009 Annual Confer-ence of the National Council on Family Relations in San Francisco. He served on a panel with Drs. Shelley MacDermid and Dennis Orthner in a session designed to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to resilience in military families. Bowen facilitated a special session at the conference on “ Building Bridges to Support Military and Veteran Families.” Bowen spoke to approximately 50 spouses of the Army’s most senior combat commanders and their command sergeants major on “ Building Resilient Families through Community Capacity Building.” The Commander’s Conference was held in November in Atlanta. Bowen traveled to the Pentagon in Washington, D. C., on Feb. 23, 2010, to deliver a briefing to the Warfighter and Family Program Managers from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The brief-ing was sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy. Bowen discussed his community capacity work that is currently informing intervention and prevention planning activities in both the Air Force and the Marine Corps. Natasha Bowen Bowen and three doctoral students — Aaron Thompson, Krysti Webber and Kate Wegmann — spent the first four days of June 2009 in North Hampton County teach-ing students at KIPP Pride High School about mental health, research methods and how to play acoustic gui-tar. Although KIPP Pride High is a public charter school in a rural, economically depressed part of North Carolina, 100% of its graduating seniors are going to college in the fall. Bowen was invited by the lead school social worker in Wake County Public School System to serve on the WCPSS School Social Work Advisory Council. As an advisor, she will help school social workers in the school district evaluate their practices and show their impact on student success. Bowen was also invited by the superintendent of the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City School district to serve on the Community Ac-tion Committee for the Success of all Students. The goal of this new committee is to involve the community in raising the achievement of African- American, Latino and economically disadvantaged students. Bowen and Joelle Powers were invited to present on their project in the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City School district at the Triangle Donors Forum on March 24, 2010. Bowen and Powers are directing a three-year longitudinal study at four North Carolina elementary schools. They are looking at how experiences in neighborhoods, schools, fami-lies and with friends affect learning, and how to help schools develop interventions to improve student achievement. The information is col-lected from students, parents and teachers using an assessment called the Elementary School Success Profile ( ESSP), created by Bowen. Iris Carlton- LaNey Carlton- LaNey participated in the 23rd Women’s His-tory Month Lecture Series at the University of Texas- Arlington in March 2009. The theme was “ Life on the Edge: Women and Hard Times.” She was also the keynote speaker for the 29th Annual Social Work Educa-tion Conference at Mississippi Valley State University in April 2009. Carlton- LaNey was invited to speak as part of the Summer Lecture Series at Smith College School of Social Work. She presented “ African Americans Aging in the Rural South: Stories of Faith, Family and Community” in July 2009 in Northampton, Mass. Contact | UNC School of Social Work 27 Joanne Caye Caye and first- year MSW student Megan Key joined faculty and students from nursing, physical therapy and public health on an “ Alternate Spring Break Trip” to Tyrell County, N. C. in March 2010. The group provided a health fair in the small community of Alligator with disaster planning, nutrition items, stress and depres-sion screenings, exercises, games and other activities. They also helped some older residents ( referred by Tyrell County DSS), with cooking, cleaning and yard work. Mimi Chapman Chapman was named the Carolina Women’s Center Faculty Scholar for Fall 2010. Her project will be “ Gang Affiliation Among Middle School New Immigrant Latinas in Siler City.” She will investigate the scope of the problem in the community and develop intervention models and strategies. Jodi Flick Flick is featured in an informative new video on suicide prevention produced by the Mecklenburg County Health Department. It is called “ This Will Pass: Suicide Preven-tion.” The video is available online in the Health Depart-ment section of the website http:// www. charmeck. org. Mark Fraser Fraser, John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Chil-dren in Need, presented at the Los Angeles Conference on Intervention Research in Social Work. The October 2009 conference, hosted by the University of Southern California School of Social Work’s Hamovitch Center for Science in the Human Services, in collaboration with the Institute for Advancement of Social Work Research, provided an arena for social workers to present their research findings, elaborate on the importance of research and discuss issues pertinent to the future of intervention research. Michal Grinstein- Weiss Grinstein- Weiss received a $ 145,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, with Janneke Ratcliffe of UNC’s Center for Community Capital, for their project “ Learning from $ aveNYC: Facilitating Savings for Low- Income Work-ers.” This research project is a collaboration with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Financial Empowerment to evaluate their pilot program aimed at promoting savings among eligible New Yorkers. $ aveNYC encourages Earned Income Tax Credit recipients to save a portion of their tax refund, and leave those funds in savings for at least one full year. Grinstein- Weiss and doctoral student Pajarita Charles were awarded one of four nationwide $ 20,000 grants from the National Cen-ter of Marriage Research for their one- year project, “ Does Homeown-ership