The short answer, says Melissa Smith, is that we can learn much from resource-poor communities in the global South to promote the health of people living in poor and minority communities here in the United States. Smith, a family medicine physician and a senior lecturer at the School of Social Work, has developed a six-week […]
Spring 2017
Peer support to recover from addictions
Since 2010, Texas has invested in peer recovery coaches to provide long-term support for individuals struggling with addictions. Recovery coaches complete a 46-hour state-approved curriculum and then work with clients under the supervision of community programs. An evaluation from the School of Social Work’s Addiction Research Institute found that, after 12 months, 84 percent of […]
Busting the model minority myth
According to U.S. minority stereotypes, Asians are wealthy, highly-educated, and problem-free. Data-gathering efforts like the U.S. Census can reinforce this stereotype because they pick up mostly English-speaking residents who tend to be better off. So when professor Yuri Jang set out to conduct a survey for the city of Austin on the needs of the […]
Why does Solution-Focused Brief Therapy work?
Professor Cynthia Franklin and doctoral student Anao Zhang reviewed more than 30 studies that investigate why and how SFBT works. They found most empirical support for the therapy’s strength-oriented techniques and for the co-construction of meaning. Results are published in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.
Summer camp champion
When Leah Mesches (MSSW 16) started working at Camp Champions, the organization had a small scholarship program— roughly $15,000 went towards campers in need of financial help. As part of her final social work internship, Mesches set up the Champions Education Foundation in 2016, which has expanded available scholarship funds to over $200,000. “I really believe […]
U.S. citizen-children in mixed-status families
About 4.5 million of U.S.-born children live in “mixed-status families,” that is, they have parents and siblings who are undocumented immigrants. As in every other American home, these children experience their families as a unit that shares bloodlines, lineage, affection, and interdependence. The fact that they don’t share legal status, however, can be a source […]
The sound of Texas
When professor Clay Shorkey is not busy teaching or directing the Learning Resources Center, he dedicates time to preserving the sound of Texas. He is a co-founder of the Texas Music Museum, which pays tribute to Tejano music and musicians through oral histories, recorded performances, and artifacts such as the record-cutting machine from the first […]
How to improve school performance
Professor Esther Calzada helped develop ParentCorps, a program that teaches young children skills such as expressing their emotions, and coaches parents and teachers in how to encourage positive behaviors. Recent research in New York City public schools that serve predominantly poor students shows that by second grade, children at schools with ParentCorps were half as […]
Spring 2017 Class Notes
’78 Mitch Sudolsky, MSSW ’78, has returned to UT Austin as a full-time clinical social work professor after thirteen years of adjunct teaching. ‘86 Therese Harmacek, MSSW ’86, coordinates physical, mental, and social services for elderly and disabled clients in Travis County as a contract case manager for Humana. ‘95 Rachel Fusco, MSSW ’95, is […]
Spring 2017 Community
Why Your Support Matters: Kristin N. Ramos; Endowments: Denise and Ray Nixon Fellowship for Excellence in Social Work, Schwab Family Scholarship in Social Work, Dean’s Endowed Scholarship Fund; Why I Give: Evelyn Neely; Jessica Shahin on bringing social work students to Washington D.C.
