Six of Rutgers University’s finest Graduate School of Social Work PhD students have received awards for pre-dissertation summer study

April 13th, 2012

Louis Donnelly, Brad Forenza, Hasan Johnson, Amanda Mathisen, Sheila McMahon, and Shrivridhi Shukla received awards from the Graduate School of Social Work for pre-dissertation summer study.

Pre-Dissertation Summer Studies:

Louis Donnelly:
Longitudinal Analysis and Applied Multilevel Modeling, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan.

Brad Forenza:
Advanced methods courses on hybrid quantitative/qualitative methods, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan.

Hasan Johnson:
 Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), New Orleans; This study focused on group intervention aimed at relieving symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and general anxiety among children exposed to trauma.

Amanda Mathisen:
Multi-level modeling (MLM), Curran-Bauer Analytics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Sheila McMahon:
 Multi-level modeling (MLM), Curran-Bauer Analytics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Shrivridhi Shukla:
Has traveled to India to perform pilot work for an exploratory study that seeks to examine men and women’s attitudes, knowledge, perceptions and beliefs in urban and rural areas regarding reproductive health services in India.

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Patricia Lundgren is the recipient of this years Mark Moses Distinguished Fellowship Award

March 29th, 2012

Patricia Lundgren was the recipient of the Mark Moses Distinguished Fellowship Award. Patricia Lundgren is a student in the Nonprofit and Public Management program at Rutgers University Graduate School of Social Work. Patricia Lundgren has an area of concentration in International Social Work.

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Marlene Anderson receives intern of the year award

March 23rd, 2012

Marlene Anderson was awarded the intern of the year award from the Juvenile Justice Commission. Ms. Anderson is a VAWC certificate student and one of the Verizon Wireless HopeLine Scholars.

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Kelly Nance from the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work, developed an After School Hang OUT program for her an internship at the Pride Center of New Jersey

February 26th, 2012

Kelly Nance, an intern at the Pride Center of New Jersey from the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work, developed a “After School Hang O.U.T.” program in  at the Pride Center, an opportunity for teens age 17 and younger from around the state to discuss any issues important to them, from sexuality to the challenges they face to parental issues to school to anything else on their minds.

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New Jersey Department of Children and Families gives $400,739 to extend the School of Social Work Institute for Families New Jersey Child Welfare Training Program

February 16th, 2012

Andy Germak (PI) has received word that the New Jersey Department of Children and Families has awarded the Institute for Families (IFF) $400,739 to fund the management and leadership training program for local DYFS office managers described below. It will extend IFF’s work on their existing New Jersey Child Welfare Training Program. The grant period is from February 1, 2012-June 30, 2013.

Executive Summary of Project:
This project is a comprehensive management and leadership training program for all 47 DYFS local office managers throughout New Jersey. The overall objective of this training will be to enhance the capacity of the local office managers to lead their teams through impending challenges and opportunities. To achieve high-quality, targeted management training, Rutgers School of Social Work will subcontract with the National Network for Social Work Managers (NNSWM), a membership organization representing human service managers across the United States, to develop and implement certain aspects of the program. The program will unfold over an 18-month period beginning with a needs assessment and planning period, followed by a retreat with trainees and a series of monthly in-person training modules covering pertinent aspects of NNSWM’s management competencies. Trainees would then be assigned capstone projects, the results of which to be presented at the 2013 Annual Institute of NNSWM. Also at the Institute, trainees would be matched with experienced mentors from NNSWM who would work with trainees during the final months of the grant period via virtual mentorship sessions (interactive webinars). Upon successful completion of the training program, NNSWM would certify each manager with the Certified Social Work Manager (CSWM) credential. Finally, Rutgers School of Social Work will analyze training evaluation data collected throughout the training program and produce a final evaluation report on the effectiveness of the training program.

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Judy Postmus and Rebecca Davis receive funding to examine gender based violence and abuse in Liberian Schools

February 14th, 2012

Judy Postmus and Rebecca Davis have been informed that their research proposal titled “Examining Gender Based Violence and Abuse in Liberian Schools” has been funded by a Research Consortium in Liberia. The Consortium includes representatives from the Ministry of Education of Liberia, the Ministry of Gender & Development in Liberia, the Association of Liberian Universities, IBIS, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, and Concern Worldwide. The research project received funding for $51,000 and will  conclude on April 30, 2012.

