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Grand Challenges: News & Updates
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END HOMELESSNESS
 The Dynamics of Homelessness: Research and Policy
Check out the most recent volume of the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, titled “The Dynamics of Homelessness: Research and Policy.” Guest edited by Barrett A. Lee, PhD, Marybeth Shinn, PhD, and Dennis Culhane, PhD (University of Pennsylvania, GCSW Sustaining Sponsor), the volume reviews key insights from new and existing research that can provide guidance for homelessness policies and state and local interventions. Read it here.
Addressing Homelessness and Mental Illness at the Banyan Academy's Global Mental Health Hub
 University of Pittsburgh (GCSW Sustaining Sponsor) Professor Nev Jones, MA, PhD, was named as co-lead of The Banyan Academy's Global Mental Health Hub. The Banyan is an award-winning NGO based in Chennai, India, addressing the intersections of homelessness and mental illness. Recently, Dr. Jones collaborated on Banyan's commissioned report on “statewide policy for homeless persons with mental health issues in Tamil-Nadu,” and is working with Hub co-lead Archana Padmakar, PhD, on a study of pathways into services among unhoused community members, and on a multi-national comparative case study of experiences of homelessness among women with psychosis.
University of Maryland School of Social Work Homelessness Council's
Annual Summit
The Homelessness Council of the University of Maryland School of Social Work (GCSW Premier Sponsor) hosted its Annual Summit for Homeless Service Providers on November 12. The event featured a keynote by End Homelessness network co-lead Deborah Padgett, PhD (NYU Silver School of Social Work, Premier Sponsor) and a discussion led by GSCW Executive Committee Chair Richard Barth, PhD, on the Grand Challenge to End Homelessness. The Summit also included sessions on topics ranging from partnering student interns with community agencies serving the homeless, addressing homelessness among veterans, and preventing homelessness through upstream risks and protective factors.
New Analysis Demonstrates Impact of Rental Assistance
In a recent brief, the National Alliance to End Homelessness’s Research Institute analyzed how federal rent and eviction relief measures have been instrumental in minimizing homelessness increases during the pandemic. Read more here.
ICYMI: Understanding Economic Impact Payments and the Child Tax Credit
Click here to read the National Alliance to End Homelessness's report providing an overview of Economic Impact Payments and the Child Tax Credit, and learn how people experiencing homelessness can access these benefits.
Accomplishments and Future Plans Featured in GCSW Impact Report
Be sure to read about the activities and accomplishments of the Grand Challenge to End Homelessness in the five-year impact report!
UP! Next: The December newsletter will feature the
Grand Challenge to Close the Health Gap.
Please submit content for the newsletter by the 10th of each month.
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ERADICATE SOCIAL ISOLATION
 Mental Health Treatment Engagement Intervention for Young Adults Shows Promise in NIH Study
In a NIMH funded randomized explanatory trial, Michelle R. Munson, PhD, LMSW, and colleagues implemented and evaluated a vanguard approach to young adult mental health treatment engagement called “Just Do You,” which leverages the intake process to reduce stigma, misconceptions about treatment, fears, and other common barriers to professional mental health care. Read it here.
 Paper on Social Isolation and Racial Identity Wins 2021 Outstanding Student Paper Award
NYU Silver School of Social Work PhD candidate Rachel Ludeke received the 2021 Outstanding Student Paper Award from the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Public Health Social Work Section for her paper, “Why is my skin intimidating to you?” The paper explores social connectivity and racial identity of minority youth with child welfare experiences. Read it here.
ENSURE HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUTH 
Leading the Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency
Angelique Day, PhD, associate professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work (GCSW Premier Sponsor), will co-lead the evaluation component of the new Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency. The goal is to give foster youth ages 12 to 20 a more active role in making decisions about their care, whether that includes reuniting them with their birth families or placing them in other legally recognized, permanent arrangements. The national consortium received a five-year federal grant totaling $20 million; the school’s award was $2.6 million. Read more here.
BUILD FINANCIAL CAPABILITY AND ASSETS FOR ALL
New Faculty Promotes Financial Equity for Healthcare Workers in Pittsburgh
The research of Kess Balletine, PhD, contributed to a Pittsburgh United report advocating living wages and other changes to promote equity and reduce financial precarity for healthcare workers in Pittsburgh. Read the report here. In addition, Dr. Balletine is one of four faculty members–including Luisa Kcomt, PhD, Lisa Panisch, PhD, and Bryan Victor, PhD–joining the Wayne State University School of Social Work. Their research and work span many disciplines, including reducing the hidden punishments of lower-income family labor wins, advancing health and wellness for sexual and gender diverse and racial/ethnic minority populations, transforming intergenerational family cycles of trauma, and improving child welfare practices in Michigan. Learn more here. 
ACHIEVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND JUSTICE
Social Work Student Alliance Provides Assistance to Storm and Flood-Affected Detroiters
The heavy rainfall that hit Metro Detroit in June 2021 left many homes and residences with severe storm and flood damage. Even today, residents are struggling with flooded basements and the worsening financial, emotional, and physical effects of home damage. The Wayne State University School of Social Work is proud to announce our Social Work Student Alliance (SWSA) has answered this call to action to Achieve Equal Opportunity and Justice for Detroiters. The SWSA has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide a hands-on learning opportunity for students to provide short-term assistance to Metro Detroit residents impacted by storms, flooding, and tornadoes. Learn more here
HARNESS TECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIAL GOOD
 Case Western Working to Harness Technology for Social Good
Harness Technology for Social Good network co-lead, Claudia J. Coulton, PhD, and Francisca García-Cobián Richter, PhD, of the The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (GCSW Sustaining Sponsor), recently discussed their work towards the Harness Technology for Social Good Grand Challenge for the school's website. Coulton and Richter are both part of the Mandel School’s Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, which has provided evidence that local coalitions needed in order to pass legislation to require rental housing in Cleveland to meet lead-safe standards. Dr. Richter, in collaboration with the Case School of Engineering, also helped create the new Certificate in Data Sciences for Social Impact in face of the ever-growing trend of the use of scoring algorithms to inform human decision making in social welfare, and launched an interdisciplinary course last winter on data science and ethical issues called Social Data Analysis and Racism–Then and Now. Read more here.
Trauma-Informed Digital Spaces through Chat & Text Advocacy for Survivors of Violence
Several medical experts and advocates across the Universities of Texas have co-authored an article in the SAGE Journal of Interpersonal Violence on the impacts of chat and text service and advocacy tools for survivors of violence. The article highlights using technology in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered way to support survivors, rather than focusing on technology abuse. Check it out here.
ELIMINATE RACISM
ICYMI: Eliminate Racism Webinar: Close the Health Gap & Advance Long and Productive Lives
The sixth part of the Eliminate Racism webinar series, Close the Health Gap and Advance Long and Productive Lives, took place on November 9. Watch the recording here. You can view the previous webinars here. Part 7 will take place on December 14!
 Research & Philanthropy’s Roles in Eliminating Racism
On the most recent episode of Matematica Foundation’s podcast, On the Evidence, Mindelyn Anderson, PhD, sociologist and founder of Mirror Group, and Kimberlin Butler, MPA, senior director of foundation engagement at Mathematica, discuss the intersection of scientific research and eliminating racism. Listen here.
ADVANCE LONG AND PRODUCTIVE LIVES
Zelda Foster Studies Program Awarded Samuels Foundation Grant to Advance Provision of Palliative Care for Older Adults
A three-year, $150,000 grant from the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation to the New York University Silver School of Social Work (GCSW Premier Sponsor) will provide scholarship support to four DSW students selected for their commitment to providing palliative care to older adults in New York City. It will also fund two innovative Adaptive Leadership Labs, co-led by the scholarship recipients, that will identify adaptive leadership challenges in palliative care and work to generate solutions. Find out more here.
PROMOTE SMART DECARCERATION
Taking Action Against Racial Bias in Criminal Justice System
In a recent guest commentary article in the Orlando Sentinel, Carrie Pettus, PhD, MSW, talks about disrupting racial bias and promoting equity in public health and criminal justice. Read it here.
Reflections on the 50th Year of the US War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and Harm Reduction
 Wayne State University School of Social Work is launching the James and Janice Prochaska Annual Lecture Series featuring Kimberly Sue, MD, PhD, presenting "Getting Wrecked: Reflections on the 50th Year of the U.S. ‘War on Drugs,’ Mass Incarceration and Harm Reduction" on November 18 at 2pm ET. Register here.
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Webinar: A Social Work Perspective on Immigration Reform
November 18, 2021
12:30-1:30pm CT
Register here.
In recent decades, there has been a lack of consensus on how to respond to the growing demand for political asylum, legal status as citizens, and economic opportunity for immigrants and refugees seeking entry or currently living in the United States. In a webinar presented in partnership with the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, two leading authorities, Luis H. Zayas, PhD, (former GCSW Leadership Board member) and Kerri Evans, PhD, LCSW (University of Maryland, GCSW Premier Sponsor), will be interviewed by Lawrence A. Palinkas, PhD, (Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment network co-lead) to examine the current debate on immigration reform from a social work perspective. Presented by Washington University's Brown School Open Classroom.
Webinar: Confronting the Twin Pandemics of COVID-19 and Opioid Overdose
December 2, 2021
12:30-1:30pm CT
Register here.
Join this webinar for a dialogue regarding the increased risks to health and wellbeing associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and opioid use disorder, focusing on the value of peer support and public health practice. Speakers Ron Manderscheid, PhD, (GCSW Leadership Board member) and Stephanie Campbell, MSW, MS, MA, will discuss the current status of treatment for individuals affected by opioid use disorder and the value of mental health support systems that include peer networks. This program is presented in partnership with the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Presented by Washington University's Brown School Open Classroom.
