News Archive
Alumni
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Gena Truitt is a social worker with unique perspectives.
The Navy veteran and USC School of Social Work alumna works at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System in San Bernardino County, where she interacts directly with veterans as a homeless outreach social worker.
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Stealing snacks from the corner store. Spray-painting tags on public property. Vandalizing cars.
What’s a parent to do?
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As a longtime recovering drug addict who experienced homelessness, Kristina Ronnquist, MSW ’14, went through years of interacting with law enforcement. Her encounters, however, were different from those experienced by many people of color.
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Grissel Granados, MSW ’10, is still here. At 28 years old, this may not seem like much of a statement, but to Granados, it’s a reality that many in her situation do not share.
Born in Mexico, she contracted the HIV virus from her mother. Her mother, unaware that she had been infected through a blood transfusion, unwittingly transmitted it to her husband as well as their infant daughter. Five years later when Granados’ sister was born, the family finally learned of their status.
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Since graduating from the University of Southern California, Nathan Graeser has been actively involved in Los Angeles making sure the needs of veterans are met, especially their spiritual needs.
It is a natural fit for Graeser, MSW ’13, who has been in the military for 14 years, including the last three years as a chaplain with the Army National Guard.
Graeser said involving faith communities in the network of support services for returning veterans was a logical step.
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When Sussanne Martin was four years old, her father, a well-known lawyer who fought for human rights and social justice in El Salvador, was kidnapped and killed during the country’s civil war.
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Ahyoung Song wouldn’t call herself a superhero, but to the many runaway Korean teenagers and homeless LA women she’s worked with, she is as close as it gets.
Song is a recent PhD graduate with the USC School of Social Work from South Korea. She’s also a wife and mother of two – balancing all of those roles with her lifelong fight for social justice. Last year, she received the B.B. Robbie Rossman Annual Memorial Child Maltreatment Research Award for her presentation on domestic violence. This year, brings her passion to some of the roughest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
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The University of Southern California has a long history of supporting the United States military—from its days as a training school during World War I to the formation of programs and centers aimed at helping veterans transition home.
Now that tradition continues in the university’s own backyard. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently announced the formation of a new council that will advise his administration on issues affecting the city’s military community.
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Prostitution is often viewed as a victimless crime, but in some U.S. communities the average starting age for a girl in the industry can dip as low as 12 years old. The overwhelming majority of women in the commercial sex trade find themselves there as a result of either coercion or desperation.
But offering them a way out requires going well beyond the confines of legal assistance. Women with prostitution or sex trafficking backgrounds can successfully reintegrate back into society, and in the course of their recovery, social workers play a vital role.
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Lisa LaCorte-Kring, MSW ’94, has returned to the university as a member of the USC School of Social Work’s Board of Councilors, bringing with her a progressive perspective on social work practice and education.
LaCorte-Kring is a licensed clinical social worker who has worked in family mediation with the Los Angeles County Superior Court for 10 years before transitioning into mindfulness training, or focusing attention and awareness based on meditation principles, after having two children.