April 2016
Drawing from multiple perspectives and promoting opportunities that link
research, policy, service and training, the  Poverty and Inequality Learning Community aims to bring together faculty and students to share  strategies for mitigating poverty and economic inequality.
Poverty Workshops
Join us for our upcoming talks! 

Upcoming

April 8, 12-1:30, B770 SSWB
Presenter: Marilyn Sinkewicz, Assistant Professor of Social Work

Co-Hosted by: Ford School of Public Policy and Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending
April 13th, 4-5:30, Annenberg, Ford School
Presenter:  Marie Gottschalk, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania

April 15th, 12-1:30, B770 SSWB
Presenter: Trina Shanks, Associate Professor of Social Work
Discussant: Anne Blumenthal, Doctoral Student in Social Work and Sociology

Recap

Advancing Prevention supports for at risk infants and toddlers , Jan. 29th
Professor Sandra Danziger and Clinical Associate Professor Julie Ribaudo discussed approaches that integrate addressing mental health with providing resources and supports for the many other needs of low income at risk families (parents and infant/toddlers) in order to reduce the stressors and effects of trauma in challenged socioeconomic contexts.

Economics of Child Maltreatment in Unmarried Families,  Feb. 12th Professor Lawrence (Lonnie) Berger of the University of Wisconsin-Madison,  examined the link  between  family income and child maltreatment. The results of his study suggest that an exogenous increase in income is associated with reductions in child neglect. 

Book talk, "Why are they angry with us: Essays on race" , Feb. 19th Professor and Dean Larry E. Davis of the University of Pittsburgh reflected upon what it was like to grow up black in America and comes to terms with a question he has contemplated since his childhood years; "If we (black people) were slaves, then why are they (white people) angry at us?" 

Persistence and fadeout in the impacts of child and adolescent interventions , March 11th
Professor Greg Duncan of the University of California, Irvine, discussed the key  features  interventions that can be expected to sustain beneficial impacts on children over time. Duncan proposed three perspectives regarding the nature, timing, and targeting of interventions that generate enduring impacts. 

Low-income families and the public and private safety net March 25th
Assistant Professor of Public Policy  Natasha Pilkauskas , discussed how low-income families often depend on a combination of private and public supports to make ends meet. The value of support is greatest when mothers receive both both types of supports, indicating that these are complementary. 

Mathieu Despard's article featured in The Atlantic
Assistant Professor  Mathieu Despard  co-authored a piece in  The Atlantic
 titled "Life in a Banking Desert", that examines how poor and minority communities pay a high price for having reduced access to basic financial services.
Shawn Lee's article featured in The Detroit News
In "Time to end emergency manager law", Associate Professor Shawna Lee's article discusses his the law disproportionally impacts vulnerable populations, who often have the fewest resources to exert political power.  
$2 a Day on Short List for the 2016 J. Anthony Lukas Prize L uke Shaefe r and  Kathryn Edin 's book  $2.00 a Day  was named to the shortlist for the  2016 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize , given by the Columbia School of Journalism and the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
MSW students visit to US-Mexico border

This past winter break, Associate Professor Sherrie Kossoudji and a group of MSW students traveled to the U.S-Mexico border to witness, experience, record, and reflect upon U.S. border enforcement in the Tucson/Nogales area. Throughout their journey, students maintained a blog narrating their experiences. Check out the blog here.

Restoring Safety: An Attachment-Based Approach to Clinical Work with a Traumatized Toddler

In a recent clinical case study, Clinical Associate Professor Julie Ribaudo 's explores the integration of infancy research, brain development, attachment theory, and models of infant-parent/child-parent psychotherapy to address the needs of abused and neglected young children placed in foster or adoptive homes. In this recent paper, she illustrates how therapeutic sessions with parent and child together can help manage and contain a traumatized child's terror, rage, and grief.

Moms' Mental Health Matter

In a recent blog for Michigan's Children, MSW alumna Mina Hong, writes about the role that a parents' mental well-being has on their ability to provide nurturing care to their children. Given the link between maternal depression and child maltreatment, Hong advocates for investing in the emotional health of mothers as a means to strengthen mother-child bonds both in the short and long-term.

Mapping Financial Opportunity

Assistant Professor Mathieu Despard (Co-PI) and Assistant Professor Terri FriedLine (PI) of the University of Kansas were recently awarded a $240,000 grant by the MetLife Foundation to the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion (AEDI) of the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. Their project, titled Mapping Financial Opportunity, will explore community and structural explanations of financial inclusion and health by asking where different types of financial services are located and how the array of services within communities may enable or hinder individuals' financial inclusion and health. In other words, the extent to which banks, credit unions, payday lenders, and post offices are located within a community may relate to how an individual pays his/her bills, saves money, or takes out loans. The findings can inform national policy efforts to widen and deepen financial inclusion and health.

Stay Informed - with the Poverty and Inequality Community News Roundup
We want to feature news of your related projects, research, and recognitions in our upcoming newsletters. Please send your abstract and a link to your talk or paper to Sandra Danziger and Analidis Ochoa-Bendaña
We look forward to hearing from you.
Contact Us

University of Michigan
School of Social Work
Poverty and Inequality Learning Community
1080 South University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106
http://ssw.umich.edu/research/learning-communities/poverty-and-inequality
734-764-5254

Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.