Affect Relationship Stability: Evidence from an Event History Analysis.” P. I. Grinstein- Weiss’ and Co- P. I. Charles’ paper will address key questions about the linkages between family instability and well-being. Grinstein- Weiss received renewal grant awards from the An-nie E. Casey Foundation ($ 40,000) and the F. B. Heron Foundation ($ 25,000) to support the American Dream Demonstration Wave 4 ( ADD4) study, which is testing the long- term effects of individual development accounts. This study is supported by seven funders and has raised over $ 1.6 million. Grinstein- Weiss and Andréa Taylor were awarded a $ 94,638 grant from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Admin-istration for Children and Families ( ACF) as part of the Assets for Independence Knowledge Development Initiative. The Assets for In-dependence ( AFI) Program, administered by ACF, provides the largest source of funding for IDAs in the U. S. Shenyang Guo Guo was given UNC’s prestigious 2010 Distinguished Teaching Award for Post- Baccalaureate Instruction. “ The University Committee on Teaching Awards was greatly impressed by the abundant evidence they found for your outstanding contributions to post- baccalaureate teaching on our campus,” wrote Chancellor Holden Thorp. “ Both your students and faculty colleagues were enthusiastic in their praise of your commitment to the highest standards. You have clearly provided your students with a rich, supportive environment for higher learn-ing and [ an] exceptionally positive role model for their own careers.” Award recipients were recognized during a half- time ceremony at the UNC- GA Tech men’s basketball game in January 2010. In addition, Guo received an award certificate and $ 5,000 prize at an awards ban-quet in April. Guo was promoted to the rank of full professor. Matthew Howard Howard, Frank A. Daniels Distinguished Professor for Human Services Policy Information, was appointed a member of the National Institute of Health’s ( NIH) Epi-demiology and Behavior Genetics Study Section. The Center for Scientific Review of the NIH and the Italian Ministry of Health, Directorate for Health and Technologies Research have recently signed a memorandum of under-standing to collaborate on evaluation of grant applications from Italian researchers in biomedical fields. Howard was asked to review a portion of these grants. Howard presented on inhalant abuse to the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D. C. in October 2009. In addi-tion, Howard was a member of the Epidemiology and Behavior Genet-ics Grant Review Study Section at the National Institutes of Health on Oct. 6 and 7. Howard was asked to review grants for the Italian Ministry of Health for 2010. Howard will have a lead article on inhalant abuse published on the website of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in their journal Addic-tion Science and Clinical Practice. Howard was asked to serve on the NIH Epidemiology and Behav-ior Genetics Study Section for 2010. He was also named regional editor of the Open Social Science Journal. Joelle Powers Powers is the 2010 recipient of the C. Felix Harvey Award to Advance Institutional Priorities. Given by UNC’s Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, the $ 75,000 award recognizes exemplary faculty scholarship that reflects one of the University’s top priorities. This year’s award focuses on engagement and outreach. Powers’ proposed project is a pilot test of an urgently needed part-nership between Durham Public Schools and Durham’s public mental health provider, The Durham Center. The partnership will include training staff in one school to recognize mental health problems in students, creating a school- based referral process, and bringing profes-sional mental health providers into the school to serve students. Continued on p. 28 28 Contact | UNC School of Social Work Jack Richman Dean Jack Richman presented “ Intervention Research: Responding to the Gap between Knowledge Building and Social Work Practice” and “ Intervention Develop-ment: Data Driven Practice” at the 4th Annual BYU School of Social Work Conference: Research and Clini-cal Perspectives in Social Work Practice in Provo, Utah in October 2009. Richman, along with Miriam Brodersen, MSW ‘ 07, and Danielle Swick, Ph. D. ‘ 07, have an article published in the Journal of Social Work Education, “ Risks and mitigating factors in decisions to accept students with criminal records.” Richman was among a group of 35 experts from various social work higher education, professional association and military back-grounds who participated in a Washington, D. C., meeting in January 2010 with the Council on Social Work Education ( CSWE). CSWE has launched an advanced practice in military social work education initiative to bridge the gap between the number of available prepared practitioners and the demand for social services with military person-nel and their families. The initiative will result in an educators’ guide to advanced social work practice competencies in military social work. Richman was invited to present at the International Conference on Social Work Localization, in March 2010 in Shenzhen, China. His presentation was entitled “ The Role of Government in the Develop-ment of Social Work Education and Practice in the United States.” Kathleen Rounds Rounds and Joanne Caye served on a panel at the 2nd Annual Training Institute on Trauma- Affected Women, Children & Families. It was held in June 2009 in New York City and sponsored by the Association of States and Territorial Public Health Social Workers. Their panel was called “ Public Health and Social Work: Academia’s Role in Educating on Trauma.” Rounds also gave a second presentation on “ Leadership Programs and MCH ( maternal and child health) Bureau Resources for Public Health Social Workers.” Paul Smokowski Smokowski was asked to review the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s