JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez (MSW ’88, Ph.D. ’90) adjunct professor of Social Welfare, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Council on Gerontology (CCGG). The award recognizes outstanding achievements in geriatrics and gerontology. Awardees exemplify leadership in academic scholarship, education, policy, research, and practice, while contributing to the future of older adults.
Alice (Laughlin) Kitchen, (MSW ’72) is among 10 “Champions of
Change” honored recently by the White House for dedication to improving access
to health care. The
Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning
the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector is highlighted and groups
of Champions, ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community leaders, are
recognized for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their
communities.
California’s Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities have been inefficient, but a closure plan proposed by California Governor Jerry Brown, should “not rely solely on fiscal motivations,” says Laura Abrams, author of a newly published policy brief on the governor’s budget realignment plan.
Adeline
Aranaydo, a first-year Master of Social Welfare (MSW) student
at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, is one of 12 students nationwide
to be selected as a 2012 Native American Congressional Intern through the Udall
Foundation. Aranaydo, of the Tohono O’odham Nation, will intern in the office of
U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
A UCLA research team led by Todd Franke, associate professor of social welfare in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, has been awarded $500,000 to evaluate the impact of the Bloom project (Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities for Men) by the California Community foundation. The goal of BLOOM is to redirect Black male youth (ages 14-18) involved with the Los Angeles County probation system toward a path that produces improved education and employment opportunities.
The UCLA Juvenile Justice & Reentry Project has released a policy brief on California Senate Bill 9 (the California Fair Sentencing for Youth Act)."We believe that SB9 constitutes a modest proposal that upholds public accountability, while also providing a chance for those who committed crimes when they were young to show personal growth and change, and for the State of California to assert itself as a responsible steward of its future," write the authors, Laura S. Abrams, Ph.D., and Alea Bell.
Nancy Williams, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Social Welfare, has been named to the student section of the publication, Child Maltreatment (Journal), Editorial Board.
The Fall 2011 issue of Social Welfare's semi-annual newsletter is now available online. The newsletter includes updates on
the department, faculty research and findings, as well as faculty, student
and alumni accomplishments.
A few of the Fall 2011 highlights include:
UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Social Welfare doctoral candidate Megan Holmes (MSW '08) has been selected to receive the 2012 Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Doctoral Fellows Award for her dissertation proposal research titled, “Effects of Maternal Parenting Quality on the Development of Social Behavior for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence.”
