An expanding partnership is pursuing legislation for Missouri children in 2020.
Missouri coalition sets sights on Child Development Accounts for all state newborns
Category: News from CSD
Singapore’s Financial Capability and Asset Building Project Expands to Nationwide Scale
Singapore initiated training in Financial Capability and Asset Building in 2017. It is kicking off its third phase: expanding to a nationwide scale.
Developments in the Fight for Fair, Affordable Housing in the St. Louis Region
The fight for fair and affordable housing has new momentum in one of the nation’s most segregated metropolitan areas.
Financial Social Work is Emerging in China, Influenced by Pioneering Work at the Center for Social Development
As financial social work emerges in China, Michael Sherraden and Li Zou highlight its potential at two Chinese universities.
McClendon Receives Andrew Young Award
For her work, Dr. Gena Gunn McClendon has been honored with the Ambassador Andrew J. Young Award for Outstanding Ethics, Service, and Commitment to Family and Community.
Friedman: Spark Prosperity for Everyone to Close the Racial Wealth Gap
Robert E. Friedman believes we can close the racial wealth divide in a generation. “I believe in the promise of this country … and in this community. St. Louis has become a symbol to the country of the results of racial inequity, and I think it’s leading the way to close the racial wealth divide, and to let America live up to its ideals.”
Sawhill: Big-Impact Research, Data Access Needed to Help Working Class
Isabel Sawhill thinks too many researchers are more interested in publishing papers than making sure their work has major impact. “An awful lot of researchers are not asking the right questions,” says Sawhill, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. “We need to push scholars to do more research on big questions.”
California Amendments Create Universal, At-Birth Child Development Account Policy
Amendments enacted on Wednesday, October 2, will affect all newborn children in California. The state became the third this year to adopt a universal, at-birth Child Development Account (CDA) policy.
In St. Louis, Differences in Voting Conditions by Race, Income
Research from the Center for Social Development shows that where voters live can influence their ability to vote. “In volunteering at the polls, I noticed that equipment malfunctions and other issues seemed relatively common at some sites, explained Gena Gunn McClendon, director of CSD’s Voter Access and Engagement initiative and a co-author of “Will I […]
Second Voter Engagement Summit Brings Leaders to the Brown School
On September 12 at the Brown School, representatives from regional universities, Missouri and Illinois election board members and community organizations convened for the second Campus and Community Voter Engagement Summit. “The summit presented opportunities for key stakeholders to have a dialogue about the significance of strategies that promote student participation in voting and the importance […]
Illinois Approves Child Development Accounts for All Newborns
Illinois became the most recent state in the U.S. to adopt universal Child Development Accounts on August 23, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation to open a 529 college savings plan account with deposits for every child born or adopted in Illinois after Dec. 31, 2020.
Rigged: Second Screening Brings Voter Suppression Discussion to the Community
Awareness about voter suppression is gaining momentum, in part through screenings of “Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook.” Building on a positive response to the first screening on Washington University’s campus, the Center for Social Development’s Voter Access and Engagement (VAE) project collaborated with community partners to host a second screening on August 3, 2019 at […]
In South Africa, Financial Capability Intervention Improves Youth Employment Probability
The Centre for Social Development Africa—CSD’s sister center at the University of Johannesburg—recently published the Siyakha Youth Assets Study. It examines whether the combination of a youth employability program and a financial capability intervention can have an impact on young people’s job outcomes.
Nebraska Approves Universal, At-Birth CDA Policy
Nebraska’s legislature today approved a universal Child Development Account (CDA) policy that will cover every resident born in the state on or after January 1, 2020.
CSD Event: Film Explores the Fleecing of Voters’ Rights
More than 100 guests turned out Wednesday afternoon for a screening of the documentary “Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook.” “Voter suppression is wrong, and it’s real,” Mac Heller, the documentary’s executive producer, said before the show. The event at the Brown School was a joint effort between the Voter Access and Engagement (VAE) initiative and […]
Listen: On inSocialWork Podcast, Mason Discusses Climate Change and Social Work
Listen to an excerpt from Lisa Reyes Mason’s interview on the inSocialWork podcast. In it, she describes how climate change is connected to social, economic and political contexts, which is why it is such an important issue for social work.
