Research

U.S. HRSA Award Supports Telehealth for Positive Parenting

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Innovations Institute, in partnership with the Maryland Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (MDAAP), has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program. The TREEHOUSE Program is an expansion into telehealth of the existing TREE program, a clinical service that promotes positive parenting, parent-child interactions, and social-emotional well-being through interactive, developmental telehealth coaching provided by pediatric providers to underserved families with children ages 0-2.

Margo Candelaria is the principal investigator for the TREEHOUSE Program and co-director of the Innovation’s Parent, Infant, and Early Childhood Program. She expressed her enthusiasm for this important collaborative effort: “It has been very exciting to continue our work with the MDAAP and expand TREE’s positive impact on marginalized families within primary care to the telehealth environment."

The Program increases access to quality preventive care and services to promote health equity and enhances population health among very young children, and their families, in marginalized communities. To date 30 have been trained in the TREEHOUSE model across four coaching cohorts. Data from the first three cohorts indicate that 21 providers fully completed training to receive Maintenance of Certificate professional development credits and 131 children have received a telehealth developmental coaching visit. Eighty-seven percent of trained providers reported being very or extremely satisfied with the TREEHOUSE program, and 100% of trained providers reported TREEHOUSE gave them better insight into the strengths and challenges of parents they serve. Nine cohorts total will be conducted through Spring of 2026. The TREEHOUSE project, and its predecessor, TREE, which takes place during well-child visits, was presented at the World Association of Infant Mental Health in Dublin, Ireland in July 2023.

MACPAC Supports Study Examining Health Care Access for Youth in the Child Welfare System

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Mathematica and Innovations Institute have partnered to advance policymakers’ understanding of how Medicaid and child welfare agencies ensure youth in the child welfare system receive access to health care.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) has awarded a 10-month contract to Mathematica, who has partnered with Innovations, to help the commission better understand the role and responsibilities of state Medicaid and child welfare agencies in meeting the health care needs of children and youth served by the child welfare system.

Innovations Institute brings extensive expertise to the intersection of Medicaid and child welfare services at the federal, state, and local levels across the country and will help shed light on the current state-specific child welfare landscape.

This report resulting from this project serves to inform MACPAC’s deliberations on policies and strategies for ensuring that Medicaid- and CHIP-eligible children in the child welfare system have timely access to quality care. Together the partners identifying current federal rules that require state Medicaid and child welfare agencies to ensure health care access for Medicaid-enrolled children and youth in foster care. They are selecting, profiling, and interviewing Medicaid and child welfare agencies in seven states to provide MACPAC with an understanding of how states implement federal requirements around health care access and the issues they face in ensuring the delivery of all necessary health services.

Read more about Innovations Institute.

CT DMHAS Grant Supports Research on College Students and Gambling

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Eleni Rodis, managing director of research for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (CT DMHAS) Research Division at the UConn School of Social Work (SSW), and Wendy Ulaszek, associate research professor at the SSW, recently conducted a study of Connecticut college students and gambling. The research is supported by a grant from the Problem Gambling Services (PGS) of CT DMHAS.

The researchers used a mixed methods approach, including surveys of college students and focus groups with students and staff to investigate the prevalence of gambling behaviors among students, as well as awareness of resources to address problem gambling behavior. More than 1,300 college students from 30 colleges and universities across the state – public, community, and private schools – participated in the online survey. The survey posed questions about:

• Types of gambling
• The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), a screening tool used to measure the severity of gambling problems in general population research
• Motivations and reasons why students gamble
• Facilitators to help students stop gambling
• Co-occurring issues such as mental health diagnoses

After a year of collecting survey and focus-group data, Rodis and Ulaszek and the research team, including Project Manager Amanda Mihaly (also with the DMHAS Research Division at the UConn SSW), completed a preliminary analysis of their study. They found a high prevalence of gambling among college students in the state: 74% of all students had engaged in some type of gambling in the past year. The two most popular forms of gambling students reported were bingo and the lotto/lottery. Among those who scored higher on the PGSI, internet-based and sports betting were most common.

In addition to these findings, Rodis, Ulaszek, Mihaly and the team observed that the study itself served as an intervention, allowing students to reflect on their beliefs about gambling. It also led college staff to consider changing their practices so they ask students about gambling and provide information about gambling to students and families.

