Grand Challenges at Pitt Social Work

As we take stock of where we are and what we’re doing in this complex world we inhabit, we found it useful to think about our efforts around the 13 Grand Challenges for Social Work. In the following report, we provide a listing of our ongoing and recent projects in each of the Grand Challenges, and highlight projects associated with the Challenges to illustrate our work. While I was already well aware of how active, productive, and impactful we are on many fronts, this exercise helped confirm our areas of strength, suggested overlapping interests and possibilities, and demonstrated the depth and breadth of engagement and impact of our faculty and doctoral students.

Read the Grand Challenges at Pitt School of Social Work.

Individual and Family Well-Being

Ensure healthy development for all youth
  • From Data Literacy to Collective Data Stewardship: Technology-Supported Community-Driven Solutions for Urban Youth, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Get Safe: Youth Social Networks and Activity Spaces, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • The SPIN Project: Spaces and People in Neighborhoods for Positive Youth Development, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Stronger Collaboration with Intensive Family Coaching: A Pilot Study, Marlo Perry, Research Associate Professor
  • Child Welfare Education and Research Programs, Helen Cahalane, Principal Investigator
  • Child Welfare Resource Center (CWRC) , Helen Cahalane, Principal Investigator
  • Allegheny County Department of Human Services Training Program and Student Internships, Helen Cahalane, Principal Investigator
  • Navigation and Parent Peer Support to Promote Access and Retention of Children in Mental Health Services, Elizabeth M.Z. Farmer, Dean
  • Countywide Mental Health Literacy Survey Project, Dashawna Fussell-Ware, Doctoral candidate
  • Redefining Resilience and Reframing Resistance: Evaluation of a Violence Prevention and Health Promotion Empowerment Program for Black Girls, Sara Goodkind, Associate Professor
  • Just Discipline Initiative and Just Discipline Regional Impact Model, James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Parenting While Black, James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Cecily Davis, Doctoral candidate
  • School-Based Trauma intervention, James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Shaun Eack, Professor and James and Noel Browne Chair
  • OnTrackNY's Learning Healthcare System, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Enhancing Safety and Well-Being for Ohio’s Children and Families. Deborah Moon, Assistant Professor
  • Homewood Children’s Village Full-Service Community School Education Pipeline, John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, Center on Race and Social Problems Interim Director and Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement
  • Child/Youth Thriving Matrix: a community-level strategy to reduce youth violence (a project of The Pittsburgh Study, UPMC Children’s Hospital), Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
  • Community Thriving:  Enhancing Resiliency of Communities after Stress and Trauma, Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
  • Preventing Violence and Improving Community Mental Health in Fineview & Perry Hilltop (Intergenerational Community-based Intervention focused on building collective efficacy and social connections for the prevention of youth and community violence and the promotion of community mental health), Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
  • Supporting the Education of Youth in Foster Care during the Pandemic: Foster Parent and Agency Perspectives, Mary Rauktis, Research Associate Professor
  • Behavioral Health Scholars Program (BHSP) , Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • Interprofessional Infant Oral Health Education at the Community Engagement Center, Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • The Integrated Health Care Training Crops , Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • Pitt Assisted Communities and Schools Program in Homewood - Program Operational Support, John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, Center on Race and Social Problems Interim Director and James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Close the health gap
  • Get Safe: Youth Social Networks and Activity Spaces, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • The SPIN Project: Spaces and People in Neighborhoods for Positive Youth Development, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Center for Interventions to Enhance Community Health (CiTECH)
  • Countywide Mental Health Literacy Survey Project, Dashawna Fussell-Ware, Doctoral candidate
  • Redefining Resilience and Reframing Resistance: Evaluation of a Violence Prevention and Health Promotion Empowerment Program for Black Girls, Sara Goodkind, Associate Professor
  • Black Maternal Caregivers' Engagement in HIV Care while Parenting Dependent Children Study, Laurenia Mangum, Doctoral candidate
  • Understanding the impact of involuntary psychiatric holds on youth pathways to care, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Contraceptive Use Decision-Making and Uptake Among Black Women Living with HIV, Laurenia Mangum, Doctoral candidate
  • Social Work Education Inclusivity of Sexual Health Curricula Study, Laurenia Mangum, Doctoral candidate
  • The CHURCH (Congregations as Healers Uniting to Restore Community Health ) Music Project, PI: Deborah Moon, Assistant Professor Co-PI: John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, Center on Race and Social Problems Interim Director, Toya Jones, BASW Program Director and Assistant Professor, Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement
  • Promoting trustworthiness of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among Black and Latinx communities, Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • The CHURCH (Congregations as Healers Uniting to Restore Community Health) Project, PI: John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, Center on Race and Social Problems Interim Director, Co-PI: Deborah Moon, Assistant Professor Toya Jones, BASW Program Director and Assistant Professor, Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement
  • