School of Social Work 2020-21 Year End Report

NEWSLETTER UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR The 2020-21 academic year was one of the most challenging years for our profession. We had to pivot both our teaching and practice of social work quickly to the online environment. We had to manage the extra stress the pandemic was causing in our own lives as well as the lives of our colleagues and clients. Some of us lost close friends or loved ones to the disease.

Dr. Susan Neely-Barnes

Despite these challenges, the faculty, staff and students of the University of Memphis School of Social Work continued moving forward. Our faculty had 15 peer-reviewed publications in the 2020 calendar year and brought in more than $1.825 million in external funding during the 202021 academic year. We also had five faculty members win awards this year at the University, state or national level. Some of our research accomplishments including the Trauma Healing Club, our collaboration with the Shelby County Health Department and the HERO project are highlighted below.

The 2020-21 year marked the start of new growth and innovation in our academic programs. Our new Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program started in fall 2020 with nine students admitted to the first class. Our MSW and BA in social work programs are now fully available online. Over the next academic year, the School of Social Work has additional plans for growth. Beginning fall 2021, we will have a new undergraduate concentration in school social work. Also beginning fall 2021, we will have two new graduate certificates: Graduate Certificate in Clinical Social Work and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Substance Abuse.

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THE LIFE PROGRAM AND THE TRAUMA HEALING CLUB Over the past year, Dr. Gregory Washington, Dr. Susan Elswick, Christy Peterson, Ebony Barnes and Hannah Mangrum-Apple have been making great strides through the Center for the Advancement of Youth Development’s L.I.F.E program. As a result of this program, 272 caregivers and 1,219 children from lowincome families have been served throughout the Memphis area. The L.I.F.E program offers telehealth services, case management services and programs, such as the Trauma Healing Club, designed to address adverse childhood experiences. The Trauma Healing Club included four cohorts of a total of 88 children and used a modified curriculum of Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Trauma in Schools.

A NEW COLLABORATIVE ROLE Dr. Susan Elswick

Dr. Susan Elswick has been named the new faculty director over two University of Memphis programs — iIMPACT and ICHC — that focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and engaged scholarship. iIMPACT is an umbrella structure designed to transform community engagement and research within the University of Memphis. iIMPACT serves as a catalyst to ensure that the current and future initiatives consciously work to achieve the same goals. It is collaborative, cross-disciplinary and designed to create a culture of health for children and families. Elswick will work with

the iIMPACT faculty to support the continued growth and development of the iIMPACT mission and outreach.

The Interprofessional Community Health Clinic (ICHC) is a collaboration among Applied Behavior Analysis (Autism), Counseling, Education Psychology and Research (CEPR), the School of Social Work, the Memphis Speech and Hearing Center and the School of Public Health. These groups are committed to building a team that reaches across disciplines to serve the community, enhance physical and mental health and increase scholarship and research. Elswick will work with the ICHC team to support the development and growth of the clinic through community partnerships and future grant and billing opportunities.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Dr. Robin Lennon-Dearing

The University of Memphis is working in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Lowell to meet a need in the community by increasing the use of community health workers (CHW) to improve health outcomes for people with HIV. The project — Integrating Community Health Workers as part of the HIV Care team in rural and urban settings to improve viral suppression in Shelby County TN — is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for two years (2020-22).

Dr. Robin Lennon-Dearing is lead PI of the UofM subgrant. Melissa Hirschi is an investigator.

Shelby County was named a geographic hotspot in which most HIV infections in the United States are highly concentrated. It is also a community profoundly affected by cultural and social determinants, many of which intersect, thus multiplying the burden of inequality for African Americans who make up 87% of an estimated 8,000 people living with HIV in the Memphis Transitional

Grant Area (TGA). As one of the priority jurisdictions for the National Plan to End the HIV Epidemic, the Shelby County-Memphis TGA has one of the lowest viral suppression rates of people living with HIV (54%) compared to the national rate (87%) in other Ryan Whitefunded programs.

