Social Work_Bridges spring 06

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Bridges 1 SPRING 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK Bridges M A G A Z I N E AGING The New Senior Class

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Transcript of Social Work_Bridges spring 06

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Bridges 1

SPRING 2006

UNIVERS ITY OF P ITTSBURGHSCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

BridgesM A G A Z I N E

AGINGThe New Senior Class

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A Spring 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dean’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

School News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Feature: The New Senior Class . . . . . . . . . . 4

Development News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Faculty Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Research Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Published by the School of Social Work

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Larry E. Davis, Dean Assistant Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rosemary A. Rinella

Department of University Marketing Communications

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly KaufmanEditorial Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah JordanGraphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coleen RushProduction Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chuck DinsmoreWriter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Niki Kapsambelis

University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work 2117 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 412-624-6302 www.pitt.edu/~pittssw

Bridges magazine is published biannually and is sent to alumni and friends of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work.

The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. Published in cooperation with the Department of University Marketing Communications. UMC5477-0206

2004 IABC Golden Triangle Award of Honor, publication design

On the cover (clockwise from left): Fengyan Tang, Rafael Engel, Daniel Rosen, Sandra Wexler, and Patricia KolarCover photo by Harry Giglio. Inside photo credits include Jason Blair, Harry Giglio, and Joe Kapelewski.

School of Social Work

Bridges is the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work magazine. We selected the name Bridges largely because of its symbolism. The term provides an important metaphor for both our profession and our school. Social work is a profession that has, as part of its mission, the goal of building and sustaining bridges among individuals, families, groups, neighborhoods, and communities, and we felt that the title Bridges captures this part of our professional mission. At the same time, the city of Pittsburgh has more than 450 bridges, and Allegheny County has almost 2,000, suggesting an uncompromising desire of the city’s inhabitants to remain connected with one another. In keeping with this heritage, it is the school’s goal to sustain and build bridges among those needing social work services; our alumni, faculty, and staff; the community; and corporate and governmental partners. We believe that the information in this magazine is an important way to achieve this goal.

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On behalf of the School of Social Work and the University of Pittsburgh, I offer greetings to faculty, staff, alumni, and students, as well as to our friends in the community. We at the school are excited about the

beginning of the New Year. Many students have begun new and interesting practicums, while faculty are diving into familiar as well as novel courses.

This will be the last semester for three retiring faculty members who have been with us for many years: Professors Patricia W. Wright, Esther Sales, and Edward W. Sites. Ironically, I took my first social work course with Dr. Sales 37 years ago at the University of Michigan, where she was a doctoral student. Each of these faculty members has made an enormous contribution to the school. We will surely miss them and wish each of them all the best as they take on new challenges and opportunities.

We are pleased with this issue of Bridges, which focuses on the subject of aging. While it is difficult to predict the future, it is certain that in the coming years social work as a profession will not only focus on delivering care, treatment, and services to older adults, but also on harnessing the strength of older adults to help address some of the social problems of our region and our times.

Irrespective of gender, race, class, or religion, people universally share the reality that each of us is getting older. Presently, 12 percent of the American populace is at least 65 years old. By the year 2030, one out of five Americans will be this age. In this respect, those of us who reside in the Pittsburgh region are living in the future, as almost one-fifth of Allegheny County residents are 65 years old or older. Only the state of Florida has a higher percentage of elderly residents than Pennsylvania.

Fortunately, the School of Social Work has numerous resources from which to draw. The city of Pittsburgh was ranked fourth in Sperling’s 2005 “Best Cities for Seniors” study, and the University of Pittsburgh has received more than $80 million to study various aspects of aging. Still, the aging of our citizenry will present both challenges and opportunities for students and faculty as well as agencies—whether they are in the mental health, social, economic, community, or cultural sphere.

Given the region’s future demographic projections, the school is actively preparing its students and communities to lead, conduct research, and work with older adults and their families. The School of Social Work offers students the opportunity to become outstanding practitioners in the field of gerontology through its specialized course work, abundant field placement options, and opportunities to work with faculty on aging research.

The school received two John A. Hartford Foundation curriculum grants. The first, in 2001, resulted in BASW and MSW curricula that are infused with aging content. The second, in 2005, has funded the development of innovative field placements so students can experience the broad spectrum of services available for older adults and can learn the competencies essential to achieving excellence in their work with older adults. (See feature story on page 4.) In addition, Assistant Professor Daniel Rosen has been recognized as a Hartford Faculty Scholar, and two of our doctoral students, Lindsey Smith and Kyaien O. Conner, have received Hartford pre-dissertation grants. Dr. Fengyan Tang, a gerontologist who joined the faculty this past fall, is actively pursuing collaborative research projects with faculty and community partners. Moreover, two of our adjunct faculty recently received the Distinguished Teacher Honor from the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education.

As you can see, the School of Social Work—along with the region and the country—is preparing to accommodate an older society. We welcome you to join us in our efforts to improve the quality of life for all citizens.

Larry E. DavisDeanDonald M. Henderson Professor

DEAN’S Message

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SCHOOL News

Carrick Receives Humanitarian Award

Kathleen Carrick, adjunct faculty

member, received the 2005 James E. Dixon Humanitarian Award given by the Seven Project Inc., the first nonprofit

African American HIV/AIDS service organization in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region. The awards are presented each year to deserving community leaders who have demonstrated exceptional skills and abilities in the war against HIV/AIDS within communities of color. Carrick was recognized for her dedication to HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and treatment. New Appointment for Cahalane

Helen Cahalane (MSW ’79, PhD ’96), lecturer and academic

coordinator of the Child Welfare Education for Leadership Program since 1997, was appointed clinical associate professor for child welfare training, education, and research programs. She will be the principal investigator and administrator of all of the school’s externally funded child welfare training, education, and research programs, which include the Child Welfare Education for Leadership Program, the Child Welfare Education for Baccalaureates Program, and the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program. Cahalane began her new appointment on January 3. She will spend a six-month transition period with Edward Sites—director of the school’s child welfare programs since 1995—who will be retiring on June 30 (see profile of retiring faculty members in Faculty Focus, page 14). The School of Social Work currently administers numerous county, state, and federally funded child welfare programs with total annual budgets of nearly $25 million.