In collaboration with the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, the researchers plan to continue to disseminate the survey and raise awareness about this emerging issue.

Faculty Research Explores Voter Engagement for the Formerly Incarcerated

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In our democracy, the group with the lowest voting participation rate are formerly incarcerated individuals convicted of a felony — a group representing nearly 20 million adults in the United States. In most states, including Connecticut, this population loses the right to vote while incarcerated but regain it when they return to their communities. However, they vote at very low rates.

To raise awareness about voter engagement among formerly incarcerated individuals in Connecticut, Assistant Professor Sukhmani Singh and Director of The Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work Tanya Rhodes Smith partnered with Full Citizens Coalition to conduct a pilot study supported by a grant entitled, “A Participatory Transformation & Pilot Implementation of the Voter Engagement Model with Formerly Incarcerated BIPOC Individuals: Centering Critical Consciousness in Political Social Work Practice.”

“The goal of the study was to co-create a curriculum with Full Citizens Coalition, led by James Jeter — a nationally recognized change leader and community organizer — to clarify rules, to share why voting matters, and to learn how we can develop and sharpen tools that bring formerly incarcerated citizens back into exercising their right to vote and build power,” says Singh.

The research methodology is primarily qualitative, relying on interviews from five focus groups conducted in the state’s three largest cities: Hartford, Waterbury and Bridgeport. The participants in the pilot were mostly men of color (69% men; 85% were BIPOC); 90.6% had at least completed high school. Together, the research team sought to explore, via focus groups, how participants reflected on and experienced their civic life before and after incarceration, as well as their beliefs about voting, power and democracy. The focus groups also shed light on the challenges and barriers participants named to exercising one of their key rights.

In their analysis, the research team identified four themes: public systems and their harms; manufactured ambivalence; the desire to engage in power building; and community-identified gaps in democratic education.

Rhodes Smith explains further how structural barriers — opaque political systems, gerrymandering, and lack of response to community needs, among others — undermine voter participation. “What looks like voter disengagement or apathy is not actually apathy,” she says, “it’s manufactured ambivalence.”

Singh agrees. “Participants name experiencing this critical, and I would argue — manufactured — paradox. They articulate how public systems perpetuate harm, throw them out of the voting process, and say that nothing changes and they don’t vote. At the same time, they know that voting does matter because they can see resources present in other areas that do not suffer from divestment and the high incarceration per capita rate. While they name how politicians and public systems have failed them, they also are paying attention and watching what politicians are doing, and desire to build efficacy to change harmful structures.”

With these findings, the researchers plan to conduct a second phase of their pilot study, and co-transform a training with Full Citizens Coalition, led by Jeter and Rhodes Smith about voter engagement that is rooted in the theoretical and power building ideas espoused by Brazilian educator Paolo Freire.

Co-researchers include Jeter, co-director of Full Citizens Coalition and a community organizer, and Urania Petit, an international elections monitor. The researchers also honor and name graduate assistants and doctoral students who contributed to this process: Joshua Adler, Lukas Champagne, and Fernando Valenzuela.

Read more about the work of Singh and Rhodes Smith.

Associate Dean for Research Jennifer Manuel Named SSWR Fellow

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At the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Annual Conference, the UConn SSW’s Associate Dean for Research Jennifer Manuel was welcomed to the 2024 class of Fellows. SSWR Fellows are members who have served with distinction to advance the mission of the Society -- to advance, disseminate, and translate research that addresses issues of social work practice and policy and promotes a diverse, equitable and just society.

The SSWR Fellowship has been established by the Society to honor and to recognize current SSWR members for their individual accomplishments, leadership and contribution to SSWR as a scientific society. It is anticipated that SSWR Fellows will serve as role models and mentors for individuals pursuing careers in social work research and will continue to actively advance the mission of the Society.

Eligibility for the SSWR Fellow designation is determined by a point system established by the SSWR Board of Directors. Designation as a SSWR Fellow is limited. The number of inductees this year was approximately one percent of the SSWR membership. SSWR Fellows maintain their status as long as they are current members of the Society.