The aim of this project is to improve HIV outcomes and reduce disparities for people living with HIV in the Shelby County-Memphis TGA by providing training to CHWs and supervisors to enhance their capacity to deliver patient-centered care and assist in integrating them as part of the HIV workforce. Using a community-based participatory approach, we have partnered with three community agencies, Friends for Life, Hope House and Christ Community Health Services and the Shelby County Health Department, to deliver evidence-based training to community health workers in Shelby County. This research project has been written into Shelby County’s End HIV 901 plan.

THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS PROJECT ARE:

•C onduct two annual trainings for community health workers and supervisors (focusing on a variety of subjects, including specific populations) using an evidence-based curriculum, open to all Ryan White grantees in Shelby County.

• I mplement quarterly virtual coaching sessions for community health workers and supervisors.

•W ork with the community to provide standards for community health workers.

Community health workers are frontline workers who perform HIV outreach and linkage to care work by connecting hard-to-reach patients with services needed to decrease barriers to getting health care and maintaining health services.

CHWs are trusted members of the community served and, as such, they help reduce HIV stigma, improve the delivery of HIV services to the most vulnerable people with HIV and affect positive health outcomes.

An interesting part of this research is that we will examine the impact of the CHW training by enrolling and assessing specific outcomes (i.e., HIV viral load) of the clients being served by a CHW.

Dr. Paige Pirkey

Dr. Paige Pirkey developed, implemented and assessed an innovative, yoga and mindfulness program in a local school system. The program, titled “The HERO (Helping Everyone Remove Obstacles) training program” ©, served both faculty and kindergarten through secondgrade students.

The chief purpose of the program was to support the development of play and life skills, as well as a selfregulatory culture of the school system.

The pilot program was only implemented for a fourweek time frame at two different schools. Even with the shortened program time, preliminary results are quite exciting! For example, when asked what they learned, students stated: • “ It helped me learn how to calm myself down – to help me feel good.” – first-grade girl • “ We can do anything; we just need to practice.”

– first-grade girl • “ Practicing helps us get better and better at doing something; and even if we don’t win, all that matters is that we did our best.” – second-grade boy • “ I can choose to listen to my inner wizard and my inner monster.” – second-grade boy • “ Even if you don’t win, we can win the act of kindness.” – kindergarten girl • “ You don’t have to be perfect … Being yourself is enough.” – second-grade boy Positive preliminary findings have also been revealed among teachers: • “ My kids learned how to self-regulate and got a lot out of it and enjoyed it. A lot of my kids took the way you breathe, I would watch them in class,

and they’d do it. I thought it was such a cool way to teach them how to take a deep breathe … I had a student who was crying and super upset and I asked him if we could use the ‘Dr. Pirkey breath’; and we did it together, and he was able to calm right down.” – first-grade teacher • “ Being exposed to this new experience was good, a great learning experience … It definitely taught them tenacity, to try new things, over and over – even if they fell five times — knowing they have support and they can do it if they keep up the effort.” – kindergarten teacher • I have a student who is super smart, but doesn’t have the confidence in himself … He has a lot of anxiety – but watching him in your yoga class – he was carefree; he just looked like a kid … He normally is a like a little adult, very serious – but he was so into the program. I’ve never seen him be so relaxed. I want to thank you for creating an environment where he could be calm, relaxed and be a kid – again. That was something I wasn’t expecting from the yoga program. He was truly relaxed and comfortable around you which was amazing because you’d only known him a few weeks.” – first-grade teacher • “ The hope is that this program continues. And as this program continues, I believe we’ll see more positive, long-term benefits … It’ll become ingrained in them and carry over even more into the classroom and into their home life.”

– second-grade teacher To learn more about this innovative program, please reach out to Dr. Pirkey at paige.pirkey@ memphis.edu. This research was funded by The Urban Child Institute.

2020-21 STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS The 2020-21 academic year was an unusual one as nearly all of our social work classes transitioned to remote and even some field placements transitioned to remote work. Our students kept on working hard. Here are some of our highlights.

Danielle Cannon hard at work while adapting to remote work at her field placement.

Helen King giving us a beautiful selfie as she goes to her field placement for the Shelby County Veterans Court.