blueprint for a national youth violence prevention initiative. He was also awarded a highly competitive research leave for 2010- 11 from the UNC- Chapel Hill Office of the Provost. He will be writing grant proposals. Tina Souders Souders was elected for a three year term to the delegate assembly of the National Association of Social Workers, N. C. chapter ( NASW- NC). In addition, Souders deliv-ered a keynote presentation at the 12th Annual NASW-NC Clinical Social Work Summer Institute in July 2009, on “ Terminating Therapeutic Work with Clients.” Kim Strom- Gottfried Strom- Gottfried, Smith P. Theimann Distinguished Professor for Ethics and Professional Practice, trav-eled to China in October 2009. She was invited to teach social work assessment and interventions in Shanghai at the East China University of Science and Technology. On the same trip, faculty member Katherine Dunlap and Strom- Gottfried presented on social work practice, interviewing, and grief and loss at a conference for social work practitioners, field instructors and students from a variety of agencies in the city. Sheryl Zimmerman UNC- Chapel Hill has named Zimmerman a Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham Distinguished Professor. This distinguished professorship is one of the most presti-gious honors the University can bestow upon a faculty member. Zimmerman is the director of aging research at the School of Social Work; director of UNC’s Interdisciplinary Certificate in Aging; co- director of UNC’s Interdisciplinary Center for Ag-ing Research; co- director of the Program on Aging, Disability and Long- Term Care at UNC’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research; and an adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiol-ogy at the School of Public Health. Zimmerman’s research has focused on social gerontology, evalua-tion of practice, psychosocial aspects of health, dementia, hip fractures, and improving care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Her work in the field of residential long- term care for older adults has been highly influential for policy and practice. In other news, Zimmerman was a speaker at a November 2009 NASW symposium in Washington, D. C., to launch a new social work policy institute. Looking for a job? Have a job to post? Visit our job board at http:// ssw. unc. edu/ alumnissw/ jobs Follow the School of Social Work on Facebook and Twitter Links at: http:// ssw. unc. edu/ about/ social_ networks Contact | UNC School of Social Work 29 Professor Iris Carlton- LaNey, Ph. D., was awarded the inaugural Distinguished Achievement in Social Work Education Award on April 8, 2010, from the National Association of Black Social Workers ( NABSW). NABSW wrote the following about Carlton- LaNey: “ For over 30 years you have served with distinc-tion as a social work educator. Your scholarship in the areas of African American social welfare history and social gerontology have been vital to preserving the story of the African American experience, highlight-ing the vast mutual aid efforts and institution building that took place in the Black community, and providing tangible recommendations for practitioners and schol-ars to build upon to further culturally competent and effective practice.” Carlton- LaNey given national social work education award By Michelle Rogers Iris Carlton- LaNey Mark Fraser, Ph. D., was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare. The organization, established in 2009, is an honorific society of distinguished scholars and practitio-ners dedicated to achieving excellence in the field of social work and social welfare through high impact work that advances social good. Fraser is the John A. Tate Dis-tinguished Professor for Children in Need, and the associate dean for research, at the UNC School of Social Work. He has authored or edited nine books and more than 100 journal articles and chapters, and is the editor- in- chief of the newly- launched Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. The induction event was held at the National Press Club in Washington, D. C., on April 21, 2010. Fraser becomes Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Welfare By Michelle Rogers Mark Fraser Gary L. Shaffer, Ph. D., one of the state’s leading experts on social work practice and a staunch advocate for children who became a recogniz-able voice against the use of corporal punishment within North Carolina’s public schools, died on Sept. 4, 2009. He was 62. Shaffer, who dedicated more than half of his life to the social work field and to preparing students for social work practice, joined UNC- Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work in 1986 as director of the field education pro-gram. He was later named director of the School’s summer program. Although he had been battling colon cancer for several years, the associate professor remained extremely active at UNC and within the North Carolina community, focusing much of his time and energy on international social work and the development of the social work practice within the state’s public schools. Shaffer is survived by his wife Denise; daughter Lisa; brother Gil and numerous nieces and nephews. Faculty member and children’s advocate Gary Shaffer dies By Susan White Gary Shaffer new books Professor Shenyang Guo’s book, “ Survival Analysis,” was published by Oxford University Press. Mark Fraser’s book, “ Risk and Resilience in Childhood: An Ecological Perspective,” was published in Japanese by the National Association of Social Workers Press. Fraser is the John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need, and the associate dean for research. Mark Testa’s book, “ Fostering Accountability: Using Evidence to Guide and Improve Child Welfare Policy” was published by Oxford University Press. Testa is the Spears- Turner Distinguished Professor. Marie Weil, Berg- Beach Distinguished Professor, and emerita faculty member Dorothy Gamble had a book published by Columbia University Press, “ Community Practice Skills: Local to Global Perspectives.” 