Tang Presents at GSA Annual Meeting

The 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological

Society of America (GSA), The Interdisciplinary Mandate, was held November 18–22, in Orlando, Fla.

Fengyan Tang, assistant professor, was among the School of Social Work faculty members who presented during the meeting.

She presented “Volunteering

and Older Volunteers’ Subsequent Health: Findings From a National Sample,” “What Resources are Needed for Volunteerism?: A Life Course Perspective,” and, with M. Putnam, “Service Use among Persons Aging with Disability: Results from a Survey of Persons with Multiple Sclerosis.”

Pitt–Bradford Partners with Louisiana State University to Help Hurricane Survivors

Four days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast,

Stephanie Eckstrom, MSW program coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, along with MSW students and members of the Nontraditional Student Association, partnered with students at Louisiana State University to help survivors. Operation Blankets and Bears brought comfort to many children displaced by Katrina. The students sent hundreds of blankets and stuffed bears, which were distributed to children displaced by the hurricane.

Faculty Present at SSWR Conference

The Society for Social Work Research (SSWR) held its 10th

annual conference, Meeting the Challenge: Research In and With Diverse Communities, January 12–15, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio hotel in San Antonio, Texas. Several faculty members represented the School of Social Work by presenting during the conference.

Jeffrey Shook, assistant professor, presented “Attitudes Toward the Value and Usefulness of Structured Decision Making: A Study of Juvenile Court Professionals”

Michael Vaughn, assistant professor, presented “Do Prior Trauma and Victimization Predict Weapon Carrying among At-Risk Youth?”

Catherine Greeno, assistant professor, with J.B. Singer and C.M. Anderson, presented “Only As a Last Resort: Children, Families, and Mental Health Services”

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Jeffrey Shook

Michael Vaughn

Catherine Greeno

Fengyan Tang

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Lynn Coghill

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CSRP Reed Smith Spring 2006 Speaker SeriesAll lectures are from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the School of Social Work Conference Center, 2017 Cathedral of Learning. Lunch will be provided; registration is not required.

Employment Trends for Young Black Men: Causes and Policy ImplicationsHarry J. Holzer, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute Monday, January 23

Empowering Girls: Gender-Specific Approaches for Productive Futures Gwendolyn J. Elliott, Gwen’s GirlsTuesday, February 14 Enhancing the Quality of Life of Hispanic/Latino, Black/African American, and White/Caucasian Dementia Caregivers: The REACH II Randomized Controlled Trial Richard Schulz, University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban ResearchWednesday, March 15

Father Absence Among African Americans Orlando Patterson, Harvard University Department of Sociology Wednesday, April 5

The law firm Reed Smith LLP has generously sponsored this speaker series.

Dean Davis Lectures at Berkeley and Boston

Dean Larry E. Davis delivered the 2005 Gerald Seabury Memorial

Lecture “Race, Resiliency and the Black Family” on October 31 at the University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare. He also gave a colloquium presentation, “Fostering Positive Academic Outcomes for African American Youth: The Importance of Intentions, Identity, and Gender,” at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work on February 11, 2005.

School Assists Katrina Relief Efforts in Louisiana, Mississippi

A year and a half ago when

Lynn Coghill, field education liaison, signed up to be a behavioral health volunteer for the Allegheny County Medical Reserve Corps, she did not anticipate that her

first assignment would be to serve as a mental health disaster worker in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Coghill was deployed to the staging area in Baton Rouge, La., and then assigned to New Orleans with her mental health team. Her assignments included supporting the other volunteers and staff shelter manager in addition to assisting residents. At any given time, she was setting up cots, loading cases of bottled water into the trunk of a car, serving hot food, locating resources and contact people, amusing children, soothing frustrated adults, driving around various neighborhoods in New Orleans without the aid of a map, or devising an evacuation plan for the staff shelter.

Coghill met many inspirational residents and volunteers who were kind and generous in the midst of overwhelming loss and tragedy. Even after 20 years in social work, Coghill still believes in the importance of making a difference one person, one day, one kindness at a time.

Doctoral student Sonia Gilkey, a native of Gulfport, Miss., watched as Hurricane Katrina devastated her community. In response, she coordinated two disaster relief efforts to help meet the immediate needs of her own and surrounding communities. School of Social Work staff and students, Pittsburgh area residents,

and members of the national social work community donated items such as water, gasoline, flashlights, radios, clothing, baby items, cleaning supplies, and cash, which were sent to the Gulfport region. Gilkey also participated in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Katrina Disaster Relief Mental Health Initiative, serving as mental health clinician for a week and assisting with the coordination of mental health services.

School of Social Work Speaker Series

Mark Fraser, John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for

Children in Need and associate dean for research at the School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented the lecture “Advances in Intervention Research” on February 8 as part of the school’s 2005–06 speaker series. Fraser directs the Making Choices Project, a school-based research program focused on preventing drug use and delinquency and has written more than 100 articles and chapters on child behavior, child and family services, and research methods.

Jeanne Marsh, dean of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, is the final speaker of the 2005–06 series. One of the nation’s leading experts on the development and evaluation of social services for children and families, Marsh will present “Knowledge Utilization in Social Work Practice” at noon on April 12 in the School of Social Work Conference Center. Lunch will be provided. For additional details, visit www.pitt.edu/~pittssw or call 412-624-6304.

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For generations, the Pittsburgh region has endured—with grace and good humor—a reputation for embracing

tradition over trend. Pittsburgh is a city where classic rock trumps alternative music; where sports fans still celebrate triumphs of yesteryear; where style is agreeably low key.

But where one trend is concerned, the city and surrounding Allegheny County are ahead of the curve by about 18 years. Home to one of the highest concentrations

FEATURE

of people aged 65 or older in the United States, the region is currently grappling with what the rest of the country will experience as the baby boom generation begins to age: a graying population carrying a host of unique needs that social workers will strive to meet in the coming years.

Currently, about 18 percent of the region’s population is 65 or older, compared to a national rate of less than 13 percent. It

will take until 2024 for the rest of the United States to catch up. When it does, those numbers will explode. In the late 1990s, one in every eight Americans was elderly; by 2030, that number will have climbed to one in five.

In anticipation of those numbers, the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work has taken a bold step toward preparing the next generation of leaders to research and serve a population whose needs can be both complex and overwhelming.

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The New Senior Class

Hartford Foundation Program Prepares Social Workers for the Challenges of Serving an Aging Population

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A Perfect Fit

In many ways, the University of Pittsburgh was the ideal candidate for the new initiative, known as the Geriatric Practicum Partnership Project. Financed by a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, one of the nation’s most prominent supporters of geriatric education, training, and research, the program seeks to support the foundation’s mission of integrating and improving services for elders as well as strengthening academic geriatrics and training.

The region’s demographics provide a rich variety of field placement and postgraduation employment opportunities for students. Moreover, an earlier Hartford grant enabled faculty to incorporate aging-related issues throughout the School of Social Work’s undergraduate and graduate curricula.

“Pittsburgh is pretty much where the rest of the country will be in 15 or 20 years. We’re already there,” says Rafael Engel, the school’s associate dean for academic affairs, whose research interests include the economic well-being of the elderly.

As baby boomers age, “it brings to bear a lot of experience as to what works and where the gaps are. … In some ways, we become

a laboratory for the rest of the country. There are few counties with this kind of demographic makeup.”

That was part of the rationale behind the curriculum changes subsidized by the first Hartford Foundation grant, notes MSW Program Director Sandra Wexler.

Because of the coming wave of elderly Americans, “we need to be preparing MSW practitioners to work with older adults, even if they don’t see themselves as gerontologists,” she says. “The new Hartford grant [enables us to] ask, in effect, ‘How do we give people, through their field

experience, exposure to aging practices and aging competencies?’ ”

Patricia Kolar, the school’s director of field education, says the new grant focuses on skill sets identified by social workers who are already practicing in the gerontology field. As part of their rotations, students chosen for the practicum project will work with healthy older adults in their homes, as well as with older adults in hospitals, assisted living or nursing homes, and, in some cases, hospices.

“Our students will be expected to have experience in all those areas,” she says.

In navigating such a spectrum of environments and levels of client functioning, students will be challenged to apply their core competencies to the context of their clients’ particular situations. Do they need home-based physical therapy? Are they lonely? How able are they to plan, shop for, and prepare their own meals? Do they need help with transportation? Are they taking their medications properly?

“The social worker has to be well prepared to work with the client and with family members,” says Kolar. “Often, there are not only practical issues, but lots of emotional issues.”

Engel describes the social worker as the client’s primary professional contact, and family members and other caregivers as the client’s informal social services network. That is why one of the program’s broader missions is to teach students how the social worker’s efforts relate to those of others who touch that person’s life.

Often “families have gone through extraordinary effort as the first line of defense, and [the situation has] gone beyond their capacity to deal with that,” he says.

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Rafael Engel

“ Pittsburgh is pretty much where the rest of the country will be in 15 or 20 years.”

—Rafael Engel

Sandra Wexler

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dementia sometimes recall traumas from their younger days that they have kept buried for decades; others feel isolated because they have no forum for sharing their opinions on current events.

While studying toward her MSW, Cwynar—who would like to shift her career toward forensic work after graduation—hopes to take a class with Assistant Professor Daniel Rosen, a Hartford Faculty Scholar whose research includes the challenges of older adult methadone clients.

“He’s like a rock star to me,” she laughs.

Rosen is working on four funded research projects related to the elderly methadone population. He notes that while relatively few students express interest in working with the elderly when they enter the school, they quickly learn how many other specialties—including, in his case, substance abuse—pertain to the aging population.

“I think one of the challenges is helping students to understand that a lot of the issues they care about are aging-related issues,” he says. “Since we’ve begun to put this issue on the map, it’s changed

“My dream was to be the most well-rounded social worker. Even if I couldn’t help you, I wanted to know where to get help,” she says.

Having already worked in a nursing home, Cwynar is familiar with some aging-specific issues. Clients grappling with

‘Heavy-Duty Exposure’

Field experience is the cornerstone of a social work education, and program participants get it in spades. Whereas a typical graduate student might be placed in two different agencies, such as a hospital and a community-based setting, the practicum partnership project student will rotate through several different types of services.

“Just the sheer number of different experiences—it’s probably triple the number of programmatic services,” says Engel. “It’s really heavy-duty exposure.”

That’s part of the appeal for Monica Cwynar, who was selected to serve as one of the program’s first students. Cwynar, a veteran social worker who is pursuing her MSW after 15 years in practice, says the field has changed exponentially since she was an undergraduate.

Pat Kolar

“ The social worker has to be well prepared to work with the client and with family members. Often, there are not only practical issues, but lots of emotional issues.”

—Pat Kolar

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21the directions at both the master’s and doctoral levels of what our students are interested in.”

But that, he points out, is part of the purpose of higher education.

“One of the wonderful things that can happen in graduate school is that students can really begin to hone their focus and become prepared,” says Rosen. “It’s challenged a lot of us, as [educators], to think about what we’re teaching in the classroom.”

Students who arrive with an interest in stigma, discrimination, alcohol abuse—nearly any issue—can further narrow their scope of study to a geriatric population, he says.

Student Jill Iszkula—who, like Cwynar, worked in a nursing home prior to entering the program—agreed that many of her peers have never considered specializing in geriatrics, but she believes that can change.

“They are accidentally exposed to it, and they like it,” she says. “In my program, everyone wants to work with the kids or

FIELD PLACEMENT SITES FOR THE GERIATRIC PRACTICUM PARTNERSHIP PROJECT

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Daniel Rosen

First Year

Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging (AAA) AAA is the largest service provider in the region. Both directly and through subcontractors, it provides information, referrals, case management assistance, protective services, guardianship, and outreach, as well as senior centers.

Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Pittsburgh (JF&CS) AgeWell Pittsburgh, a partnership of JF&CS, the Jewish Community Center, and the Jewish Association on Aging, provides information and referrals; home assessments; care management services; counseling; caregiver programs; and recreational, social, and wellness activities.

Ursuline Services Inc. Ursuline provides case management, guardianship, protective services, and outreach in senior citizen high-rises.

Second Year

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) UPMC offers an array of health and geropsychiatric services ranging from acute care to institutional care. Placements will be available both at participating hospitals and at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

Veterans Administration (VA) Pittsburgh Healthcare System VA hospitals offer a range of medical and geropsychiatric servicesas well as skilled residential care and hospice.

