SSWR Board Member Karen Bullock is helping lead a groundbreaking $64 million NIH-funded initiative aimed at advancing palliative care research across the lifespan. As co-investigator of the ASCENT Consortium, Bullock is directing the Lived Experience Action Panel (LEAP), which brings together patients, caregivers, and professionals to help shape more equitable, community-informed approaches to serious illness care. Her work emphasizes the critical role of social workers in advocacy, culturally responsive care, and interdisciplinary research, while helping train the next generation of hospice and palliative care researchers. Bullock's leadership continues to elevate the impact of social work research on health equity, aging, and end-of-life care nationally and globally. Learn more here.

Alison Salloum , professor in the School of Social Work, in partnership with the Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, will evaluate the effectiveness of a training program for a stepped care treatment model that uses parent-led, therapist-assisted intervention as an initial treatment approach for childhood trauma, reserving intensive services for those who most need it.

"Access to care remains limited due to provider shortages, costs and logistical barriers. A workforce equipped to deliver stepped-care interventions, with a parent-led, therapist-assisted first step and the best available treatment for the second step, can reduce costs and provider burden while maintaining quality," said Salloum. "This stepped-care approach expands access to care and strengthens parents' capacity to support their children." Read more here.

The recognition highlights Dean Lindsey's innovative leadership in integrating artificial intelligence, data science, and virtual reality into social work education and research. A nationally recognized scholar on child and adolescent mental health, Lindsey also leads groundbreaking initiatives focused on suicide prevention among Black youth and expanded school social work training partnerships with New York City public schools. His work continues to demonstrate how social work research and education can drive innovation while advancing equity and mental health outcomes for young people.

 

Use of chat and text services has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to SSWR member Dr. Rachel Joy Voth Schrag , a professor of social work at the University of Texas at Arlington. Understanding how survivors use these digital channels, she said, is critical for ensuring hotline advocates have the tools they need to support survivors and family safety. New research from the University of Texas at Arlington shows that these digital hotlines are changing how survivors of domestic and sexual violence access safety planning and support. Read more here .

SSWR member Sonyia Richardson was featured on PBS North Carolina's Black Issues Forum discussing rising suicide rates among Black youth.

Sonyia Richardson is the John A. Tate Early Career Distinguished Fellow for Children in Need and assistant professor at the UNC School of Social Work and the UNC Department of Psychiatry.

Richardson is a dedicated health equity scholar whose research examines the social, structural and cultural factors shaping mental health and suicide-related outcomes among youth, with particular attention to how educational, faith-based, and community contexts influence wellbeing and opportunity. Using community-based participatory research approaches, her work centers on promoting youth thriving and equity by developing and testing culturally inclusive, community-engaged interventions, often in partnership with faith-based organizations, that address systemic barriers and support developmental outcomes.

View "The Rise in Black Youth Suicide | Black Issues Forum" on PBS North Carolina below.

SSWR member Sonyia Richardson was featured on PBS North Carolina's Black Issues Forum discussing rising suicide rates among Black youth.

Sonyia Richardson is the John A. Tate Early Career Distinguished Fellow for Children in Need and assistant professor at the UNC School of Social Work and the UNC Department of Psychiatry.

Richardson is a dedicated health equity scholar whose research examines the social, structural and cultural factors shaping mental health and suicide-related outcomes among youth, with particular attention to how educational, faith-based, and community contexts influence wellbeing and opportunity. Using community-based participatory research approaches, her work centers on promoting youth thriving and equity by developing and testing culturally inclusive, community-engaged interventions, often in partnership with faith-based organizations, that address systemic barriers and support developmental outcomes.

View "The Rise in Black Youth Suicide | Black Issues Forum" on PBS North Carolina below.

We’re proud to spotlight Rocío Calvo, Vice President-Elect of SSWR and transformative leader in social work research. Her community-centered scholarship, from empowering Latinx communities to advancing culturally responsive interventions, exemplifies how rigorous research can drive systemic, sustainable change that improves lives. Her work reminds us that when research is grounded in community partnerships, we can tackle complex social issues with dignity and impact. Read article here .