In addition to being an associate dean, Manuel is also an associate professor at the UConn SSW. She earned her MSW and Ph.D. from Columbia University School of Social Work. Her research broadly addresses health disparities and transitions in care among youth, young adults and adults with substance use, mental health and other critical needs (housing, employment, health, trauma).

Read more about her work.

Faculty Presented at First-Ever Reimagining Refugee Resettlement Research Conference

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SSW Associate Professor and Director of the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute Kathryn Libal and Professor Megan Berthold presented research at the first-of-its-kind conference on refugee resettlement that brought together practitioners, researchers and public officials to explore “Reimaging Refugee Services in the United States.” The conference was cohosted by Arizona State University and Switchboard and funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an office of the Administration for Children and Families.

Libal and Berthold were among a small number of academics engaged in refugee resettlement research, presenting their work before officials from the ORR and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the U.S. Department of State. Their plenary panel presentation, “Assessing the Promise and Challenges of Community-Based Approaches to U.S. Refugee Resettlement through a Qualitative Study” explored the opportunities and challenges of different models of refugee resettlement, including community and private sponsorship. These models gained support during the Biden Administration’s rapid resettlement of more than 70,000 Afghan evacuees and have been further enhanced by the recent launch of the Administration’s Welcome Corps program.

Their research is part of a broader team effort that has included Associate Professor Scott Harding and a number of doctoral students from the School of Social Work. The presentation, based on interviews with community and private sponsorship volunteers, service providers, and advocates, found that “greater resources must be devoted to local volunteers to help ensure sustainable outcomes for refugees, particularly in the arenas of accessing health care; social benefits; affordable, stable housing; and work paying an adequate wage.” The researchers also emphasized the need for training and support for community and private sponsorship group volunteers.

“Given how new the federal government’s support of private and community sponsorship of refugees is, this research provides critical insights for practitioners and those supporting Biden’s initiative,” said Libal. She added, “We expect that this research will help community and private sponsor groups to better understand the needs and interests of newcomers as well as the challenges of establishing stable lives in a context where the social safety net is relatively limited.”

Berthold added that it will support the “better preparation of social work students and social work and allied practitioners to understand the greatest challenges reported by refugees and asylum seekers in transitioning to the United States and how to meet their health, mental health, and social service needs.”

Researchers who attended the conference continue to meet and have formed an interdisciplinary working group. They plan to organize a workshop next year at UConn.

Libal, Berthold, Harding, and several Ph.D. students involved in the research are preparing to launch the next phase of the project, which will include interviews with refugees and asylum seekers to learn more about their experiences while being supported by community sponsorship groups.

Associate Professor Kathryn Libal

Associate Professor Kathryn Libal

Megan Berthold

Professor Megan Berthold

SSW Faculty and Students Present at 2024 SSWR Annual Conference

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Twenty-five School of Social Work faculty, Ph.D. students, and MSW students will share their collective research through 27 oral and ePoster presentations and two symposia at the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) 28th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. from January 10 to 14. The theme of the Conference is “Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science.” The research presented by the SSW community comprises a variety of topics, including foster care, LGBTQIA+ youth, substance abuse treatment, mindfulness-based intervention, and gender-affirming care, among many others.
 

Thursday, January 11

Time: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
Symposium: Integrating Participatory Methods with Intervention Science: Unlocking Community Power to Co-Create Health Solutions
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 14, ML 2
Organizer and Author(s): Caitlin Elsaesser, PhD

  • Time: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
    Symposium Presentation: Co-Designing a Mindfulness Based Intervention with Street Outreach Workers and Youth: The Power of Participatory Action Research to Drive Solutions
    Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 14, ML 2
    Author(s): Caitlin Elsaesser, PhD; Jolaade Kalinowski, Ed.D; Jeffrey Proulx, PhD; Kim Gans, PhD, MPH; Jacquelyn Santiago Nazario.
  • Time: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
    Symposium Presentation: Building Political Power with "Third Citizens:" A Participatory Pilot Project to Co-Transform and Implement the Voter Engagement Model with Formerly Incarcerated Peoples
    Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 14, ML 2
    Author(s): Sukhmani Singh, PhD; Joshua Adler; Tanya Rhodes Smith, MSW; James Jeter; Urania Petit*; Fernando Valenzuela*.
  • Time: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
    Symposium Presentation: Community-Based Participatory Action Research with LGBTQIA+ Youth in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from a Collaborative Autoethnography
    Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 14, ML 2
    Author(s): Gio Iacono, PhD; Leah Holle, MAR, LCSW, CEDS; Emily Loveland, MSW; Breana Bietsch, MSW; Jamie Smith, MSW, LCSW-C; Shelley Craig, PhD; Evan Horton*.