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with a mentally ill population. I think the elderly get forgotten a lot of the time.”

By contrast, Iszkula had always planned to work with older adults, having majored in sociology as an undergraduate with a concentration in aging.

“I feel I can relate to them, and it’s very interesting and rewarding, I think,” she says. “I know I want to work with the elderly population, but I’m not sure what I want to do. So I hope this will give me some new experiences and hopefully shed some light on the area.”

for Aging and a registered Pennsylvania lobbyist, students will design a project related to an issue identified by the program’s community partners that could ultimately be presented to lawmakers in Harrisburg. (See sidebar, page 9.)

To date, representatives of the agencies that will serve as field placement sites are enthusiastic about the program and eager to get it started.

“We’re very proud and pleased with our community partners,” says Kolar. “They wrote such wonderful letters of support for us.”

“I knew I was interested in mental health when I started this program, and I had compassion for all the extra issues that [elderly people] deal with because of their age,” she says. “I’m excited to start my placement, because I have a lot to learn.”

The rewards can be financial as well as educational. Practicum partnership project students receive stipends of $3,000 to $6,000 in the first year (January–June), and $4,500 to $5,000 in the second year (September–April), while the School of Social Work pays tuition for three summer field credits. For students who hope to land a job in Pittsburgh, the market in gerontology is wide open.

“Where the needs are is where the jobs are,” says Rosen.

A Way to Give Back

Now in its first year, the two-year program can accommodate six students; however, next year the school will add six more. If more resources materialize, Pitt will expand the program to include more students, Engel says. For now, enough funding exists for the program to last three years.

In addition to field placements, the program will also include a leadership component to teach social planning and advocacy skills. Working with Mary Anne Kelly, executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership

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Heather Horst and Jill IszkulaMonica Cwynar Shila Wilson Jean Langley

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Project student Heather Horst plans to work in mental health when she graduates and is now thinking about specializing in assisting patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Elizabeth Mulvaney is part-time coordinator for the Hartford initiative. She monitors students’ learning, supports field instructors, and researches potential funding for the program.

Practicum partnership project students (left to right)

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PARTNERSHIP PROJECT TEACHES STUDENTS TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Every organization that provides social services to the elderly should have Mary Anne Kelly on its side.

The executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership for Aging (SWPPA), Kelly is also a licensed lobbyist for the Pennsyl-vania state legislature. She began advocating on behalf of aging people after spending 20 years in government, operating on the philosophy that “we’re all going to be old at some point, hopefully.”

SWPPA was created 15 years ago to serve as a voice for organizations that were in danger of losing funding for taking a stand on sensitive matters. Today it is a neutral forum to which different organizations can turn for advocacy and help with such issues as best practices.

Having taught a course in social policy and ger-ontology at the School of Social Work, Kelly’s next agenda item is to give MSW students a glimpse of a bigger picture. Through the Geriatric Practicum Partnership Project, which began in the fall of 2005 through a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, Kelly will be leading students through the step-by-step process of developing an advocacy plan for a topic yet to be determined.

The students will meet for initial discussions with Kelly in the spring, bringing with them issues they’ve identified while doing fieldwork at their respective rotation sites.

One potential complication Kelly has already identified is the onset of changes to Medicaid funding in the wake of a projected state budget

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Wexler says the idea is not only to cement the school’s relationship with its community partners, but also to give something back to them in the form of labor and research.

“Schools of social work can’t exist without the community,” she says. “Nationally, one of the things the school wants to do is to constantly try to keep in touch with emerging trends, be

deficit. Proposed changes would affect long-term care for both elderly and young handi-capped persons, as well as possibly cut nursing home stays.

Regardless of the topic, the exercise of working on a project from conception to completion will teach volumes about the social worker’s role as an agent of change, says Kelly.

“We want to show that public policy is real. We don’t tend to understand it,” says Kelly. But “it’s not complicated. If you are going to fulfill your social work commitment, you’ve got to realize that you can give feedback [regarding] that pub-lic policy cycle … you can see systems change and, more importantly, systems improve.”

Rafael Engel, the school’s associate dean for academic affairs, says the idea is to get students to think more globally.

“Too often our students become so focused on the needs of individual clients that they forget they can be a part of changing the bigger picture,” he says.

Kelly agrees.

“You have to have the vision and the reality,” she says. “We hope that there’s what I call ‘aha’ moments for students, where they realize something they didn’t realize before.”

The reality is, baby boomers are healthier, wealthier, and better educated than previous generations were in later life. And that changes the spectrum of their needs and their role as social advocates.

Work on the project is expected to begin in earnest in fall 2006 when students will research and refine their plans. Engel says he does not yet know whether students will ultimately present their projects to lawmakers in Harrisburg, but the possibility is open.

Kelly, herself a baby boomer and part of the generation that is expected to one day be on the receiving end of much of the work Pitt is now pioneering, praised the school for tackling the issue of geriatric social work.

“[Regarding the subject of aging] the system of today is not going to be the system of tomorrow,” she says. “Pitt was brave to say, ‘How do we start thinking now so we’re better prepared in this city and this region for what lies ahead.’ ” •

innovative, and make sure we are preparing students to engage in professional practice in the real world, as the real world looks today and will look tomorrow.”

By strengthening ties with the community, the school stays grounded and focused on what kind of education will best equip practitioners for the future.

“We’re passionate about what role we collectively can play,” says Engel. “I think we also have a hope that this project will be more than just an educational project—that we can combine the three missions of the University in research, education, and service.”

He adds, “We’re the true believers, and we’re trying to build this so we can lure other people to see that this is really key and important.” •

Mary Anne Kelly

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DEVELOPMENT News

School of Social Work Celebrates Conference Center Grand Opening

A grand opening celebration for the new School of Social Work Conference Center was held on October 20. Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, Provost James V. Maher, and Dean Larry E. Davis gave remarks.

The festivities included Davis’ introduction of a live teleconferencing segment with Livingston Alexander, president of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and Jerry Samples, vice president for academic and student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. The school has MSW extension programs at both regional campuses. Alexander and Samples congratulated the school and said they look forward to more opportunities to teleconference with the Oakland campus. Derrick Bell, visiting law professor at the New York University School of Law, delivered a lecture at Pitt earlier in the day and was on hand for the celebration.