New Research Institute Explores the Intersection of Social Work and Criminal Justice at FSU
FSU has launched a new research institute aimed at advancing science, policy and practice to improve the well-being of individuals, families and communities impacted by the criminal justice system. The Institute for Justice Research and Development was founded and is directed by Carrie Pettus-Davis, Associate Professor at FSU and CSD Faculty Director of the Smart Decarceration Initiative.
Doctoral Candidate Receives Grants to Study Racism-Based Trauma
Robert Motley Jr., manager of the Center for Social Development’s Race and Opportunity Lab, has received a two-year $60,936 grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and a $5,000 grant from the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation.
Housing expert Metzger discusses fallacies of neighborhood segregation
Assistant Professsor Molly Metzger, faculty director of Thriving Communities at the Center for Social Development, discusses three myths about the causes of segregation during the keynote speech at the 2019 Fair Housing Conference.
CSD leaders suggest next step for Taiwan’s Child Development Accounts
Experts from the Center for Social Development traveled to Asia in mid-April to advise Taiwanese leaders about social policy and social work education.
Scholars gather for ‘Race at the Forefront,’ CRISMA’s inaugural conference
More than 225 people from various parts of the country gathered at the Brown School for the Collaboration on Race, Inequality, and Social Mobility in America’s inaugural conference March 28-29. The event, entitled “Race at the Forefront: Sharpening a Focus on Race in Applied Research,” brought together scholars who are working toward the elimination of […]
St. Louis on the Air features segment on housing segregation
Washington University’s Molly Metzger and Hank Webber took to the airwaves on April 9 to discuss segregation.
Azerbaijan ministry recognizes student for development of social work
Brown School doctoral student Aytakin Huseynli has received a national award in recognition of her contribution to the development of social work in Azerbaijan, her home country. The Ministry of Women, Family and Children Affairs in Azerbaijan gave her the award on March 7. Or, rather, the ministry presented it to her mother in Aytakin’s […]
Special issue highlights Child Development Accounts globally
Child Development Accounts take center stage in a newly released special issue of the Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development. The sweeping, seven-article issue shows the global context of the emerging asset-building policy. “Many countries are exploring new policy innovations that encourage asset building,” said Michael Sherraden, who co-edited the issue and co-authored […]
Social Work Day on the Hill kicks off at National Press Club
The Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy hosted its fifth annual Social Work Day on the Hill on March 20 in Washington, D.C.
Sherraden to speak in D.C. about potential for U.S. kids to build assets
Michael Sherraden will discuss potential federal policy for inclusive and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs), so that all U.S. children can accumulate assets, on March 20 at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C. Several states have already enacted statewide CDA policies, and a nationwide policy is possible. Sherraden is the George Warren Brown Distinguished […]
CSD begins third phase of research on Child Development Accounts
With financial support from philanthropists, the Center for Social Development is conducting a third wave of research on Child Development Accounts (CDAs) in the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan. Wave 3 of the SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment expands the original CDA with an automatic, progressive deposit and extends the research to examine […]
‘People and Climate Change’ opens for orders
The new book “People and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Social Justice” now may be ordered in advance of its April 1 release. Edited by Lisa Reyes Mason and Jonathan Rigg, the 256-page book explores how climate change threatens the well-being, livelihood and survival of people in communities worldwide.
My Brother’s Keeper Alliance embraces HomeGrown STL
Inspired by HomeGrown STL’s “strong track record of working to improve life outcomes for boys and young men of color,” the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance has named HomeGrown STL a “Community to Watch.”
CSD takes home the Silver for green operations
The Center for Social Development has received the Silver certification as a “Green Office” for the second year in a row.
Clancy testifies before Nebraska lawmakers about Child Development Accounts
Center for Social Development Policy Director Margaret Clancy testified Tuesday before the Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee. The subject: Child Development Account policy and research results.
Review praises ‘Facing Segregation’ for offering solutions
The editors of “Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society” have compiled a collection of essays that “lay out the reality that segregation is not a periphery problem for cities like St. Louis or for the country,” according to a book review in the St. Louis American.
