News Archive
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William Vega, provost professor and executive director of the Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging at the USC School of Social Work, has been recognized with two honors for his decades-long career as one of the nation’s leading experts on health disparities affecting aging ethnic minority populations.
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The streets of Chicago can be a dangerous place for a teen. Crime and gang-related violence has caused more than 580 deaths among the city’s youth since 2008, according to a study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
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Mental health has earned increased attention in recent years, but services for children, despite being one of society’s most vulnerable groups, have often gone overlooked.
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Beth and Gus Lucas have pledged $25,000 to the USC School of Social Work to fund scholarships for students in financial need.
Beth Lucas, a member of the school’s Board of Councilors, said that she wanted to support anyone who had a desire to help others, especially in a tough economy.
“In these changing times, we need more social workers to not only address the needs of the populations we are aware of, but also of populations we continue to become aware of,” she said. “I just want to be able to help in any way that I can.”
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Hortensia Amaro, dean's professor of social work and preventive medicine and USC associate vice provost of community research initiatives, has been invited to serve on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on the Assessment of Resiliency and Prevention Programs for Mental and Behavioral Health in Service Members and Their Families.
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Even though the USC School of Social Work hasn’t officially launched its part of The Campaign for the University of Southern California, donors to the school have given more in the last year than ever before. By doubling the previous two year’s donations, the School of Social Work has set an all-time school record for philanthropy, giving it a head start when it formally launches its campaign next fall.
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Not only do individuals with serious mental illness die an average of 25 years earlier than the general population, but those deaths are also often attributed to preventable medical conditions.
Improving how those individuals interact with the complex and often uncoordinated health care system is a key component of a new intervention being tested by John Brekke, the Frances G. Larson Professor of Social Work Research at the USC School of Social Work.
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The USC School of Social Work has kick-started a national Grand Challenges initiative to identify and highlight the most serious societal ills that social work can – and should – address.
Major challenges exist: fragmented systems of health and mental health care, problems of social stigma and oppression, a need to reform the child welfare and foster care sector. Where the social fabric is fraying or worn, social work researchers and practitioners are striving to address issues that plague society.
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One of the most impactful global immersion programs the USC School of Social Work holds is in India, where a group of Master of Social Work students and faculty traveled over the summer to visit, observe and participate in community development projects in Mumbai, Pune and Jawhar. They saw first-hand how extreme poverty forced many people to live in slums and dig through mountains of trash to find recyclables to exchange for money. They also witnessed how a social worker with a background in business started a micro-finance nonprofit organization to empower women.
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Mike Baker sits on a therapist’s couch—in blue jeans and a buttoned-down shirt, nervously clutching his hands.
Baker was deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard a year ago and is now having trouble at home. His wife made him get help, but talking is the last thing on Baker’s mind.
“I know this is your job to ask me a bunch of questions, but let me ask you something,” he said. “Did you ever serve?”