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS Kevin Shea National Association of Social Workers of Tennessee West Branch Bachelor of Arts Student of the Year Award

Taylor Churchwell Ida B. Wells Advocacy and Leadership Award in Social Work

Jacqueline Yarbrough Bachelor of Arts Student of the Year

Annie Hunter Corri R. Thomas Master of Social Work Student Excellence in Field Award

Jay Stone National Association of Social Workers of Tennessee West Branch Master of Social Work Student of the Year

Stacy A. Abraham Bayard Rustin Academic Excellence in Social Work Award

FACULTY AWARDS Dr. Robin Lennon-Dearing & Melissa Hirschi were recognized as New Investigators at the University of Memphis Research Celebration

Dr. Seok Won Jin received the 2020 University of Memphis College of Arts & Sciences Early Career Research Award

Dr. Kenya Anderson was recognized as the NASW-TN Chapter Social Work Educator of the Year at the Social Work Day on the Hill, held virtually

Laura Taylor won the 2020 Council on Racial, Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Award from the Council on Social Work Education

FIELD INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR Nicole Caldwell of the Carl Perkins Center (Photo Unavailable)

WELCOMING NEW FACULTY Sara Leat The School of Social Work welcomes Dr. Sarah Leat who will join the faculty as assistant professor this fall. She is a licensed master social worker who graduated in May 2021 with her PhD in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington. Leat obtained her BA in Psychology and Religion from Baylor University and her MSW from Texas Christian University. Leat has experience working as a case manager for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and an advocate for victims of crime. While at UTA, her research has primarily focused on service provision and utilization for survivors of IPV. Leat is particularly interested in how the built environment impacts survivors’ ability to access services and survivors’ outcomes, such as future experiences of violence and overall health and well-being.

Using community-engaged research, she has worked with local agencies

specializing in services for survivors to better understand barriers to helpseeking as well as identify factors within the built environment of shelters that can impact outcomes for survivors. For her dissertation, Leat conducted a mixedmethods study focusing on the impact of environmental stressors on survivors residing within IPV shelters. Leat has received $30,000 for her research from the U.S. Department of Transportation through the National Institute of Transportation and Communities to understand the impact of transportation disadvantage on environmental justice populations, including survivors of IPV. Her recent projects include qualitative studies to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on survivors of IPV, as well as a study to understand how emerging transportation technologies could be used to mitigate transportation barriers for low-income communities.

NEW GRANTS AWARDED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK IN THE 2020-21 ACADEMIC YEAR •D r. Susan Neely-Barnes (PI), Dr. Elena Delavega, Katie Norwood and Cherry Malone received the Mid-South Social Work Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Grant funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration in the amount of $3,187,548 for five years

•D r. Susan Elswick (PI) and Dr. Gregory Washington received the COVID-19 and Trauma: The Need for Continued and Additional Supportive Services Through a Telehealth Framework Grant funded by the Refugee Empowerment Program in the amount of $5,000 for three months

•D r. Susan Elswick (PI) and Dr. Elena Delavega received the Memphis Rotary-FYI and Clarity Wellness Grant funded by the Rotary-Family Youth Initiative, Inc., (RFYI) in the amount of $45,000 for one year

•D r. Melissa Hirschi (PI) received the Evaluation of Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Grant funded by the Memphis Police Department/Department of Justice in the amount of $10,000 for two years

•D r. Melissa Hirschi (PI), Randy Dupont of Criminology and Bert Burraston of Criminology received the Evaluation of NAMI-TN Rural CIT Expansion Grant funded by NAMI Tennessee (U.S. Department of Justice) in the amount of $107,000 for two years

•D r. Robin Lennon-Dearing (PI) and Dr. Melissa Hirschi received the Engaging Community Health Workers to Improve Viral Suppression and Self-Management among PLWH in Shelby County, TN grant funded by the Miriam Hospital (National Institutes of Health) in the amount of $158,927 for two years

•D r. Minhae Cho (PI) received the Moral Injury in Youth and Young Adults Grant funded by the University of Minnesota (Annie E. Casey Foundation) in the amount of $13,519 for one year

•D r. Seokwon Jin (PI) and Dohye Lee of the Loewenberg College of Nursing received the Assessing Disparities in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination in the Mid-South Grant from the University of Memphis Foundation (West Cancer Foundation) in the amount of $10,000 for six months

•D r. Charlie Santo of City and Regional Planning (PI) and Dr. Gregory Washington of Social Work received the Digital Inclusion in South City funded by the City of Memphis Housing and Community Development in the amount of $575,537 for one year

FACULTY PUBLICATIONS 2020 Cho, M., Yun, H. & Haight, W. (2020). Courtesy stigma from the perspectives of elementary school educators in South Korea. Children and Youth Services Review, 119, 105573.

