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Centers & Projects

Center for Women's Welfare

The Center for Women's Welfare is devoted to furthering the goal of economic justice for women and their families. Partnering with a range of governmental, non-profit, women's, children's, and community-based organizations, the Center researches questions involving poverty measures, public policies and programs that address income adequacy.

The Center's core activities revolve around researching and creating the Self-Sufficiency Standard, an alternative measure of income adequacy that measures how much income is needed for a family of a given composition in a given place to adequately meet its basic needs without public or private assistance. County by county reports, which calculate the self-sufficiency requirements for 70 different family types, have been created for 36 states as of August, 2005. Advocates, employers, policymakers, and service providers, have used the Standard as a tool for targeting higher wage jobs, employment and training programs, improving career counseling services, and creating public policies designed to help families reach self-sufficiency.

Examples of other Center projects include the development of on-line budget calculators that help workforce development counselors and clients make informed decisions about job training, potential wages and eligibility for work supports and subsidies, and "Above and Below" studies that count the number of individuals falling above and below the Standard, as well as their characteristics, such as race, age of children, occupation, marital status and gender.

For questions, please contact Dr. Diana Pearce, Principal Investigator, (206) 616-2850, pearce@u.washington.edu or Tamar Puckett, Program Director, (206) 616-3543, tamarp@u.washington.edu

For more information, visit www.selfsufficiencystandard.org.

CSWE National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education (Gero-Ed Center)

The Council on Social Work Education National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education, funded for eight years by the John A. Hartford Foundation, aims to prepare all social work students nationally with foundation competencies to work effectively with older adults and their families. The rationale is that workforce data consistently show that the majority of social workers interact with older adults, regardless of practice setting, but lack the preparation to do so. Four domains are oriented toward this goal: educational policy and accreditation, programmatic and curricular change, e-learning and foundation textbook infusion projects, and resource development for sustainability. We encourage students to visit the Gero-Ed Center website, www.Gero-EdCenter.org, for excellent resources on gerontological readings, exercises, videos/DVDs, assignments, lecture notes, e-learning, website links, and “best practices” from other social work programs across the country. Gerontology Practicum Partnership Scholarships are available to second-year MSW students in academic year 2008-2009, the final year of Hartford funding for this unique rotational model of field education. Watch the gerontological bulletin board in the School located near the student lounge for other resources. Contact Nancy Hooyman, Nancy R. Hooyman Endowed Gerontology Professor, hooy@u.washington.edu, for additional information.

Indigenous Wellness Research Institute

www.iwri.org.

Karina Walters (Choctaw), Director
William P. and Ruth Gerberding University Professor

Polly Olsen (Yakama), Community Relations and Development
206-616-8731
polly@u.washington.edu

The Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) is a University-wide, interdisciplinary institute whose vision is to support the inherent rights of Indigenous people to achieve full and complete health and wellness by collaborating in decolonizing research and knowledge building and sharing. In order to achieve this vision, the mission of IWRI is to marshal community, tribal, academic, and governmental resources toward innovative, culture-centered, interdisciplinary, collaborative social and behavioral research and education. IWRI collaborates with Indigenous people in three areas—research, tribal capacity building, and knowledge sharing. 

IWRI supports regional Indigenous communities by partnering with tribal organizations to develop research that is community-driven and responsive to needs defined by those communities. These research partnerships create unique opportunities to build tribal research capacity and technology as well as create pipeline initiatives for Indigenous youth to develop their science and research skills in the area of health disparities.

