News Archive
Research
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Nearly 44,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County—about 30 percent of whom are chronically homeless. Chronically homeless individuals are likely to be older than the general homeless population and have remained homeless for long periods of time—sometimes years or even decades. Typically, they have a disabling health condition such as mental health or substance abuse problems, making it difficult for them to maintain stable housing and employment. Most do not have a support network and rely on an already over-taxed social service system.
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Usually it's doctors, nurses and therapists who get the credit for delivering the most innovative practices in health care. But a USC researcher says one group has been largely overlooked: the leaders at health care organizations who manage change and improve standards of care day in and day out.
As anyone who has ever worked in a large organization knows, implementing change is difficult. This is as true in health care as in any other field. Also true: high-impact change usually happens when effective leaders make it happen.
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Fifteen years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq have generated unprecedented investment in mitigating war-related mental health problems, including large increases in funding since 2007 for clinical trials of trauma-focused psychotherapies.
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Is it possible that the social work profession could eliminate the homelessness crisis in our lifetime? From Assistant Professor Ben Henwood’s perspective, homelessness is a solvable problem on a national scale, and social work is uniquely qualified to lead the charge.
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A national center focused on addressing the needs of students exposed to trauma has received new funding to continue its work.
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California’s population is aging. By 2030, 18 percent of the state will be 65 or older. More significantly, this population will be increasingly racially and ethnically diverse. Current projections suggest that 52% of these older adults will be members of a minority group.
This demographic shift is likely to have a profound impact on California, with studies projecting increased older adult poverty rates, rising health-care costs for the elderly, and significant long-term care shortages.
No population is expected to be harder hit than African Americans.
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More than 200 statewide leaders recently met to discuss how to make California the most veteran-friendly state in the nation.
The “State of the American Veteran in California” conference—held in September at the California Science Center in Los Angeles—was organized by the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work to explore and design actions to address the most pressing issues facing veterans today.
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Los Angeles’ homelessness problem is worsening—but it’s particularly bleak for the homeless women of Skid Row, a new report finds.
The 2016 Downtown Women’s Needs Assessment reports that 90 percent of women living on the streets of downtown LA have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, and nearly half have been attacked in the last year. They also tend to be older, in poorer health and disproportionately African American, compared to past years.
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Positive school climates contribute to academic achievement and can improve outcomes for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, according to a new study published today in Review of Educational Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.
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An innovative new program launched by the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is helping young parents access supportive services without leaving their home.
Home visitation is an increasingly popular approach to supporting new parents. The model brings a professionally trained parent educator into the home to deliver a curriculum focused on child development, parent–child interaction, positive parenting and school readiness.