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School of Social Work  |  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
August 2014 Strengthening Vulnerable Families  
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Faculty Members To Be Honored For Best Conceptual Article In Journal of Social Work Education
Dean Wynne Korr and Clinical Associate Professor Tara Earls Larrison's article, "Does Social Work Have a Signature Pedagogy?", which appeared in the Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of Social Work Education, has been chosen as the JSWE Best Conceptual Article of volume 49. Korr and Larrison will be honored at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting in Tampa, Florida being held October 23 - October 26, 2014.

Read the full article here.
Save the Date!
2014 Homecoming Tailgate
 

Saturday, October 25, 2014
9:30-11:00am
School of Social Work
1010 W Nevada Street
2nd Floor
Urbana IL 61801

The School of Social Work invites you to join us for a pre-game tailgate party prior to the Illinois vs. Minnesota football game. You will enjoy a breakfast buffet, snacks, and beverages for ONLY $5 a person.

Alumni & Friends: $5 per person
SSW Students & Children Under 10: FREE

Register online at: go.illinois.edu/sswhomecoming

The first 50 alumni to register will receive a FREE School of Social Work fleece stadium blanket. (Blankets will be distributed at the event).

Questions? 
Contact Brianna Rossbach at [email protected] or at (217) 244-1064.
Students Use Research to Revise United Way Poverty Simulation
On July 23, 2014 the United Way of Champaign County and the School of Social Work held a poverty simulation that had been newly tailored by two Social Work students to be more reflective of the Champaign area community. MSW student Aliya Prescott and MSW/PhD Joint Program student Lenore Matthew (pictured left) took on a great task in their MSW field placement at the United Way of Champaign County - research poverty in the community, survey available services, then apply that information to redesign the United Way's current poverty simulation program to represent the needs and resources specific to Champaign county.

Aliya and Lenore described their experience this summer:

"We visited 13 local agencies, spoke with numerous direct service providers, and conducted extensive desk research of government and non-for-profit resources to understand poverty as lived by numerous families in Champaign County. Under the guidance of United Way CEO Sue Grey and Director of Community Impact Beverley Baker, we used this research to overhaul the United Way of Champaign County Poverty Simulation.  Changes made to the simulation included the introduction of Illinois Link Cards to access SNAP benefits, direct depositing of TANF and SSI stipends, inclusion of a Pay Day loan shark, and calculations of social benefits and costs of living based on actual Champaign County figures. We also revised the evaluation and debriefing tools, and redesigned the program props, visual aids, and marketing materials.

The objective of the Poverty Simulation was to sensitize participants to the challenges and realities that low-income families face. The level of poverty in Champaign is shocking. One in five children in our county are food insecure. By reflecting such figures in the revised Poverty Simulation, we hoped to help United Way reach more volunteers and donors to address these disparities.

Working on this program has impacted us professionally and personally. We really enjoyed working on the Poverty Simulation at United Way because we got to better understand the social services that are available in the Champaign community and some of the challenges that low-income families have to face. We hope people who participated in the simulation walked away with a similar understanding."
Providing Powerless People With Clout: Fixing Illinois Human Services Through Litigation
Join Us For The 8th Annual Brieland Visiting Scholar Lecture
October 15, 2014
4:00pm
University of Illinois School of Social Work
1010 W Nevada Street
Auditorium, Room 2027
Urbana, IL 61801

Guest Lecturer: Benjamin S. Wolf, Associate Legal Director and Director of the Institutionalized Persons Project, Children's Initiative, and Juvenile Justice Initiative, American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

Attorney Benjamin S. Wolf has been the Director and chief legal counsel of the ACLU of Illinois' Institutionalized Persons Project since 1984. The Project provides legal representation to Illinois residents of prisons, jails, mental health centers, developmental centers, government funded nursing homes and children who are wards of the state. He supervises the Project's legal and educational work and provides legal backup on such issues for the ACLU's lobbyist in Springfield.

This event is open to the public. A complimentary reception will follow the lecture.
CLL Provides High School Students With Opportunities to Serve
The School of Social Work's Community Learning Lab (CLL) and the Rantoul Township High School (RTHS) English Department are partnering together to create a program that will provide service learning opportunities to the students in their courses.

High school students at RTHS will be asked to serve a minimum of 10 hours at an approved organization and the program is set to begin in fall 2014. The students will be helping an approved organization complete projects and tasks, giving students the chance to be more engaged in their community. Students can apply what they learn during the service learning when completing several academic assignments in the classroom that instructors are beginning to build around this opportunity. The CLL and RTHS are providing ways for high school students to learn civic responsibility while also gaining valuable experience and contributing to their overall personal and academic growth.  
Celebrate the School's 70th Anniversary
Reserve your t-shirts today!
In honor of the School of Social Work's 70th Anniversary, the School will be selling shirts in late August for only $10 each!



Visit go.illinois.edu/sswtshirt for more information and to reserve yours now!

You better hurry! They won't last long!

If you have any questions, please contact Brianna Rossbach at [email protected] or at (217) 244-1064.
Show Your School Spirit And Win Big!
Introducing The Social Work Student Instagram Contest
Would you like to win a gift basket stuffed full of School of Social Work swag AND gift certificates from local businesses in the area, including Ko.FusionFira BoutiqueRosati'sJ. Gumbo's, and more?

Who wouldn't?

To help launch the School of Social Work's new social media campaign, the School is calling on all Social Work students to participate in an Instagram picture contest.

The contest:
  • Take a picture with your new School of Social Work t-shirt. 
  • Post it to Instagram with the hashtag #ILLINOISsocialwork
  • The picture with the most "favorites" wins the gift basket.
  • Get creative!

The contest begins August 22nd and ends at 4:30pm on September 3rd. School of Social Work t-shirts will be given to new undergrad and transfer students for FREE at Welcome Day. A limited quantity of shirts will also be available for purchase on Welcome Day and Quad Day for $10 each. The winner will be announced at a special lunch happy hour event on September 4th from 12:00pm.

 
Don't miss out on Welcome Day for more contest details!


        
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IN THIS ISSUE
Faculty Members To Be Honored For Best Conceptual Article In Journal of Social Work Education
2014 Homecoming Tailgate
Students Revise United Way Poverty Simulation
8th Annual Brieland Visiting Scholar Lecture
CLL Provides High School Students With Opportunities to Serve
70th Anniversary Shirts Coming Soon
Show Your School Spirit & Win Big!

Make a gift to the School of Social Work!

 

Visit the SSW Website or call

(217) 244-4854 and we can assist you.

 

Thank you for your support!