Grand Challenges for Social Work

We sponsored the Child Well-Being Symposium in 2014 and continue to build this program to test strategies and use knowledge to inform policies and practices.

We examine social vulnerability to environmental change, and strategies for social action and adaptation.

Experience Corps  is an inter-generational tutoring program that places older adults in public schools to help students who experience trouble with reading. 

We are building a body of evidence in financial capability, defined as both the knowledge to make optimal financial decisions and access to appropriate and beneficial financial services. 

We advance “deferred prosecution” programs. People charged with certain offenses can be diverted from traditional court proceedings and possibly avoid incarceration. 

Our project identified factors that discourage or encourage older adults in voluntary service to society through 22 organizations in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

This initiative investigates what social conditions and policy supports can make life with a low or moderate income stable, secure, satisfying and successful.

We explore the language, measurement tools and impetus for a broader and more balanced discussion of elder volunteerism and service.

We develop a measurement tool to assess institutional capacity to engage older volunteers and collect data on volunteer programs and older adult volunteers.

We investigate the characteristics of civic service programs in Uruguay that most effectively recruit and retain older adults.

China's growing older population includes many who are healthy and who want to be engaged. Their contributions are crucial for China's social and economic development.

We analyze the level of engagement of older adults in productive activities and their impact on the adults' physical and mental health.

We engage with community partners in developing a social capacity framework to promote behavioral health for people involved in the criminal justice system.

We partner with St. Louis Integrated Health Network, City of St. Louis and others to improve health outcomes for minorities in transition from jail to communities.

Our research investigates the impacts of service on the health and well-being of older adult volunteers and their potential to address critical social development needs.

We build social capacity to reduce incarceration rates in ways that are effective, sustainable and socially just. This requires major shifts in the criminal justice system. 

We collaborate with St. Louis criminal justice entities to research, design, implement, and evaluate evidence-based policies and practices to reduce the incarcerated population.

The Support4Families program is designed to assist families who struggle with the emotional strain of providing support to loved ones releasing from prison.

We use our expertise to assess and test innovations that remove barriers to voting and enhance voter participation.