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Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg addresses guests.

Dean Larry E. Davis and Vice Provost Andrew Blair

Located in 2017 Cathedral of Learning, the conference center fills 2,000 square feet of space, can seat approx-imately 90 people, and was renovated using $500,000 in Pennsylvania Department of Education funds and $100,000 in University funds. It boasts advanced media technology and interactive television capacity —including the latest in Video CODEC technology for videoconferencing and multipoint conference calls—that will help expand the school’s presence across the globe. In addition to new furnishings and room décor, there is a kitchen and a reception area.

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The opening of the conference center is an important step in the dean’s drive for excellence that is underscoring academic and funding development initiatives at the school, which he continues to herald at gatherings for alumni and friends throughout the region.

Faculty and students are also pleased that the school now has a space in which to host its Center on Race and Social Problems and school speaker series, as well as to accommodate meetings and continuing education, distance learning, and training programs. Through events held at the center, this new technology will enable the school to advance its educational programs and its reach. •

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Teleconference with University of Pittsburgh at Bradford President Livingston Alexander

Caption

Vice Provost Andrew Blair and Assistant Provost Sheila Rathke chat with Professor Derrick Bell.

Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg with Glenn Mahone and Pitt Trustee William Lieberman, members of the School of Social Work Board of Visitors

Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg and Dean Larry E. Davis

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(Left to right) Provost James V. Maher, then Graduate School of Public Health Dean Bernard D. Goldstein, 2005 Legacy Laureate Stanley Battle, Dean Larry E. Davis, and Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg

Developing Academic Excellence

Every day alumni implement the knowledge and skills they gained at the School of Social Work and students balance classes, fieldwork, and other responsibilities. Not to be overlooked are the efforts of School of Social Work faculty, staff, and research assistants, whose scholarship greatly enhances the field of social work education. Publication rates, participation in major studies, and involvement in continuing education are all on the rise. The school presently ranks fifth among national schools of social work in first-author publications in the leading social work journals. This progress combined with the University’s overall increase in scholarship makes this an exciting time for the school.

The success of the school has led to a surge in enrollment, which has put a strain on existing resources. Your gift to the School of Social Work can help provide the resources needed to fund financial aid programs, dissertation research, or future research endeavors in an area of your choice. Please consider giving to the School of Social Work by donating directly; creating a scholarship, fellowship, or resource fund; or designating the school in your estate. For more information, please contact Tom O’Toole, director of development, at [email protected] or 412-624-8604. •

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Bridges 13

PLANNED GIVING

IF YOU HAVE A WILL, THAT’S GOOD PLANNING!

Please consider including a bequest for the School of Social Work. Simply add a codicil to your will that indicates you want to bequeath the residue of, a percentage of, a specific dollar amount of, or a piece of property from your estate. Will you please let us know of your plans so we can help ensure that your future gift will be used in accordance with your wishes? You may also contact us for suggested wording if you decide to include the school in your will.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE A WILL, CONSIDER WHAT MAY HAPPEN Consider the impact on your loved ones if you don’t have a will. You want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to determining how your assets—which have taken a lifetime to earn— will be used and by whom. If you don’t have a will, the state will decide how your estate should be distributed.

You can achieve peace of mind today by contacting your attorney and making plans to create your will. Feel free to request our complimentary brochure How to Create a Will by contacting Tom O’Toole, director of development, at [email protected] or 412-624-8604.

For Second Consecutive Year, Alumnus Named a Legacy Laureate

Once again a graduate of the School of Social Work has been selected as a University of Pittsburgh Legacy Laureate. Stanley F. Battle (PhD ’80), president of Coppin State University in Baltimore, Md., was one of 13 honored October 20 at the by-invitation-only dinner and awards ceremony. Launched in 2000, the Legacy Laureate program recognizes Pitt alumni who have excelled both professionally and personally.

Known by his colleagues as a man of action, Battle has served as president of Coppin State since March 3, 2003, and has achieved much during his tenure. One of Battle’s first accomplishments was leading the push to change the name of Coppin State College to Coppin State University in April 2004. He has been just as focused in his pursuit of extramural funding for Coppin State. The institution was awarded $185 million for the capital budget while increasing its operating budget by $500,000 this past year.

Battle is also the impetus behind several pioneering efforts that demonstrate his thoughtful attention, energy, and resourcefulness when it comes to the development of young people. He is an integral part of Coppin State’s innovative partnerships that have turned around failing public schools, and he has created countless educational opportunities for students. The Presidential Scholars/Leadership Program, for example, annually provides free tuition, room and board, and books to five outstanding high school students.

Prior to assuming his post at Coppin State, Battle was professor and later vice chancellor of student and multicultural affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, associate vice president for academic affairs at Eastern Connecticut State University, and associate dean for research and development at the University of Connecticut. In addition to his multifaceted career as a social worker, researcher, and university administrator, Battle is also a distinguished educator. At the University of Connecticut, he served as adjunct professor in the School of Allied Health, professor in the School of Social Work, and senior lecturer in community medicine for the School of Medicine.

Battle is the recipient of several honors and awards. He has been a featured speaker in numerous venues and has authored or coauthored many publications, including The State of Black Baltimore (2004), for which he was editor and contributor; The Paradox of Black Business in Milwaukee: Strong Formation, Weak Growth (2001); The State of Black Milwaukee (2000); and Health and Social Policy (1995), as well as journal articles. Described as “brilliant, dedicated, and committed to the best social work values,” Battle also earned the Master of Public Health degree at Pitt. •

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FACULTY Focus

RETIRING FACULTY

Esther Sales has been a faculty member at the School of Social Work since 1969. She received a BA from Brooklyn College and an MSW as well as a PhD in social psychology from the University of Michigan. During her tenure at Pitt, Sales has taught in both the MSW and PhD programs. She has taught both research and theory courses to several generations of doctoral students, participated in all aspects of planning and development for the doctoral program, chaired at least 65 doctoral dissertations, and served on countless dissertation committees. She also served as doctoral program director from 1999–2004.

Sales coordinated the MSW research sequence for many years during the 1970s and 1980s, revising the course offerings and initiating an evaluation research course as a second-level research requirement. She was a faculty member on Semester at Sea in fall 1982 and an academic visitor at the London School of Economics and Political Science during her spring 2002 sabbatical. Sales also has been a participant on a number of school and University committees, including the school’s promotion and tenure committee (of which she is currently chair) and the Semester at Sea advisory committee. She has served as associate vice chair of the University Institutional Review Board (IRB), member of the IRB Advisory Committee for Psychosocial Research, and school representative to the University Council on Graduate Study.

Sales’ primary research interests have focused on the impact of life stressors on mental health with a special emphasis on women. Her early work includes collaborating on Women and Sex Roles: A Social Psychological Perspective (1978), one of the first texts synthesizing social science knowledge on women, and publishing the chapters “Women’s Adult Development” and “Making Life Decisions in Women.” She also coauthored the chapter “Women and Work: Implications for Mental Health

In the late 1980s, her attention turned to family caregiving, an area in which women are often centrally involved. Together with David Biegel and Richard Schulz, Sales worked on the book Family Caregiving in Chronic Illness (1991), which synthesized the theoretical and empirical literature examining the predictors of stress for family caregivers of patients with a variety of chronic physical and mental illnesses. Among her publications stemming from that work are “Psychological Impact of

for Women and Mental Health Policy” in Women and Mental Health Policy (1984), which won the Distinguished Publication Award in 1986 from the Association for Women in Psychology. Sales’ empirical work and publications emerged from a multiyear National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded research project—with Barbara Shore and Martha Baum—examining variables affecting women’s psychosocial adjustment after sexual assault.

Caption

14 Spring 2006

(Left to right) Patricia W. Wright, Edward Sites, and Esther Sales

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Cancer Illness Phase on the Family” (1991), “Predictors of Family Strain in Cancer: A Review of the Literature” (1992), and “Family Burden and Quality of Life” (2003). More recently, she was a coinvestigator (with M. Katherine Shear and Catherine Greeno) on an NIMH-funded study examining the caregiving strain of mothers of children with mental health problems, which has resulted in a variety of publications and conference presentations.

Sales was also a faculty participant in the Center for Mental Health Services Research, cochairing its seed money committee. In addition, she has published a number of other journal articles on a variety of clinical issues, often in collaboration with doctoral students. She also has presented papers at research conferences, been a reviewer for several journals—most recently a consulting editor for Social Work Research—and worked with a variety of community agencies interested in evaluating their service programs.

Edward Sites (MSW ’64) has devoted his entire career to child welfare practice, education, and research—the last 40 years as a faculty member at the School of Social Work. He has been coordinator of the school’s Child, Youth and Family concentration; coordinator of the Child Welfare Certificate Program; and principal investigator on at least one federal, state, or foundation-funded

child welfare project every year since 1971. Currently, he is principal investigator of nine projects and programs with a statewide staff and budgets totaling more than $30 million. These projects include research, degree, and training programs in collaboration with 16 universities, and provide over 30,000 days of training annually to 4,000 public child welfare employees and 9,000 foster parents in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Sites teaches and advises students at the master’s and doctoral degree levels in the School of Social Work and is also the school’s coordinator of a joint Master of Social Work/Master of Divinity degree program with the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. This joint program is one of the oldest of its kind in the nation, and Sites has been its coordinator since 1968.

During his career, Sites has served on and chaired dozens of boards in higher education and social services, has published in diverse areas, has consulted in numerous states, and has been a popular classroom teacher. He is a national expert on Title IV-E funding for child welfare services and training. He is also the longest-serving School of Social Work faculty member in the school’s nearly 70-year history.

Sites has received a number of prestigious awards, including National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Social Worker of the Year in Pennsylvania (1996), the Bertha Paulssen Medal (2001), the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award from the University of Pittsburgh (2003), and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Social Work (2004).

Patricia W. Wright (MSW ’71) joined the faculty of the School of Social Work in July 1971. She is associate professor and coordinator of the school’s international activities. Wright also served as director of the BASW program and director of admissions and student affairs.

Her teaching areas include introduction to professional social work, practice integration seminars, international issues in social work, group work practice, community organization practice, ethnicity and social welfare, and social welfare history and policy. She received letters of commendation for teaching from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, which were in response to the numerous times students mentioned her in University-wide surveys as having made a significant and positive impact on their lives. In 2002, students selected Wright to be featured in the University’s yearbook as a social work professor who made a difference in students’ education and as a professor who goes beyond the call of duty.

Wright is a member of the University’s Global Studies Faculty Advisory Committee. Her former University memberships include the Provost’s Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence, Semester at Sea advisory committee, Emma W. Locke Memorial Award committee, University Senate Committee for Elections, and the Subcommittee for the Periodic Review of Undergraduate Programs Committee on Baccalaureate Education, which she chaired. She has also served on numerous committees within the school.

Wright received the 2004 National Association of Black Social Workers Community Service Award.

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Edward Sites received the American Public Human Services Association 2005 Quality Award in Washington, D.C. , on behalf of the Child Welfare Training Program.

continued on next page

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She is a former member of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Board of Directors (representing baccalaureate program directors), former vice president of the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh, former vice chair of the United Way of Allegheny County Portfolio Team on Youth at Risk of School Failure, former member and subcommittee chair of the United Way Allocation & Review Committee (counseling and community service programs), former training consultant for the National Urban League, former site visitor with the CSWE Commission on Accreditation, and former board member for Three Rivers Youth and Allegheny East.

In 1994, Wright was an instructor with Semester at Sea and traveled to Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, and Venezuela. She was invited to deliver the onboard commencement address— an honor extended to a faculty member whom students identified as enhancing their education. In addition, Wright implemented the social work education component of the Tertiary Education Linkages Project with the University of the North in South Africa and provided support to the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh project that built a health clinic in Nicaragua. Her husband, George, who retired as international education director for the Community College of Allegheny County, was cochair of the project.

