WSSW Prof Joan Beder is Indianapolis Star!

Dr. Joan Beder was quoted in an Indianapolis Star article about doctors forming partnershi[ps with lawyers in order to address patients' social and economic issues without impacting negatively on their health.

Read the article...

WSSW Prof, Rev Jerry Street Named 2010 Fellow by Connecticut Health Foundation

The Connecticut Health Foundation the state’s largest independent health philanthropy association, has announced its 2010 Health Leadership Fellows, and Rev. Jerry Street is one of the 22 Connecticut residents to recive this honor. According to Patricia Baker, the President and CEO of the foundation, each of the the Fellows possesses the qualities and experience necessary to effect changes in Connecticut's health systems that will improve the health of our state's residents.

Read more about the program.

Visit Rev. Streets' blog

Samuel Bronfman Foundation Hosts Seminar for JCS Students

On Wednesday, October 14, ten students from the Jewish Communal Service program attended a unique seminar on startups, innovation and social entrepreneurship in the Jewish community, hosted by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation and facilitated by a panel of experts in startups, innovations, social entrepreneurship and new giving in the Jewish community.

Students were joined by Dean Sheldon Gelman, Dr. Saul Andron, and Professor Lynn Levy, who teach in the Jewish Communal program, and board member, Joel Daner.

Speakers highlighted the growth of an array of small Jewish startups including innovative prayer and spirituality groups, cutting-edge cultural initiatives, and creative educational approaches.

Shawn Landres, Co-founder and CEO of Jumpstart, a Los Angeles based think tank, began the evening with a presentation called The Innovation Ecosystem: Emergence of a New Jewish Landscape (2009) a ground breaking report on grassroots Jewish philanthropic innovation, metrics for success, and partnerships to reduce cost.

Dana Raucher, Executive Director of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, spoke about the foundation’s position on innovation in Jewish life and the strengthening of the Jewish not-for-profit sector. She presented a case example of the Foundation's funding of an innovative program initiative.

The final presentation of the evening was given by Maya Bernstein, Director of Education and Leadership Initiatives at Upstart Bay Area in San Francisco, California. Ms. Bernstein noted that the majority of Jews in the Bay area are not affiliated with traditional Jewish organizations like synagogues or JCCs. Young Jews in particular are seeking new, more intimate and creative ways to connect with different aspects of Jewish life. Her startup is providing technical assistance to the growing number of startup groups which have emerged in the San Francisco Bay area.

Thanks to guest editor, block student David English!

WSSW Gets Grant to Fund Financial Literacy Curriculum

In response to the economic recession and high levels of unemployment and economic displacement, The New York Community Trust has provided a 20-month grant of $214,000 to six schools of social work which are part of the New York City Social Work Education Consortium.

The grant is to be used to train social workers to better assist families in economic distress. Specifically, the six schools of social work at Hunter College, Fordham University, Lehman College, Long Island University, Touro College, and Yeshiva University will collaboratively develop, test, and implement a financial literacy curriculum as part of their education of social work students.

The new knowledge and skills will be applied in field work settings throughout the metropolitan area. Professor Joanna Mellor will serve as Wurzweiler’s liaison to the project. Funds for the Trust’s grant are from the Harriett M. Bartlett Fund, the New York Critical Needs Fund, and the Oakey and Ethel Witherspoon Alexander Fund.

Strug & LaPorte to Discuss Research on "Pedro Pan" Refugees

Dr. David Strug, a professor at WSSW and Dr. Heidi Heft LaPorte, an associate professor at Lehman College, are conducting research on the Child Welfare Cuban Refugee Service Program, better known as Operation Peter Pan, or more commonly Operation Pedro Pan.

Operation Pedro Pan, run by the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, sent more than 14,000 Cuban children to the United States as unaccompanied minors in 1961 and 1962. Among them were 400 Jewish children. Doctors Strug and LaPorte have interviewed close to 50 of these Jewish Cuban-American children, now in their fifties and sixties and living mostly in South Florida, to learn how this uprooting has affected their lives.

Strug and LaPorte will be talking about their research and interviews with former Peter Pan children at a conference sponsored by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research on November 2, 2009. The conference, entitled “New York and the American Jewish Experience,” will take place at the Center for Jewish History in NYC, at 15 W. 16th St. Click here for map and directions.

The conference is free and open to the public.

Deans Gelman & Hendricks Picked as "Pioneers of Social Work" by NASW

Wurzweiler's Dean Sheldon R. Gelman, and Associate Dean, Carmen Ortiz Hendricks have been named “Social Work Pioneers” by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).

NASW Pioneers are social workers who have explored new territories and built outposts for human services on many frontiers. Some are well known; others less famous outside their immediate colleagues and the region where they live and work. But each has made an important contribution to the social work profession and to social policies through service, teaching, writing, research, program development, administration, or legislation. (Read more about NASW Pioneers)

During his 19 years of service at Wurzweiler, Dean Gelman has hired prestigious faculty, strengthened academic standards, embraced new technology, and encouraged research-oriented practice. The results are evident in our top 50 ranking in US News and World Report, our recognition as having one of the most productive faculties of any social work school, and, most recently, our 2009 re-accreditation study by the Council on Social Work Education, where every aspect of the program received enthusiastic praise.

In addition to his outstanding work at Wurzweiler, Dean Gelman has published numerous articles in social work and social welfare policy journals and has contributed to The Encyclopedia of Social Work, The Social Workers’ Desk Reference and The Handbook of Human Services Management. Dean Gelman holds advanced degrees from the Heller School at Brandeis University and from Yale Law School.

Associate Dean Carmen Hendricks joined the Wurzweiler administration and faculty in July of 2005. She is a former president of the New York City Chapter of National Association of Social Workers, and is well-known for her in work culturally competent social work education and practice. As a member of NASW’s National Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, she helped develop the Standards for Cultural Competence in the Social Work Practice. She is a founding member of the Latino Social Work Task Force. She has co-authored and edited seminal books in social worked education including, Learning to Teach—Teaching to Learn: A Guide to Social Work Field Education, Intersecting Child Welfare, Substance Abuse and Family Violence: Culturally Competent Approaches and Women of Color as Social Work Educators: Strengths and Survival.

New Book by Mason, Strug & Beder Examines Health Care in Cuba

Interest in the Cuban health care model has grown over the years and despite ongoing changes in Cuban society, the pride and satisfaction Cuban citizens take in their
health care system suggest that it will likely prevail in post-Castro Cuba. Susan E. Mason, David L. Strug, and Joan Beder have edited this collection of essays by contributors who are respected professionals in Cuba and the United States. Community Health Care in Cuba examines this closely integrated system in which community representatives, nurses, doctors, social workers, and other health care specialists work together to meet the health care needs of all Cuba's citizens. The collection features a first-hand look into the country's highly successful, integrated, and prevention-oriented health care model and includes interviews with the director of Cuba's National Medical Sciences Information Center (INFOMED) and the president of the Cuban Society of Social Workers in Health Care. Placing Cuba at the forefront as a model of international health care, this book illustrates how Cuba, despite its economic constraints, is able to deliver high-quality care to its citizens from a local to national level. (From the Lyceum website)

Click here for more about Community Health Care in Cuba
Click here to buy the book at Amazon.com

Click here to hear author David Strug on the radio show, Against the Grain, discussing how older Cubans feel about Castro's revolution.