Time: 3:15– 4:45 PM
Symposium: From Calyouth to Tay-Hub: Advancing Research and Support for Transition-Age Youth in Foster Care
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 13, ML 2
Organizer and Author(s): Andrea Eastman, PhD; Mark Courtney, PhD.

  • Time: 3:15– 4:45 PM
    Symposium Presentation: Does Transition Planning Increase Service Use Among Older Adolescents in Foster Care?
    Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 13, ML 2
    Author(s): Nathanael Okpych, PhD; Justin Harty, PhD; Mark Courtney, PhD; Sunggeun (Ethan) Park, PhD.
  • Time: 3:15– 4:45 PM
    Symposium Presentation: Distinct Subgroups of Care-Experienced Youth and Their Outcomes in Early Adulthood: Results from a Latent Class Analysis
    Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 13, ML 2
    Author(s): Nathanael Okpych, PhD; Mark Courtney, PhD; Sunggeun (Ethan) Park, PhD; Justin Harty, PhD; Keunhye Park, PhD.
  • Time: 3:15– 4:45 PM
    Symposium Presentation: Risks of Incarceration: Impact of Social Support Networks in the Transition to Adulthood
    Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 13, ML 2
    Author(s): Keunhye Park, PhD; Mark Courtney, PhD; Andrea Eastman, PhD; Nathanael Okpych, PhD.
  • Time: 3:15– 4:45 PM
    Symposium Presentation: Examining Parenting Foster Youth Status and Outcomes at Different Ages: Implications for Tailored Interventions and Support for Parents in State Care
    Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 13, ML 2
    Author(s): Justin Harty, PhD; Nathanael Okpych, PhD; Sunggeun (Ethan) Park, PhD; Mark Courtney, PhD.

 

Friday, January 12

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 AM
ePoster Presentation: Collective Trauma, Resilience, and Healing: Violence Street Outreach Workers and Black and Brown Youth Moving through a Healing Justice Framework
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 6, ML 2
Author(s): Maritza Vasquez Reyes, MA, LCSW, CCM; Caitlin Elsaesser, PhD; Emory Fairchild, MSW*.

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 AM
Presentation: Creating Institutional Infrastructure to Advance Health Equity through Community Engagement
Location: Independence Ballroom RM: H, ML 4
Author(s): Linda Sprague Martinez, PhD; Rebecca Lobb, ScD, MPH; Jennifer Pamphile, MPH; Deborah Chassler, MSW; Melanie Rocco, MSW, MPH.

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 AM
Presentation: Assessing the Impact of a Blended Payment Model on Client Termination from Substance Use Treatment
Location: Liberty Ballroom RM: I, ML 4
Author(s): Daniel Baslock, MSW, PhD; Yuanyuan Hu, MSW; Patrick del Giudice-Walsh; Jennifer Manuel, PhD.

Time: 9:45 – 11:15 AM
Presentation: Relationships between Disordered Eating and Family, School, and Community Contexts Among LGBTQ+ Youth in Kansas
Location: Liberty Ballroom RM: O, ML 4
Author(s): Meg Paceley, PhD; Briana McGeough, PhD, MSW; Jennifer Ananda, JD, MSW; Michael Riquino, PhD, MSW; Jennifer Pearson, PhD; Liz Hamor.

