New podcast with Dr. Toya Jones!

The School of Social Work is excited to announce our new Healing Overflow with Dr. Toy Social Work Podcast! The podcast will air every 1st and 3rd Thursday at noon. The host, Dr. Toya Jones is a licensed clinical social worker, trauma expert, therapist, faculty member, and director for the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work (BASW) program. The 2-time Pitt alumna is eager to share her passion for the social work career and spread joy through a podcast centered on the social work profession. This vast social work career covers a variety of disciplines such as therapy, public health, education, legal systems, research, social justice, and more!  Read more and watch promo video.

What the standoff in Garfield teaches us about life in Pittsburgh

Thanks to faculty members Yodit Betru, Beth Mulvaney, and Mary Beth Rauktis for authoring this thought-provoking op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Conner brings extensive experience to ‘dream job’ leading CRSP

When Pitt’s Center on Race and Social Problems (CRSP) launched in 2002, Kyaien Conner was a graduate student in the School of Social Work. To say she was receptive to the center’s mission and programming would be a notable understatement.

“I was present for its inception,” she said. “I attended CRSP events and the renowned speaker series. I was listening to scholars of color from all over the world come to the University of Pittsburgh through CRSP to present their work and share how that work was making a real difference in people’s lives and in the communities I cared about.” Read more in University Times.

New report: I Went Back to the Bedside Because We Need to Save Healthcare: Worker-Generated Solutions for the Challenges Facing Hospital Workers

This report is a follow-up to the Pittsburgh Wage Study's April 2022 report, Leaving the Bedside: Findings from the Pittsburgh Hospital Workers Survey, which described the experiences of over 2,000 workers as they navigated increased demands due to COVID-19 and their adjustment to the new and still changing landscape. In this report, they summarize workers’ collective concerns and solutions for improving patient safety, worker well-being, and workplace culture to understand what can and should be done to keep them and their patients safe. Read more.

CWLA Hires Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Child Welfare Resource Center (CWRC) certified trainer and CWEL alumna Deborah Wilson Gadsden has been named the first Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the Child Welfare League of America. Her most recent work has been as a training specialist in the field of racial and social justice having been trained by Cultural Bridges to Justice, Northwestern/Kellogg School of Management’s Allstate Leading with Equity course, and participation in the process of CWRC becoming an anti-racist organization in consultation with the Center for the Study of Social Policy. Read more.

Excellence in Service Award

Recruitment & Admissions Coordinator Leah Mafrica has been recognized by the Office of the Dean as the inaugural recipient of the “Excellence in Service Award”. This annual award was initiated by the Dean and Director of Operations to formally recognize an outstanding staff member for quality and dedicated work, demonstrated by going above and beyond university standards to be respectful, helpful, and ensuring that interactions with faculty staff and students are exceptional and problems are resolved. 

Leah was selected due to notable feedback from faculty and staff throughout the past year recognizing her daily example of promoting positive morale through a congenial and supportive attitude, and for fostering collaboration, communication, and cooperation through challenging and difficult circumstances.  

Please join us in celebrating Leah and honoring her as a model of excellence!

Podcast: This Week In White Supremacy | Ron Idoko: Doctor of Racism

This Week In White Supremacy 1HOOD sits down with Ron Idoko, who believes he has the SCBT vaccine to eliminate the pandemic of mind-altering systemic racism in America first and worldwide. Ron Idoko is the Associate Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems and the Associate Director of Honors Education and Social Innovation at the University of Pittsburgh. This Week In White Supremacy is The 1Hood Podcast discussing the cultural effects and weekly injustices surrounding white supremacy; through intelligent, insightful commentary and often comedic conversations this podcast is geared towards adults who want to digest the latest news and events with humor and Hip-Hop. Listen here.

Podcast: Food Insecurity and the One Welfare Framework

In this episode of BerryDunn’s podcast series for social workers and child welfare practitioners, Andrea Richardson welcomes Dr. Mary Rauktis, Research Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. They discuss the intersectionality of food insecurity of people and pets, how food insecurities affect different human and animal populaces, and the concept of the one welfare framework. Listen here.

Alumna wins award

MSW alumna Stefanie Small was honored with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh's Doris and Leonard H. Rudolph Jewish Communal Professional Award for her exceptional personal and professional commitment to the Jewish community. Stefanie was honored for her contribution to improving the quality of services offered in the community and to the enhancement of Jewish life. Read more.

Staff honored for 20 years at Pitt

Megan Soltesz, Director of Administration and Chief of Staff and Michael Schrecengost,

Business and Personnel Manager for the Child Welfare Education & Research Program where both honored for 20 years of service at the University of Pittsburgh!

Faculty member and PhD student work with community members to teach mindfulness

Awaken Pittsburgh is teaching the power of mindfulness and meditation to different organizations, specifically in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood. Watch Associate Professor Jay Huguley and PhD student Cecily Davis along with their community partners talk about this innovative program on KDKA-TV. Read more about this program in NEXT Pittsburgh, WESA 90.5, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.