Atlanta school of social work breaks new ground in financial capability practice
Clark Atlanta University has launched an internship program for MSW students built on the Center for Social Development’s pioneering work in Financial Capability and Asset Building.
Brown School authors encourage Native land acknowledgment
This fall, the Brown School began encouraging organizers to open public events by reading a Native acknowledgment statement.
Authors: Climate science must embrace social sciences and humanities for solutions
In “Five Dimensions of Climate Science Reductionism,” Jonathan Rigg and Lisa Reyes Mason assert that science tends to extract climate change from its social and environmental contexts, making climate change a “detached physical process.”
Released today: ‘Facing Segregation’ focuses on housing policy solutions
Fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing and Civil Rights Acts, a new book ̶ “Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society” brings together influential scholars, practitioners and policy analysts to reflect on how to use public policy to reduce segregation.
Achieving financial capability for all: What will it take?
Millions of families in the United States are financially unstable, and they have few places to turn for guidance and support. Margaret Sherraden hopes to change that by marshalling a largely overlooked resource: The professionals at thousands of community-based organizations who deliver services to low-income people.
Brown School alumna receives lifetime achievement award in India
Murli Desai, a Brown School alumna, has received the Life Time Achievement Award from the National Association of Professional Social Workers in India.
CSD dispatches dozens of researchers to observe polls on Election Day
The Center for Social Development’s Voter Access and Engagement initiative trained and dispatched 38 researchers to 20 polling places in St. Louis City and County on Election Day, November 6.
Financial capability: A new focus of social work research, education and practice in mainland China
The Center for Social Development at Washington University’s Brown School is once again engaged in partnership for development of social work in mainland China. The focus is on financial capability.
CSD advises Azerbaijan officials on Child Development Account policy
The Azerbaijan Minister of Labor and Social Protection Sahil Babayev and Social Policy and Services Department Head Himalay Mamishov met with Center for Social Development Director Michael Sherraden, International Director Li Zou and Research Associate Aytakin Huseynli.
Sherraden speaks about the future of social work in China
Center for Social Development Director Michael Sherraden and International Director Li Zou represented Washington University in St. Louis during a conference on “The 30th Anniversary of the Re-establishment of Social Work in China.”
University of Denver Grand Challenges event features Michael Sherraden
Michael Sherraden delivered the keynote address at the Grand Challenges for Social Work event “Economic Equality and Financial Capability” in October at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work.
‘We need a lot of different things happening to address climate change’
Soon after a landmark report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change came out in October, Lisa Reyes Mason, Center for Social Development faculty director for Environment and Social Development, wrote an opinion piece and spoke on television about what people can do.
CSD researchers find ‘incomplete democracy’ in St. Louis City and County
In St. Louis and St. Louis County, voter registration and voting are lower in ZIP codes with more black residents, according to a new study from researchers at the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.
Brown School celebrates Washington University Day at Xi’an Jiaotong University
A delegation from Washington University in St. Louis including Brown School Dean Mary McKay and Center for Social Development leaders participated the celebration of Washington University Day at Xi’an Jiaotong University on October 15.
As Election Day approaches, CSD hosts Election Protection training
About 50 people participated in Election Protection training on October 23 at the Brown School. Denise Lieberman, senior attorney and co-program director for the Voter Protection Program at the Advancement Project, led the nonpartisan training to prepare volunteers for the November 6 election. She also updated them on a new change in Missouri election law. […]
Native assets group wins federal grant to seed 270 Child Development Accounts
The Social and Economic Development grant from the Administration for Native Americans will fund asset-building services and programs in one of the most densely populated areas of Indian Country.
CSD experts spread financial capability concepts in China
The article is the first in Chinese to describe U.S. social workers’ growing view about the importance of policy changes and institutional arrangements for financial inclusion and capability, and to emphasize the unique role of social workers in achieving this goal.
Author explains how upper middle class hoards American dream
Are you a dream hoarder? If you’re in the “favored fifth” of income distribution, the top 20 percent, you may be, says Richard V. Reeves.