Time: 9:45 – 11:15 AM
ePoster Presentation: The Negotiation and Resistance of Stigma Among Online Male Sex Workers
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 6, ML 2
Author(s): Alberto Cifuentes, Jr., MSW

Time: 9:45 – 11:15 AM
ePoster Presentation: Using Mobile Phone Technology to Assess Substance Use Outcomes and Promote Recovery
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 6, ML 2
Author(s): Jennifer Manuel, PhD

Time: 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Presentation: Writing and Reviewing for Refereed Journals: Discussion with Editorial Advisory Board Members
Location: Independence BR RM: H, ML 4
Author(s): Cristina Mogro-Wilson, PhD; Kristina Lovato, PhD; Kess Ballentine, PhD; Jeremiah Jaggers, PhD.

Time: 2:00 – 3:30 PM
Presentation: Promoting Mental Health and Coping Among LGBTQIA+ Youth during COVID-19: A Pilot Study of an Affirmative Mindfulness-Based Group Intervention
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: Monument, ML 4
Author(s): Gio Iacono, PhD

Time: 3:45 – 5:15 PM
Presentation: Invited Journal Editors Workshop II: Forum on Publishing Qualitative Research
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 12, ML 2
Author(s): Cristina Mogro-Wilson, PhD; Robert Hawkins, PhD; Lissette Piedra, PhD; Susan Robbins, PhD; Jennifer Zelnick, ScD; Sara Goodkind, PhD; Mimi Kim, PhD.

Time: 3:45 – 5:15 PM
Presentation: Critical Analyzing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): An Analysis of State Policy Options and State Participation Rates
Location: Liberty Ballroom RM: N, ML 4
Author(s): Emily Loveland, MSW

Time: 3:45 – 5:15 PM
ePoster Presentation: Psychosocial Interventions for Individuals Living with the Psychosocial Effects of Long-COVID: A Qualitative Interpretative Meta-Synthesis
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 6, ML 2
Author(s): Laura Moynihan, LICSW, OSW-C, APHSW-C; Doreek Charles, MSW; Kelsi Carolan, PhD, LICSW.

Time: 3:45 – 5:15 PM
ePoster Presentation: Gender Transportation-Related Differences Among Older Vietnamese Immigrants
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 6, ML 2
Author(s): Rebecca Mauldin, PhD; Jill Theresa Messing, PhD; Rupal Parekh, PhD; Priyanjali Chakraborty, MA.
 

Saturday, January 13

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 AM
ePoster Presentation: Unpacking Neutrality Discourse in Social Work: Exploring Twitter Responses to Anti-Trans Legislation
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 6, ML 2
Author(s): Gio Iacono, PhD; Jemel Aguilar, PhD, LCSW, MPH; Leah Holle, MAR, LCSW, CEDS.

Time: 9:45 – 11:15 AM
Presentation: Community-Driven Research and Action
Location: Independence BR RM: A, ML 4
Author(s): Linda Sprague Martinez, PhD

Time: 12:30 – 1:30 PM
Presentation: Creating Safe Spaces in Academic Environments
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: A, ML 4
Author(s): Flor Avellaneda, MSW; Gabriela Mohr-Avita, MSW; Danielle Parrish, PhD; Leila Wood, PhD; Cristina Mogro-Wilson, PhD.
 

Sunday, January 14

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 AM
Presentation: The Personal Is Professional Is Political: A Roundtable of Transgender and Gender Expansive Scholars on Integrating Research, Organizing, and Advocacy to Promote Trans Justice
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 8, ML 2
Author(s): Meg Paceley, PhD; Trey Jenkins, MSW; Leo Kattari, PhD, MSW; LB Klein, PhD, MSW; Shanna Kattari, PhD; Candace Christensen, PhD, MSW.

Time: 8:00 – 9:30 AM
ePoster Presentation: Understanding Overeating Patterns Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: An Exploratory Analysis of Factors
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 6, ML 2
Author(s): Gio Iacono, PhD; Ryan Watson, PhD; Hsiu-Ju Lin, PhD; Breana Bietsch, MSW; Jamie Smith, MSW, LCSW-C; Leah Holle, MAR, LCSW, CEDS.

Time: 9:45 – 11:15 AM
Presentation: “I Had to Fight for This!” Implications for Youth, Caregivers, and Providers amidst Attacks on Gender-Affirming Care
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 9, ML 2
Author(s): Sarah Gzesh, MSW; Meg Paceley, PhD; Jama Shelton, PhD; Dana Prince, PhD; Shanna Kattari, PhD; Amy Hillier, PhD.