30 Contact | UNC School of Social Work M ilitary families struggling to find services for their children with developmental disabilities will soon have a new net-work of support. UNC’s School of Social Work and the Family Support Network at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities are developing a project that aims to connect military families more directly to state and local resources, activities and services using a “ one- stop” model. The federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities of the Adminis-tration on Children and Families is funding the $ 1 million project. Known as “ Strengthening Military Families with Children Who Have Developmental Disabilities,” the project is being piloted at Camp Lejeune and will target Marine Corps service members who live off base, said Irene Nathan Zipper, a School of Social Work clinical pro-fessor. Zipper and Gary Bowen, a Kenan Distinguished Professor, are co- investigators of the five- year project. Although lower- ranking Marines are usually required to live off the installation, such arrangements can be challenging for families who have children with special needs, Zipper and Bowen agreed. Navigat-ing the military and civilian systems can be intimidating and frustrat-ing, Zipper added. “ These are usually the most vulnerable families,” Bowen said. Through the Strengthening Military Families project, service agen-cies within the community and the military will work together to give families one primary place to turn to when they need help and assist them in quickly identifying available programs and resources, such as children’s camps and assistive technology. The project, which expects to serve 20 families in the first year and 60 by the second, began in late September and is currently focusing on establishing the program and informing families of its availability. Peer support groups will also be established. “ Parent- to- Parent support will match families who share common concerns and common experiences,” Zipper said. “ A family that has learned to navigate the system can be a real aid to someone who has a child with developmental disabilities and is new to the system.” As part of the project, Bowen is also developing a graduate course that will teach social work students how to work with military service members and their families. He expects the course to be offered in spring 2011. $ 1 million project connects resources to military families with developmental disabilities By Susan White Gary Bowen and Irene Zipper Contact | UNC School of Social Work 31 W ives of active- duty soldiers are at risk for psychological problems such as depression, loneliness and burnout, a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found. However, spouses are more likely to handle stress well if they are encouraged to build stronger relationships with their friends and communities, and can potentially lower their long- term medi-cal costs if they receive military support services — including mental health care — early, the study concluded. “ When the military services focus some of their resources and attention on getting their families ready for deployments, this clearly pays off in the readiness of their personnel for duty and can result in fewer emotional and family problems when they return home,” said UNC School of Social Work professor, Dennis Orthner, Ph. D. Orthner co- authored the study with Roderick Rose, a research associate at the school’s Jordan Institute for Families. The report is published in the October 2009 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Family Relations. The study was commissioned by the U. S. Army Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command. Or-thner has been providing research assistance to the Army since 1979. Orthner said the study’s findings reinforce that on- going efforts to strengthen military families do work but more preventative programs are needed to help couples address problems before they become unmanageable. “ I think the tendency in any large system is to mobilize a mental health system in response to a crisis and then allocate to that side pretty aggressively,” he said. “ What our study points out is that there really is a need to shift some portion — if not a large portion — of those dollars to early identification, so that you’re beginning to ID the risks before they become a crisis.” The effects of combat tours on the whole family have grabbed more public attention in recent years because of the U. S.’ s engagement in two on- going conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and because of the frequency and length of deployments. Military families repeatedly deal with constant separation and reunification, forcing moms and dads, for example, to frequently adjust parental authority. For their study, Orthner and Rose explored how well Army wives adjust psychologically when their husbands’ jobs take them away from their families. Their research was based on data the Army collected from 8,056 female spouses between September 2004 and January 2005. About a third of the spouses were “ quite distressed,” and those that were tended to be younger, have younger children and have longer periods of separation. Orthner said that was not surprising, consider-ing the makeup of the Army. “ It has a high concentration of young couples who are just starting out their adult lives, and they’re just starting to have kids. So it’s dif-ficult when a young soldier goes away for 12 to 18 months and leaves a wife at home with a 2- year- old or a 4- year- old.” Still, the study found that the risks for psychological troubles are almost cut in half when spouses receive supportive services from the military, including relationship skills traini |
OCLC number | 35759851 |