News Archive
-
Maria Ruelas, EdD ‘18, MSW ‘13, has been named the 2025 School Social Worker of the Year by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) for her outstanding leadership and dedication as District Social Worker for the Lawndale Elementary School District (LESD).
“I am so humbled by this recognition,” Ruelas said. “There are over 80 school districts and 1.3 million students across LA County and so many incredible social workers working to serve their needs. It is truly special to be honored with this award.”
-
On behalf of Interim President Beong-Soo Kim, I am delighted to announce that Laura S. Abrams, MSW, PhD, a professor in the Department of Social Welfare, Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, has agreed to serve as the next dean of USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, effective July 1, 2026. Abrams will also be appointed as the David Lawrence Stein/Violet Goldberg Sachs Professor in Mental Health.
-
Like many rural areas across the U.S., South Carolina has a shortage of medical facilities and providers that serve its rural population. This problem is particularly acute when it comes to prenatal care, labor and delivery. Ann Lefebvre, DSW ‘24, wanted to address this disparity for the rural residents of her adopted home state. She already had an exceptional 25-year career as director of a $17 million statewide health care workforce development agency and the associate dean for a medical school. However, she felt a calling to do something more in her career, something personal.
-
Natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes and floods are increasing in frequency and intensity, and devastating our environment and local communities.
-
Participants in “Miracle Money: California” find stability in first study to test the role of basic income and social support among unhoused people.
Monthly income plus a “phone buddy” program improved key areas in the lives of people experiencing homelessness, according to a new USC study.
-
Six professors of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work are recognized among the top 2% of scientists in the world for 2024 in a study by Elsevier and Stanford University. The ranking considers 22 scientific fields and 174 subfields. Based on the bibliometric information contained in the Scopus database, it represents approximately 100,000 scientific researchers from a pool of more than 8 million globally.
The school’s faculty named for 2024 are:
-
Suicide is often thought of as the result of mental health struggles; however, over half of people who die by suicide do not have a known prior mental health condition.
-
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced that there are 72,308 people experiencing homelessness countywide — including 43,699 in the city of Los Angeles. That marks a 4% drop across the county and a 3.4% decrease in the city compared to 2024.
-
The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is deeply saddened by the loss of a beloved professor, colleague, mentor and friend. Concepción (Concha) Barrio, professor emerita, passed away on July 15, 2025. She dedicated her career to advocacy for the Latinx population, and other underserved and marginalized people, and built a national reputation in mental health services research, particularly the interaction of ethnicity and effective clinical practice.
-
Three years ago, Maiya Hotchkiss (they/them) arrived in Los Angeles to pursue joint Master of Social Work (MSW) and PhD degrees at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Upon beginning their studies, Hotchkiss investigated and volunteered with a few organizations in Los Angeles that served the transgender community. They felt it was important to develop collaborative relationships with L.A. organizations before conceptualizing a focus for potential research.