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.

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.”

‘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 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.

NSF funds research into impact of race, gender in U.S. schools

​Sheretta Butler-Barnes, associate professor of social work at the Brown School and faculty director of Youth Development at the Center for Social Development, and Odis Johnson, associate professor of education and of sociology, in Arts & Sciences, have received a National Science Foundation grant of $100,000.

Series seeks to change narrative for local black males

HomeGrown STL Director Sean Joe and St. Louis American Managing Editor Chris King have teamed up to produce a yearlong series called “Homegrown Black Males” to change the narrative for local black teens and men.

Prime minister speaks at launch of book on asset building policies

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke at the August 24 launch of the book “Critical Issues in Asset Building in Singapore’s Development.” Professors S. Vasoo and Bilveer Singh at the National University of Singapore (NUS) edited the book. The lead chapter is by Michael Sherraden, director of the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis. 

Forum focuses on expanding access to 529 college savings plans

More than 65 invited guests from 18 states and the District of Columbia attended a lively Child Development Account Forum in late July at the Brown School of Social Work. CSD and Missouri State Treasurer Eric Schmitt, who oversees Missouri’s 529 college savings plan, hosted the event.

Pennsylvania adopts universal Child Development Account policy

With bipartisan support, Pennsylvania is launching a statewide policy to provide college savings accounts for all newborns with a $100 scholarship grant. The universal, automatic-enrollment Child Development Account policy will affect many families: Pennsylvania averages 140,000 births a year.

Taiwan adopts a Child Development Account policy

A national Child Development Account policy is emerging in Taiwan. President Tsai Ing-wen in June signed into law the Act on Savings Accounts for the Education and Development of Children and Teenagers.

New: A guide to tax-time financial capability efforts

“A Toolkit for Expanding Financial Capability at Tax Time” is now available and free to download. The 70-page book presents the current evidence underpinning various tax-time efforts to expand financial capability among low- and moderate-income households.

Prison reform ‘unites people from across the political spectrum’

The White House hosted a high-profile summit meeting on federal prison reform on May 18, and Carrie Pettus-Davis, who helped to organize it, sat among cabinet members. The summit “was a message to the world that the United States is ready to change how it does incarceration,” she says.

New textbook focuses on financially vulnerable families

The first textbook to focus on financially vulnerable households is now available from Oxford University Press. “Financial Capability and Asset Building in Vulnerable Households: Theory and Practice” teaches about financial capability and asset building through the stories of four families whose lives unfold over 23 chapters.

Webinars showcase Grand Challenges leadership

Our faculty and staff are committed to advancing racial equity, and one of the most important vehicles is the national Grand Challenges for Social Work. We’ve created four webinars to highlight this initiative.

On the agenda: How to advance Child Development Accounts

​About 50 researchers, practitioners, policymakers and funders met this month in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to advance the field of Child Development Account programs by making them sustainable and scaleable to reach millions.

Forum focuses on financial capability for vulnerable families

​​To celebrate Financial Capability Month, the Center for Social Development and the Center for Household Financial Stability at the St. Louis Federal Reserve convened a forum, “Coin a Better Future: Reaching Out to Financially Vulnerable Families.”

Castro-Gonzalves is Brown School commencement speaker

Brown School alumna Charita L. Castro-Gonzalves, MSW ’99, will return to St. Louis as the featured speaker for the Brown School Recognition and Hooding Ceremony on Thursday, May 17.

Grinstein-Weiss named Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor

Grinstein-Weiss

Michal Grinstein-Weiss, PhD, was installed as the Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor on April 2 before an audience of colleagues, collaborators, supporters and family members, including many from her native Israel.

Student founds social work profession in her home country

Aytakin Huseynli is a doctoral student at the Brown School .

​Growing up in war and chaos, Aytakin Huseynli knew she wanted to help others, but the profession of “social work” didn’t exist in Azerbaijan. Later, she would go to great lengths to change that.

Ssewamala named William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor

On February 8, Fred Melch Ssewamala, PhD, a renowned social and economic development scholar, was installed as the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor at the Brown School of Social Work.