IWRI’s infrastructure is supported by a faculty and staff comprised primarily of American Indians and Alaska Natives. IWRI's two major research centers are supported by five institutional cores; community relations and development, administration, communications and media, research policy and methods, and research translation and dissemination.
IWRI’s two major research centers are:

Center for Indigenous Child Welfare and Family Wellness
      Dr. Tessa Evans-Campbell (Snohomish), Director
Center for Indigenous Health Research
      Dr. Bonnie Duran (Opelousas/Coushatta), Director

Research Projects

  • Healthy Hearts Across Generations, a five-year project in collaboration with the Tulalip Tribes to design and test a culturally appropriate cardiovascular disease prevention program for American Indians living in the Northwest
  • Healthy Hearts Across Generations Supplement, a 4-year project designed to complement and extend the cardiovascular disease parent project, by focusing on the co-morbid issue of diabetes
  • The HONOR Project, a study examining the impact of historical trauma, discrimination, and other stressors on the health and wellness of Native lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and two-spirited men and women
  • The HONOR Project Supplement, a study on how past and current life experiences affect the health behaviors and wellness of Native American men and women living with HIV and AIDS, regardless of sexual orientation
  • Community Based Participatory Research: A Pilot Study of Process and Outcomes, explores the nuances of participation and partnership within the research process and to produce a synthesized model that can be tested for effectiveness to improve CBPR outcomes.
  • The American Indian Vietnam Veterans Project, a study investigating how traumatic events and specific aspects of those events vary by participant characteristics (e.g., age, gender, ethnic and racial background, and socio-economic status) using the narratives of life experiences shared by American Indian Vietnam veterans.
  • United States arm of the International Network for Indigenous Health Knowledge and Development
  • Housing the University-wide Native Research Group
  • Dr. Karina Walters received a US Senior Fulbright Award to conduct research with Maori communities and universities across New Zealand. Dr. Walters worked with Maori colleagues to translate and develop Indigenous research methods that promote the health of Indigenous people in New Zealand and the US.

Student Resources

IWRI supports students from a variety of disciplines through academic mentorship and financial, social, and cultural support. IWRI faculty and staff mentor undergraduate and graduate Native students University-wide through research placements, practica, and fellowship support. Currently, IWRI hosts student luncheons, a seminar series, and distributes a quarterly newsletter.
IWRI is also raising funds a UW doctoral-level research scholarship, “The Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa Flying Eagle Woman Fund, a fellowship for studies related to indigenous environmental health and sovereignty”.

The Innovative Programs Research Group

An interdisciplinary applied research entity, the Innovative Programs Research Group conducts studies designed to achieve a greater knowledge of the characteristics and needs of underserved populations and assess the effectiveness of innovative means for reducing barriers to the delivery of effective social and mental health services.

Current research efforts include

  • A National Institute on Drug • Abuse (NIDA)-funded study titled “Motivating Substance-Abusing Batterers to Seek Treatment” is evaluating a brief telephone-delivered intervention for adult male batterers who are abusing alcohol/drugs and who are neither in counseling nor being adjudicated.
  • The “Teen Marijuana Check-Up,” a NIDA-funded study, targets adolescents who smoke marijuana, have some concerns about its use, but are not motivated to change.
  • In partnership with the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, a NIDA-funded study titled “Development and Efficacy Test of Computerized Treatment for Marijuana Dependence” is evaluating the efficacy of computerized vs. in-person delivered treatment.
  • In collaboration with a nonprofit agency, the 1 in 6 project is intended to develop a web-based brief intervention service for men who have a history of sexual abuse.
  • In collaboration with two doctoral students (Gita Mehrotra and Carl Maas), the Men of Color project is completing a manuscript on the impact of racism on interventions for men of color engaging in intimate partner violence (IPV). The project, in collaboration with community members, also plans to develop culturally relevant intervention approaches to recruit and motivate men of color engaging in IPV to self-refer into treatment.

For more information visit http://depts.washington.edu/iprg or call 206-543-7511

Intergroup Dialogue Education and Action Center

The Intergroup Dialogue, Education, and Action (IDEA) Center at the University of Washington School of Social Work integrates the practice and pedagogy of intergroup dialogue into social work practitioner education. The center serves as a resource for other campus and community efforts geared toward addressing inequalities, fostering empowerment, and building alliances for social justice.

The IDEA Center is guided by its deep commitment to building alliances across differences for personal and social change. It advances the following principles:

Intergroup dialogue, a viable and transformative means of engaging across differences, especially when these differences are marked by culture, identity, and power. Our ways of communicating and relating often replicate the same oppressive dynamics that are both the content of our deliberations and the targets of change. Dialogue offers a communicative action to bridge social divides.

Education, signifying our commitment to the learning and unlearning processes required to confront oppression and injustices. Learning new information and skills, as well as unlearning socialized and prejudiced ways of being in the world, helps expand participants’ capacity for critical consciousness about the impact of multiple levels of inequalities and privilege in their lives, and agency to impact upon those forces.

Action, referring to our belief that deep engagement in the intergroup dialogue and education processes can motivate and build participants’ capacity for becoming change agents. For social work practitioners, this means developing knowledge, values, passion, commitment, and skills to work in diverse settings and promote greater social justice.

IDEA';s Activities

  • Offers intergroup dialogues at the School of Social Work and the campus at large
  • Trains a cadre of undergraduate and graduate students in intergroup dialogue facilitation and intergroup dialoguebased social work practice
  • Provides national and international leadership in intergroup dialogue applications in social justice education, civic engagement, and peace building efforts
  • Conducts ongoing curriculum development, research, and evaluation • Collaborates on developing the scholarship — theoretical, empirical, and applied — of intergroup dialogue

In 2006, the IDEA Center received the prestigious University of Washington Brotman Award for Instructional Excellence for outstanding collaborative achievements in teaching and fostering excellent learning. The IDEA Center is directed by Associate Professor Biren “Ratnesh” Nagda. See www.ssw.washington.edu/idea for more information.

Partners for Our Children

The University of Washington School of Social Work is playing a major role in an innovative public-private partnership aimed at improving Washington’s child-welfare system. Partners for our Children promotes collaboration among the University, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), and the private sector to create positive change within the system, which serves 19,000 children in foster or group care.

The UW School of Social Work brings to this partnership its world-class expertise, its ability to educate the next generation of child-welfare professionals, and an infrastructure to support this ambitious endeavor. The School hopes the partnership will make a large and direct difference in the lives of children under state care.

DSHS brings the experience of the public institution charged with primary responsibility for children in out-of home care. The state is also in a position to act quickly to implement promising and evidence-based policies, programs, and practices identified through the work of Partners for Our Children.

Funding provided by private donors strengthens the partnership’s independence to pursue cutting-edge projects. The donor community can also provide social capital and momentum to open important doors to maximize the likelihood that successful projects will lead to changes in both policy and practice.

Partners for Our Children is pursuing four main strategies:

  • Policy analysis and evaluation, especially aimed at discovering the effectiveness of policies and practices in meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families
  • Funding the development, testing, implementation, and dissemination of promising programs and practices
  • Education and training, primarily directed at social work professionals and foster parents
  • Public affairs and communications, designed to build support for change, sustainability, and success.

To lead the partnership, Dr. Mark Courtney, Executive Director of Partners for Our Children and Ballmer Endowed Chair for Child Well-Being in the School of Social Work, joined the School’s faculty in 2007 from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Work Administration. Courtney and Dean Edwina Uehara note that this is the first time an institution has integrated all of these strategic objectives.

For more about the partnership, visit www.partnersforourchildren.org or email julie.dunnington@partnersforourchildren.org.

Predoctoral Training Program in Prevention Research
Promoting Mental Health through Advances in Social Welfare

http://www.ssw.washingtonedu/programs/phdprev/

The University of Washington School of Social Work Predoctoral Training Program in Prevention Research supports social welfare doctoral students in the School. The National Institute of Mental Health is funding this program focused on predoctoral research training in the prevention of mental health problems and disorders.

The training program builds upon the strengths of our doctoral program, our exceptional multidisciplinary faculty, and our institutional resources at the University of Washington. Our primary goal is to produce a cadre of well-trained prevention researchers who advance the knowledge base for developing effective prevention programs. Graduates of this program are now active scholars in prevention research in major universities throughout the nation.