Wright and her husband also volunteered with Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), the domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps and predecessor to AmeriCorps. They participated in establishing a citizen-run organization in one of eight Pittsburgh communities identified as being economically vulnerable and developing a youth group in a public housing neighborhood. WQED TV13, Pittsburgh’s public television station, produced The Kids are Beautiful, a film about the Wrights’ work with the youth. •

Jeffrey ShookAssistant Professor

Jeffrey Shook’s primary research interests involve the intersection of law, policy, and practice in the lives of children, youth, and families. His primary research focus is on the juvenile justice system. He is currently working on a study that examines the decision to treat juveniles as adults and its implications on youth, the public, and the justice system. Shook is also working in other areas of juvenile law, policy, and administration, including the drifting of children and youth between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, the development of alternatives to formal processing in the juvenile justice system, and the provision of re-entry services to youth returning to their communities from residential placements. In addition to his research and writing, Shook is also involved in policy work in Michigan, serving on a workgroup for the director of the Department of Human Services, as

well as working with a variety of stake-holders to reform Michigan’s waiver laws, develop a juvenile competency statute, and develop alternatives to sending juveniles to the adult criminal justice system. Shook earned a PhD from the University of Michigan School of Social Work and a JD from American University. Shook’s professional specialties include social policy; children, youth, and families; juvenile law, policy, and administration; delinquency; social control; law and social work; law and social policy; sociology of law; criminal law and procedure; and children and the law.

Shook teaches Child and Family Policy. •

Fengyan Tang Assistant Professor

Fengyan Tang’s primary research interests are gerontology, social policy, civic engagement, and community development, with an emphasis on the productive engagement of older adults in volunteering, civic service, work, and caregiving. Her research includes socioeconomic differentials in the late-life volunteer experience, health disparities among older volunteers, civic engagement in a life course, and how to conceptualize and measure civic service. She is also involved in studies about independent living and long-term care planning in a population aging with disability, as well as intergenerational caregiving. Tang earned a PhD in 2005 from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Her professional specialties include productive engagement in later life,

16 Spring 2006

(Left to right) Michael Vaughn, Fengyan Tang, and Jeffrey Shook

continued from previous page New Faculty

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civic engagement and civic service, and quantitative analysis.

Tang teaches Foundations of Social Work Research and is also interested in teaching Social Policy and Aging, Evaluation Research in Social Services, and courses related to international social work. •

Michael VaughnAssistant Professor

Michael Vaughn is broadly trained in the behavioral and social sciences and uses this breadth to investigate various dimensions of adolescent problem behavior relative to broader social forces. He has many years of practice experience including serving as a youth coordinator and case manager and working with recipients of public assistance. Vaughn is currently working on several projects related to incarcerated youth, adolescent substance abuse, and the development of a person-in-environment paradigm—biocultural dynamics—for application to research and practice. He earned his doctorate in 2005 from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Vaughn’s professional specialties include etiology, prevention, and treatment of adolescent substance abuse, mental health disorders, and violence; understanding deviant behavior across the life span, with a particular emphasis on substance abuse and violence and their relationship to temperament and cultural context; synthesizing prevention and intervention outcome literature utilizing systematic methods (e.g., meta-analytic techniques) to enhance evidence-based practice and offer perspective to policy; and integrating social welfare research and practice with complex adaptive systems models of biocultural evolution.

Vaughn’s teaching interests include human behavior in the social environment, social problems and youth, alcohol and drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, research methods, and statistics. •

Pitt–Bradford and Pitt–Johnstown Recognition Photo Gallery

(Left to right) Chenits Pettigrew, director of admissions; Sandra Wexler, MSW program director; Dean Larry E. Davis; and UPB President Livingston Alexander

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RESEARCH Update

Overcoming Barriers to CareEngaging Depressed, Disadvantaged, Minority Women in Evidence-Based Treatment

18 Spring 2006

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“By the time I meet with my teenager’s parole officer, go to work, take care of my other kids, nurse my ailing grand-mother, and take two buses across town to get here, I don’t have time in my life for treatment.”

Women disadvantaged by poverty, in addition to racial/ethnic minority status, are more likely to experience depression than the rest of the U.S. population. At the same time, they are less likely to seek or remain in treatment for depression in traditional mental health settings. Assis-tant Professor Nancy K. Grote presented “Overcoming Barriers to Care: Engag-ing Depressed, Disadvantaged, Minority Women in Evidence-Based Treatment” on October 12 in the School of Social Work Conference Center as part of the CRSP Buchanan Ingersoll Fall 2005 Speaker Series.

During her talk Grote reviewed the salient findings from the literature on practical, psychological, and cultural barriers to seek-ing and remaining in mental health care for African American women with depression and living on low incomes. A number of practical barriers to service for individuals living on low incomes include treatment cost, lack of insurance, time limitations and competing priorities, loss of pay from missing work, inconvenient or inaccessible clinic locations, limited clinic hours, trans-portation problems, and difficulty with child care. Psychological barriers to care include perceived stigma about depression, previous negative experiences with treat-ment, therapist characteristics (including race/ethnicity), and the burden of depres-sion. Therapists who fail to address the culture of poverty or to appreciate the culture of race are additional barriers to treatment engagement and retention.

In the second half of the talk, Grote de-scribed the development of a therapeutic, psychosocial engagement intervention that is delivered before treatment begins and is designed to address practical, psycho-logical, and cultural barriers to engaging

women with depression and low incomes in treatment. She delineated the conceptual foundation of the engagement intervention based on principles of both ethnographic interviewing and motivational interview-ing. She also gave case examples that highlighted engagement techniques. In her conclusion, Grote presented promising preliminary data demonstrating the utility of this engagement strategy. For example, in one study, the feasibility and effective-ness of using this engagement strategy fol-lowed by an evidence-based psychotherapy were tested for 12 depressed, pregnant, financially disadvantaged African Ameri-can and White women. The women were receiving obstetrical services in a public care clinic but were not seeking treat-ment for their depression (Grote, Bledsoe, Swartz, and Frank, 2004). Results showed that all 12 of these women (100 percent) who received the pretreatment engagement interview attended at least one treatment session, and nine out of the 12 women (75 percent) remained in a full course (eight sessions) of brief interpersonal psychotherapy, an evidence-based psychotherapy.

In a second study, 40 pregnant African American and White women with depres-sion and low incomes were randomly assigned to receive either the engagement strategy (followed by an evidence-based psychotherapy) or treatment as usual (TAU), consisting of one of a number of possible psychotherapies and/or anti-depressant medication from a community mental health center. Results showed that all of the 20 women (100 percent) who were assigned to receive the engagement inter-view attended a first treatment session, compared to two out of 20 (10 percent) who were assigned to TAU (Grote, Zuckoff, Swartz, Bledsoe, and Geibel, under review). Further, 16 out of the 20 women (80 percent) who received the engagement interview completed a full course (eight sessions) of brief interper-sonal psychotherapy, an evidence-based psychotherapy, whereas only two out of the 20 women (10 percent) who were assigned to TAU attended between two and four treatment sessions at a community mental health center.