Project Goal:
The overall goal for the project is to investigate gender based violence and abuse in Liberian schools. This goal will be achieved through the collaborative efforts of Rutgers University (RU) in the U.S. and Cuttington University (CU) in Liberia.

Project Objectives:
The objectives of this project are to perform:
1)  a content analysis, review and analyze existing policies, laws, research reports, and other documents that address such violence;
2) qualitative interviews, meet with key stakeholders to determine their perspectives on the problem of gender based violence as well as the existing policies;
3) qualitative focus groups, meet with youth attending the chosen schools as well as key school personnel to learn of their attitudes, beliefs, and norms about girls and violence;
4) quantitative methods, distribute an anonymous survey to youth and key school personnel asking about their attitudes, beliefs, and norms about girls and violence. Upon analysis of the data collected, a presentation and report will be available that outlines the key findings from the research and recommendations for ways to address and prevent violence and abuse in Liberian schools.

The research process will use a sequential mixed method design.  Each stage will be conducted separately and will influence the next. Together these methods will produce a picture of youth’s perceptions of girls and violence by measuring their attitudes, beliefs, and norms surrounding such violence. This information will provide a critical foundation for developing effective prevention and intervention efforts.

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Donna Van Alst receives a grant from the Office of the Attorney General to pursue a Research Evaluation and Training Project

February 11th, 2012

Principal investigator Donna Van Alst has received confirmation of the “ Research Evaluation and Training Project” grant for $102,768!

Project Title:  Research Evaluation and Training Project
Grantor:  State of New Jersey, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice
Grant Period:  March 1, 2012 through February 28, 2013

Executive Summary of Project:
The Office of Victim Witness Advocacy (OVWA) within NJ-OAG/DLPS/DCJ manages an array of services to meet the needs of New Jersey citizens who are victims of or witnesses to crime.  Among other things, OVWA oversees an extensive process of identifying community needs and funding local services through grants associated with the Violence against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) and the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA).  The Institute for Families will carry out a comprehensive technical assistance plan for OVWA that will include (1) conducting a mixed-method statewide needs assessment; (2) reviewing literature to identify evidence-based, cost-effective practices in providing services to victims of or witnesses to crimes and analyzing current activities to determine the extent to which they reflect best practices; and (3) providing training on program evaluation, as well as individualized support and technical assistance, to funded programs to ensure reporting requirements are achieved.

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Andy Germak’s abstract has been accepted for presentation at the XVI Annual Conference of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM)

February 3rd, 2012

Andy Germak research article titled “Unpacking the toolkit: How important is formal public management education and  training  for public sector human service leaders?“ has been accepted for presentation at the XVI Annual Conference of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) to be held in Rome, Italy from April  11th through April 13th , 2012.

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Shari Munch has been invited by NASW Executive Director to serve on an expert panel to develop NASW Guidelines for Social Worker Safety.

February 2nd, 2012

Shari Munch has been invited by NASW Executive Director, Dr. Elizabeth Clark, to serve on an expert panel to develop NASW Guidelines for Social Worker Safety. This request stemmed from Shari’s 2003 article co-authored with Ms. Patricia Spencer of Catholic Charities in Metuchen that appeared in Social Work.

Abstract from Shari Munch’s 2003 article:
With the shift in mental health treatment from psychiatric hospitals to community agencies, mental health workers provide outreach interventions to clientele with increasingly acute psychiatric disorders in their neighborhoods and residences. This article examines job-related, client perpetrated threats or physical violence against social workers in general, and community outreach mental health professionals in particular. The article highlights the critical role of supervisors and administrators in community mental health programs in developing proactive prevention and post incident response policies and procedures that create an organizational climate of safety awareness, training, and psychological support to traumatized worker-victims. Recommendations for macro-level intervention are proposed, and implications for social work education and the profession are addressed

 Spencer, P. C., & Munch, S. (2003). Client violence toward social workers: The critical role of agency management in community mental health programs. Social Work, 48(4), 532-544.

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Jill Sinha is selected to be a Faculty Fellow for Camdens Civic Engagement

February 2nd, 2012

Jill Sinha was selected as a Faculty Fellow in the inaugural cohort for Camdens Civic Engagement. The Fellowship entails a two-day intensive development workshop with a two-day follow-up to support the integration of engaged civic learning into courses, programs, and research projects which will enhance student learning and benefit to community partners, and carries a stipend of $1,000. Camdens Civic Engagement was developed by the Chancellor’s Office on Civic Engagement.

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