Time: 9:45 – 11:15 AM
Presentation: Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Substance Use Treatment
Location: Marquis BR Salon RM: 7, ML 2
Author(s): Jennifer Manuel, PhD

*Current SSW student or alum

Sukhmani Singh Presented Research at Sentencing Commission Meeting

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Sukhmani Singh presenting at CT Sentencing Commission Meeting

On Thursday, September 28, 2023, Assistant Professor Sukhmani Singh presented her work with Beyond Bars at the Connecticut Sentencing Commission Meeting at the Connecticut State Capitol Legislative Office Building. Singh’s research, Beyond Bars: Examining the Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated People Released Under Public Act 15-84 in Connecticut, is a primarily qualitative study that examines the parole and reentry experiences of formerly incarcerated people who were beneficiaries of Public Act 15-84.

Public Act 15-84 was passed in Connecticut in 2015 following two Supreme Court rulings: Graham v. Florida, 2010, and Miller v Alabama, 2012. These historic rulings held that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for youth 17 or younger when they were convicted of violent crimes is unconstitutional. Those rulings prompted the Sentencing Commission to take action and recommend a change in Connecticut’s law.

Singh, who is collaborating with the Sentencing Commission on the research project, provided an overview of the national landscape, described recently published research on the population, and shared details of the cross-sectional, one-on-one interview study that she has designed. Specifically, she and her research team will conduct semi-structured interviews with beneficiaries of P.A. 15-84 who have been completely released from parole supervision and are fully returned citizens. Additionally, her doctoral student colleague, Joshua Adler from CUNY Graduate Center, shared some descriptive quantitative analyses of de-identified data they had received from the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

“One broad area that I’m interested in understanding is the experience of incarceration itself for these individuals, and their experience with the parole hearing process in particular,” she explained. “I’m also asking them about the social services that they have received, trying to understand their experience with housing, with employment, and lastly, really leaning in on their wisdom and lived expertise to request recommendations for how do we as a state – and CT has this history of being a state that does things – how do we do this better.”

Singh was joined by Adler and SSW graduate student Fernando Valenzuela. Her presentation was livestreamed by CT-N.

Read more about Singh’s research.

UConn School of Social Work Faculty and Ph.D. Students to Present at CSWE 2023

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At CSWE's 69th Annual Program Meeting, which takes place in Atlanta, GA, October 25 to 29, several School of Social Work faculty and Ph.D. students will offer presentations of their work.

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Time: 3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Panel Presentation: Organizing for Voting Rights and Justice: A National Collaboration to Elevate the Vision and Voice of Social Work
Session: National Association of Deans and Directors (NADD) Schools of Social Work Fall Meeting Breakout Session #3
Author(s): Terry Mizrahi, PhD; Tanya Rhodes Smith, MSW; Sabrina W. Tyuse, PhD

Friday, October 27, 2023

Time: 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Presentation & Session: Academic Mothers: Equitable Structural Policies in the Academy
Author(s): Cristina Mogro-Wilson, PhD; Nalini Negi, PhD

Time: 2:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Poster Presentation & Session: Redefining Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as Welfare to the State, Not the Family
Author(s): Madri Hall-Faul, MSSW

Time: 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Poster Presentation & Session: Lessons Learned: Reflections on an Interpersonal Educational Collaboration Between MSW and Nursing Students
Author(s): Kelsi Carolan, PhD., LICSW, Jon Phillips, Ph.D., Doreek Charles, MSW and Laura Moynihan, LICSW

Time: 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Panel Presentation: Creating Safe Spaces in Academic Environments
Session: Reckoning with Violence and Harassment of Women
Author(s): Flor Avellaneda, PhD, MSW; Cristina Mogro-Wilson, PhD; Leila Wood, MSW, PhD

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Time: 10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Presentation: Stigma, Subversion, and Solidarity: A Qualitative Study of Online Male Sex Workers
Session: Expanding our Knowledge Base about Special LGBTQ+ Populations, Part Two
Author: Alberto Cifuentes, Jr., LMSW

Time: 11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Presentation: Staying Connected During Isolation: An Intergenerational Approach to Social Work Field Education
Session: Social Engagement for Mental Health
Author: Breana Bietsch, MSW