Considering that in many community mental health centers the average num-ber of treatment sessions attended is one, the findings presented suggest that the engagement strategy may be useful for training social work clinicians in engaging depressed, financially disadvantaged, racial minority individuals in community mental health and primary care settings. •

Nancy Grote

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Carrie Jacobs Henderson (MSW ’65) continues to put her 41 years of social work experience to good use. At 65 years old, Henderson accepted a position as a social worker/therapist at Retreat Healthcare in Brattleboro, Vt., one of the oldest psychiatric hospitals in the country. She and her husband moved to Keene, N.H., after Henderson lived most of her life in the South. “I still love social work,” she says.

John B. Mattingly (MSW ’72) is serving under Mayor Michael Bloomberg as commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, a position he assumed in August 2004. The administration is the public agency responsible for all child protection, child welfare, child care, and Head Start services for the city. Mattingly most recently served as director of human service reforms at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Charles James O’Hargan (MSW ’67) has retired as superintendent of Warren State Hospital in North Warren, Pa.

Dennis Palkon (PhD ’77) recently published a second edition of Cutting Costs in the Medical Practice, the bestselling book he coauthored with Alan Whiteman and Jerry Hermanson in 2001. Written specifically for physicians, practice administrators, and office managers, the book provides no-nonsense, practical guidelines for approaching cost containment issues within medical practices. Palkon is a professor at Florida Atlantic University. Lisa E. Perkins (MSW ’00) has been named program director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh. Perkins will direct all aspects of the agency’s service delivery system, including volunteer and client recruitment, customer service, enrollment and matching, match support, and retention. She will also oversee the organization’s one-to-one mentoring programs.

Melissa M. Preston (MSW ’04) recently accepted a position as social worker supervisor at Torrance State Hospital in Torrance, Pa. She also fills in as a counselor to delinquent and dependent youth at Adelphoi Village, a private agency that provides comprehensive community-based programs, services, and treatment to children, youth, and families across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Maryland.

Kenneth S. Ramsey (PhD ’84), president and chief executive officer of Gateway Rehabilitation Center, received the 2005 Health Care Hero Executive Award in recognition of his efforts to improve the quality of health care for residents of the Pittsburgh area. Ramsey, who has 38 years of experience in the drug and alcohol treatment field—28 at the helm of Gateway—also was elected chair of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers Board of Directors, was named administrator of the year by the American College of Addiction Treatment Admin-istrators, and was reappointed to a three-year term on the Pennsylvania Advisory Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

CLASS Notes

Heather Reash (MSW ’00) resides in Somerset, Pa. Reash is a school social worker serving Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8 (IU8) and an adjunct professor at Allegany College of Maryland.

William Douglas Sauer (MSW ’77) is celebrating his 25th year as executive director of the Council of Community Services of New York State (CCSNYS) in Albany, N.Y. CCSNYS is a membership-based, mission-driven, statewide association of diverse charitable nonprofit organizations. It provides training and serves as an information and advocacy clearinghouse for New York’s nonprofit sector.

Nichol West (MSW ’02) resides in Groton, Conn., where she is a licensed clinical social worker at the Navy Fleet and Family Support Center, Naval Submarine Base New London. The center serves both active-duty and retired personnel, helping members and their families get the most out of their military career and lifestyle through a combination of counseling, workshops, programs, briefs, and self-help and automated services.

IN MEMORIAMJames Regis Daly (MSW ’64)Doris M. Handy (MSW ’69)

William Huff (MSW ’69)Sabrina D. Jackson (MSW ’02)Alan H. Jacobson (MSW ’68)

Edward R. Kappeler (MSW ’71)Mali Daum Katz (MSW ’81)

Marsha Hord Lewis (BASW ’81, MSW ’92)

Lawrence P. Meltesen (MSW ’48)

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20 Spring 2006

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Keep in Touch!

The School of Social Work wants to know the most recent information on your career advancements, papers, honors, and achievements. This information will be posted in our Class Notes section. Include name, dates, and locations. Photos are welcome. Please write legibly.

Name

Degree and Year of Graduation

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News

Complete and mail or fax to:

University of PittsburghSchool of Social Work2117 Cathedral of LearningPittsburgh, PA 15260Fax: 412-624-6323

Attn: Linda Hilinski

It’s Sociable

School of

SocialWork

Kenneth S. Ramsey (PhD ’84), president and chief executive officer of Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Aliquippa, Pa.

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All lectures are from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the School of Social Work Conference Center, 2017 Cathedral of Learning. Lunch will be provided; registration is not required.

Employment Trends for Young Black Men: Causes and Policy Implications Harry J. Holzer, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute Monday, January 23, 2006

Empowering Girls: Gender-Specific Approaches for Productive Futures Gwendolyn J. Elliott, Gwen’s Girls Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Enhancing the Quality of Life of Hispanic/Latino, Black/African American, and White/Caucasian Dementia Caregivers: The REACH II Randomized Controlled Trial Richard Schulz, University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Father Absence Among African Americans Orlando Patterson, Harvard University Department of Sociology Wednesday, April 5, 2006

School of Social Work2117 Cathedral of LearningPittsburgh, PA 15260

NONPROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

PITTSBURGH, PAPERMIT NO. 511

Advancing the human condition through education, research, and community service.

www.pitt.edu/~pittssw

School of

SocialWork

School of Social Work Speaker Series Spring 2006

Jeanne Marsh THE LAW FIRM REED SMITH LLP HAS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED THIS SPEAKER SERIES.

CRSP Reed Smith Spring 2006 Speaker Series

February 8, 2006 Mark W. Fraser John A. Tate Distinguished Professor for Children in Need, Associate Dean for Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social WorkAdvances in Intervention Research

April 12, 2006 Jeanne Marsh Dean, University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration Knowledge Utilization in Social Work Practice Noon, School of Social Work Conference Center

Mark W. Fraser

Harry J. Holzer Gwendolyn J. Elliott