Panel: Social Workers Can Make a Difference in a New Vision of Public Order

Four experts on policing told a congressional briefing on June 30 that the values and training of social workers can be useful tools in re-imagining the nation’s approach to public order and reducing racist violence of police. The online briefing, Black Lives Matter: Social Work and the Future of Policing, was sponsored by the Congressional […]

Zeng, Despard and Fox-Dichter receive award from National Endowment for Financial Education

In May, the National Endowment for Financial Education honored CSD Research Associate Yingying Zeng with an award for “Workplace Financial Counseling: Credit Outcomes Among Lower-Paid, Entry-Level Workers,” a paper she wrote with Mathieu Despard and Sophia Fox-Dichter. Zeng has been working on financial well-being issues since she came to the United States in 2015. As […]

New Book Charts Global Progress of Child Development Accounts

Nearly 30 years after the publication of Michael Sherraden’s seminal Assets and the Poor, Child Development Account (CDA) policies and programs are emerging across the globe. Now, a new book edited by Jin Huang, Li Zou and Sherraden showcases the global context of those advancements.

In Landmark Publication, Sherraden and Colleagues Laud Partnership between Washington University and Universities in China

In 2018, China celebrated its 30th anniversary of the re-establishment of social work in the country. Both that year and in 2019, Center for Social Development (CSD) Director Michael Sherraden provided keynote addresses for conferences at Peking University (PKU) in Beijing. Emphasizing the importance of longstanding partnerships between Washington University and China, Sherraden said they […]

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

Courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

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.”

Illinois Approves Child Development Accounts for All Newborns

Illinois state capitol, Springfield, Illinois

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.

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.

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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.”

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.

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.