Time: 12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Presentation: Unpacking Neutrality in Social Work Education: Exploring Twitter Responses to Anti-Trans Legislation
Session: Developing a Knowledge Base in Social Work Education for Working with LGBTQ+ Communities
Author(s): Gio Iacono, PhD; Jamie Smith, MSW, LCSW-C; Leah Holle, MAR, LCSW, CEDS; Jemel Aguilar, PhD; Maxwell Switz, BA

Time: 12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Poster Presentation & Session: Cultural Competence Training in Social Work Education: The Undocumented LGBTQ+ Immigrant Youth Perspective
Author(s): Craig Mortley, MS; Yvonne Mbewe, LCSW

Time: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Interactive Workshop Presentation & Session: Teaching MSW Students About the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Using Critical Pedagogical Strategies
Author(s): Kelsi Carolan, PhD, LICSW; Noelle Dimitri, PhD, LICSW

Time: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Presentation & Session: The Ethics of Civil Commitments for Substance Use Disorders
Author: Cynthia Nichols, MSW, LCSW

Time: 4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Panel Presentation & Session: Writing and Reviewing for Refereed Journals: Strategies for Successful Publishing and Ethical Peer Review
Author(s): Kenta Asakura, MSW, LICSW, PhD; Jeremiah Jaggers, MSW, PhD; Cristina Mogro-Wilson, PhD; Danielle Parrish, MSW, PhD

Time: 4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Presentation: Manifestations of Neoliberalism in BSW Practice: Fostering Critical Reflection and Resistance in BSW Education
Session: Empowering Students to Build a Better Profession
Author: Paula Nieman, PhD, MSW, LCSW

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Time: 7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
Presentation: Meeting Diverse Needs: Sexual and Gender Minority Populations in Gerontology Social Work Education
Session: Expanding the Culturally Competent Gerontological Education
Author: Breana Bietsch, MSW

Time: 7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
Panel Presentation & Session: Implications for Practice and Education: Writing and Reviewing for Peer-Reviewed Journals
Author(s): Kenta Asakura, MSW, LICSW, PhD; Cristina Mogro-Wilson, PhD; Danielle Parrish, MSW, PhD

Time: 8:45 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
Presentation: Sex Work is Work: The Case for Decriminalized in the U.S.
Session: Criminal Legal Systems
Author: Alberto Cifuentes, Jr., LMSW

Time: 1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Panel Presentation & Session: Community Sponsorship of Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Why U.S. Social Work Should Care
Author(s): Kathryn Libal, PhD; S. Megan Berthold, PhD, LCSW; Yvonne Mbewe, LCSW; Craig Mortley, MS; Madri Hall-Faul, MSSW; Scott Harding, MSW, PhD

U.S. Administration for Children and Families Grant Funds Research Project

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With a cooperative agreement sub-award of $300,000, co-Principal Investigators Jon Phillips and Cristina Mogro-Wilson will study “PRESERVE & CONNECT: Partnerships in Rigorous Evaluation of Services that Enhance family wellbeing in Rural VErmont, and urban Latine and Black communities in CONNECTicut.”

The primary goal of the project is to determine whether the “Breakthrough Parenting Curriculum: Navigating Trauma Across Generations (BPC)”— a trauma-informed parenting intervention — is effective at promoting child, parent, and family wellbeing among underserved families at-risk for involvement with the child welfare system. The researchers have partnered with colleagues at the University of Vermont and local community agencies, including the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and Wheeler Clinic, to conduct a three-year, multi-site randomized control trial of the intervention.

“This project allows us to focus on supporting families and preventing child maltreatment in our home state rather than waiting until things get to the point where the child welfare system opens a case,” says Phillips. “Another exciting aspect of this study is that we will be providing financial compensation to parents who have lived experiences with the child welfare system to become trained in the intervention and co-facilitate the parenting group alongside a mental health professional.”

This project is supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award (Award#:90FA3008-01-00) totaling $1.5 million with 100 percent funded by ASCF/HHS.  The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, ACF/HHS or the U.S. Government.

Learn more about Phillips and Mogro-Wilson's research.