The training program encompasses a relatively wide range of opportunities such as generative studies developing theoretical models for prevention, formulating theoretically-based preventive interventions, conducting experimental prevention trials, and learning statistical and research methodologies. The program is designed to foster rigorous, in-depth research training and has requirements beyond those of the doctoral program.

The Social Development Research Group

SDRG is an interdisciplinary team of researchers who seek to understand and promote healthy behaviors and positive social development among children, adolescents, and young adults.

SDRG:

  • Conducts research on factors that influence development
  • Tests the effectiveness of interventions
  • Studies service systems and works to improve them • Presents science-based solutions to health and behavior problems
  • Disseminates knowledge produced by research.

Four examples among eleven of the group’s current research projects are:

  • The Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) began in 1981 with the purpose of testing strategies for promoting positive development, such as academic success, and reducing problem behaviors, such as drug abuse and delinquency. The study has shown positive effects up to 15 years after the intervention ended, including increased high school completion rates, increased college attendance, reduced violence and heavy alcohol use, reduced mental health problems, reduced teen pregnancies, and reduced levels of sexually transmitted infections among those who were in intervention classrooms in Grades 1 through 6. As currently funded, the project is following participants through age 33.
  • The Family Connections study tested the efficacy of Staying Connected with Your Teen® with families of 8th grade adolescents. In 10th grade, two years after the end of the intervention, African-American intervention group participants were about 1.5 times less likely to initiate sex or substance use than their counterparts in the control group. We also found significant reductions in the growth of violent behavior from 8th to 10th grade among African- American teens in the intervention condition.
  • Raising Healthy Children (RHC), a collaborative project with the Edmonds School District, has shown positive effects of teacher and parent involvement on children’s behavior, including improved academic performance and social competence and reduced drug use. The project is now following participants into young adulthood.
  • The Community Youth Development Study, a randomized controlled trial of the Communities that Care (CTC) operating system for youth development. The study, which involves 24 communities across seven states, is examining the impact of the CTC system on community levels of risk and protection, drug use, crime, and academic outcomes. The project has demonstrated reductions in risk levels and delinquency initiation among those who were noninitiators at baseline.

In addition, SDRG offers survey services to the research community.

  • The Survey Research Division provides survey services to health and social science researchers at the University of Washington and other institutions. Specialized data collection teams have consistently achieved high response rates and have obtained high-quality data with little missing data. The survey division of SDRG is capable of using multiple modes of survey administration, including web, in-person, phone computer-assisted interviewing, mail, and use of combined survey modes. Services include: subject recruitment, locating, and tracking; multiple modes of survey administration; data scanning and entry; data cleaning; and programming for computer-assisted or web surveys. Visit our website (www.sdrg.org/srd) to learn more about our 25 years of experience and success in achieving high response rates and excellent data quality that can be used for proposal development as well as for fielding surveys.

For more information visit http://depts.washington.edu/sdrg or call 206-685-1997

West Coast Poverty Center

A collaborative venture of the UW School of Social Work, the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, and the College of Arts and Sciences, the West Coast Poverty Center creates new opportunities for cross-disciplinary exchanges and collaboration among poverty researchers to foster a network of poverty scholars in the West Coast region. The center mentors the next generation of poverty scholars and practitioners through pre-tenure faculty awards, research assistantships, and dissertation fellowships for graduate students.

The West Coast Poverty Center has awarded four grants in support of the work of early career poverty researchers at the UW, two grants to scholars outside the UW researching poverty and policy on the West Coast, and six dissertation support awards. The center hosted a national conference on the economic prospects for second-generation immigrants and sponsored 17 poverty and public policy seminars. In addition, the West Coast Poverty Center has developed a website, wcpc.washington.edu, highlighting its activities and providing students, faculty, and the public with a ready source of data on national and regional poverty trends.

For more information, contact Administrative Director Rachel Lodge or Coordinator Virginia Hawkins. For more information visit http://wcpc.washington.edu or call 206-616-2858

 

Research Activities