Dr. Moon receives new grant

Building Family Protective Factors through the Family Success Network (FSN): Ohio Expansion Sites Evaluation

Dr. Deborah Moon received additional funds ($413,017) from the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to expand her current evaluation of a community-based maltreatment prevention program - the Family Success Network (FSN) – which is piloted to serve under-served communities in Ohio. Through the new grant, Dr. Moon and other PIs at the Ohio State University and Case Western Reserve University will implement and evaluate FSN in 7 additional counties in Ohio. As the site Principal Investigator at Pitt, Dr. Moon will continue overseeing implementation studies within the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Larry Davis Awards honor Black Excellence in the Academy

Pitt’s first Dr. Larry Davis Black Excellence in the Academy Awards were handed out Nov. 3 as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Center on Race and Social Problems, which Davis founded.

The ceremony honored the legacy of Davis, who served as dean of Pitt’s School of Social Work from 2001-2018, and the accomplishments of Black Pitt faculty.

Dr. James Huguley was honored with the Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship award. See full list of honorees.

Faculty, doctoral student, and research assistant present at convention

On October 28, Drs. Moon, Wallace, Durham, Jones, doctoral student Bailey Nichols, and research assistant Grace Oxley presented a workshop titled, “Engaging African American Church Leaders as Partners in Ethical Research” along with two African American faith leaders in Homewood, PA at the North American Association of Christians in Social Work (NACSW)’s 72nd Annual Convention in Chicago. The workshop was based on the CHURCH (Congregations as Healers Uniting to Restore Community Health) project launched by Dr. John Wallace in which Pitt researchers and African American faith leaders in Homewood are collaborating to develop and evaluate a mental health intervention to be implemented in black churches. NACSW is a non-profit Christian social work organization with a mission to equip its members to integrate Christian faith and professional social work practice. Members of NACSW represent a rich diversity of Christian denominations and traditions. Drs. Moon and Durham have also joined the Planning Committee for next year’s conference

Dr. Durham leads session at Community Engaged Scholarship Project Development Cohort

Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement, partnered with the Office of Engagement and Community Affairs (ECA) on this year’s Community Engaged Scholarship Project Development Cohort (CESPDC). Now in its second year, the CESPDC is designed to support collaborative teams made up of Pitt faculty and nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, or other civic association working together on initiatives that have community relevance, scholarly rigor, and social impact. Dr. Durham designed and led an interactive, half-day session on logic modeling using program development, human-centered design, translational research practices, and equity lens infused with anecdotal stories from nearly two decades’ long career in the not-for-profit sector. The session was titled, “A Deeper Dive into Logic Modeling." Participating faculty were from the Katz School of Business, the Center for American Music/ULS, the School of Education, the Department of Occupational Therapy, the Department of Biological Sciences, and UPMC/School of Medicine Departments of Dermatology and Internal Medicine with community partners representing more than 8 different communities and causes.

For more information on the CESPDC, visit: Community Engaged Scholarship Project Development Cohort | Office of | University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Nev Jones on panel for mental health event

Dr. Nev Jones is part of a panel at Unspoken Frictions: A Multi-Perspective Dialogue on Mental Health & Marginalization November 17th from 7-9pm. The 2022 Community Forum will feature a live performance by comedian/performing artist/choreographer, Stephanie R. Colón. Panelists will respond to key critical issues around structural racism, marginalization, systems navigation, intersectionality, and oppression. Register here.

Pitt Social Work sponsors holiday toy drive

We are excited to continue supporting our community partners Primary Care Health Services and Alma Illery Medical Center in Homewood as they brings holiday cheer to children ages 4 months through 13 years. From Monday, November 14th through Friday, December 16th, you can grab a gift tag on display in the Dean’s suite to purchase and return wrapped and unwrapped gifts for children. 

Suggested gift items include: books; toys; games; non-flammable jammies; and gift cards. All donations should be placed in the donation collection box—in the Dean’s suite—by 5PM on Friday, December 16. 

Student heading donation drive

MSW student Lizzie Ballantyne is currently doing an internship with Aspire Skill Development. This internship is about professional and personal development, and it includes a capstone project. For her project, she is doing a donation drive for refugee families which will all go to a local non-profit called Hello Neighbor which supports local refugee families in the Pittsburgh area and helps them transition easier. There are everyday items for less than $5 to shop for on the Amazon wishlist! 

Social Justice Summit Call for Abstracts

The Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with the Center on Race and Social Problems, invites leaders engaging in social justice programming to submit abstracts for 45-minute, virtual, workshops reflecting expected objectives and translation of knowledge related to your social justice programming and commitments. 

The Health Sciences Social Justice Summit seeks to serve as a space to engage in the how-to and the best-of for co-creating learning for inclusive and equitable campus-community engagement practice. The Summit explores health activism, conjoining a culture of empowerment activism through substantive community oriented collaborative engagements.

We hope, through the Summit, to share ways to disrupt the usual practice pathways and the status quo often reflected in campus-community partnerships. What do universities need to know as they form campus-community opportunities related to health equity? How might programs underscore social justice, lifting up the why on the need to do this type of thinking and engagement in campus-community relationship building through university-powered initiatives? We seek workshop presentations addressing systemic, structural and social change. 

More information can be found here.