The Opioid Epidemic and Justice Involved Individuals: Better Care Through Better Understanding
 February 7-9, 2022
Join the Institute for Justice Research and Development’s 2022 Winter Institute, “The Opioid Epidemic and Justice Involved Individuals: Better Care Through Better Understanding.” Attend in-person in Austin, TX or register to attend virtually. Register by January 6, 2022 for early bird pricing Learn more and register today.
Grand Challenges for Social Work at The University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (GCSW Sustaining Sponsor) School of Social Welfare’s Center for Community Engagement and Collaboration (CCEC) is hosting a series of interactive panels highlighting current school research and community practice in areas related to the Grand Challenges for Social Work.
The October session examined new research on the effects of COVID-19 on the long-term care workforce. The next session, scheduled for March 3, 2022 will highlight the imperative of centering anti-racist approaches in child welfare policy and practice. For more information and to register, visit the website.
March 3, 2022
12-2pm CT
The second event highlights the imperative of centering anti-racist approaches in child welfare policy and practice.
April 26, 2022
12-2pm CT
The third and final event in this series, "Grand Challenges for Social Work: Close the Health Gap," is the culmination of this academic year’s cohort of the school's Integrated Health Scholars program.
For more information and to register, click here.
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Nationwide Call to Make the Child Tax Credit Permanent and Fully Refundable
More than 800 individual social workers, social work scholars, researchers, and allied professional organizations have signed on to a letter urging congress to make the current expanded Child Tax Credit permanent and fully refundable. This call to action comes as congressional leadership determines which elements will be included in the final framework for the Build Back Better social investment legislative package currently being negotiated. Read more here.
Infrastructure Bill Good News for Grand Challenges
The new $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed by President Biden on November 15, 2021 may be good news for several of the Grand Challenges, including Close the Health Gap, Harness Technology for Social Good, Create Social Responses to a Changing Environment, Reduce Extreme Economic Inequality, Build Financial Capability and Assets for All, and Achieve Equal Opportunity and Justice. The bill includes items such as expansion of public transportation; expanded internet access for rural areas, low income families, and tribal communities; decontamination of waterways and replacement of lead pipes; and preparation for climate resiliency in vulnerable regional areas. Read more here.
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ICYMI: Webinar Series on Environmental and Racial Justice
The Grand Challenge’s webinar series on Environmental and Racial Justice has concluded with an insightful panel – Charles Lewis, Jr., PhD, MSW, (GCSW Leadership Board member), Jessica Black, PhD, MSW, Tessa Kaneene, MSW, and Taylor Bazajou, MUP–speaking to mobilizing power for action and change. View the recordings below:
Integrating Intersectionality Within Social Work Education
Ijeoma Opara, PhD, LMSW, MPH, published a manuscript earlier this year that highlights intersectionality and Black girls in the social work curriculum. While focused on social work, there are numerous strategies applicable to other social science curriculums. Check it out here.
Grand Challenges Video: Updated Version Now Available!
Since the launch in 2016, there have been name changes for several of the Grand Challenges, as well as many additions to the leadership and sponsors of the initiative. We've recently updated the original GCSW video to reflect these. We encourage you to take a look and pass the video on—it's a great introduction for anyone looking for a quick overview of the Grand Challenges!
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ICYMI: Grand Challenges at Pitt School of Social Work Report The University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work (GCSW Sustaining Sponsor) has published a report of its ongoing and recent projects in each of the Grand Challenge areas, and highlights projects associated with specific challenges to illustrate its work. Read it here.
Five Years of Activities and Accomplishments Featured in the GCSW Impact Report
 Research, education, practice, & policy—the Grand Challenges for Social Work has influenced all of these! If you haven’t already, we encourage you to take a look at our five-year impact report to read about the activities and accomplishments of all 13 Grand Challenges—and their goals for the remaining five years of the initiative. We hope you’ll share the report with your friends and colleagues and join us in these critical efforts!
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It's not too late to join us! Funding supports the initiative’s infrastructure, the 13 Grand Challenge networks, and increasing cross-network collaboration and communications efforts, including webinars, social media, our monthly newsletter, and the website. To pledge your support, contact Kira Silk.
Premier Sponsors
Arizona State University | New York University | University of Maryland
University of Tennessee | University of Washington | Washington University in St. Louis
Sustaining Sponsors
Boston College | Boston University I Case Western Reserve University
Colorado State University | Columbia University I Fordham University
Howard University | Indiana University | Loyola University of Chicago
The Ohio State University | University of Alabama I University at Buffalo
University of California, Berkeley | University of Chicago | University of Denver
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | University of Kansas
University of Michigan | University of Nebraska Omaha
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania | University of Pittsburgh | University of Utah
University of Wisconsin-Madison | Virginia Commonwealth University
Contributing Sponsor
Loma Linda University | Sacred Heart University
Smith College | The University of Louisville
Individual Sponsors
Richard Barth | Marilyn Flynn
Raheem and Erika Lay | Torstein Dahl Bratberg
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