Cho, M., Jung, S. W., Oh, W., Ko, G. J., Moon, J. Y., Lee, S. H. & Kim, Y. G. (2020). Incremental Effect of Aging on Obesity-Related Incident Chronic Kidney Disease in the Korean General Population. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

Cho, M. (2020). Cultural variations in understanding risks for delinquency among maltreated children from the perspectives of U.S. and Korean professionals. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105117.

Delavega, E. & Elswick, S.E. (2020). Museums an Avenue for Enhancing Engagement and Educational Outcomes for Underserved Students. Research on Social Work Practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731520936762 Elswick, S., Delavega, E., Hirschi, M. & Casey, L.B. (Accepted, 2020). The therapy box in the classroom: A functionbased multi-component directive play therapy treatment package intervention. International Journal of School Social Work.

Jin, S. W. & Yoon, Y. J. (2020). Barriers and facilitators to colorectal cancer screening among older Korean Americans: A focus group study. Social Work in Health Care, 1-13. DOI: 10.1080/00981389.2020.1852359 Jin, S. W., Lee, S. & Ahn, S. (2020). Is colorectal cancer screening associated with stages of weight control among Korean Americans aged 50-75 years old?: Implications for weight control practice. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 1-13. DOI: 10.1007/s40615-020-00859-8 Hirschi, M. & Bachman, S.S. (2020). Contracting for mental health services. In Human Services Contracting: A Public Solutions Handbook, Shick, R.A. & Martin, L.L. (Eds.), Routledge, New York: NY, pp. 59-77.

Kayama, M., Haight, W., Ku, M. L., Cho, M. & Lee, H. Y. (2019). Disability, Stigma, and Children’s Developing Selves: Insights from Educators in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the US. Oxford University Press, Incorporated.

Lawrence, S., Watson, J. & Cooper, M. (2020). Police Brutality, African American Men, and Social Justice. In F. G. Cambrice, W. T. Hoston, & M. Robinson (Eds.), An Ideological Challenge in Contemporary Debates in Social Justice: an Interdisciplinary Approach to Exploring the Lives of Black and Brown Americans (pp. 23-41). Kendall Hunt.

Lennon-Dearing, R. (2020, January 13). Ending the HIV epidemic: Are we doing all we can? Daily Memphian. dailymemphian.com/article/9979/ending-the-hiv-epidemic-are-we-doing-all-we-can Lennon-Dearing, R. (2020). “HIV is a Gift”: Posttraumatic growth in women with HIV. Illness, Crisis & Loss. doi.org/10.1177/1054137320906559 Neely-Barnes, S. L., Kirk, B. G., Elswick, S. E., Taylor, L. C., Delavega, M., Pettet, F. & Landry, M. (2020). Training second year MSW students to improve cultural and linguistic competence. Research on Social Work Practice, 30, 392-398. doi.org/10.1177/1049731519874397 Neely-Barnes, S. & Lennon-Dearing, R. (2020). Quantitative Research. In L. Roussel, T. Taylor-Overholts, & H. R. Hall (Eds.), Evidence-based practice: An integrative approach to research, administration, and practice (3rd ed.).

Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Watson, J., Dyson, Y. D., Lawrence, S. & Cooper, M. (2020). African American Men’s Health Disparities: Injustice in Healthcare. In F. G. Cambrice, W.T. Hoston, & M. Robinson (Eds.), An Ideological Challenge in Contemporary Debates in Social Justice: an Interdisciplinary Approach to Exploring the Lives of Black and Brown Americans (pp. 43-56). Kendall Hunt.

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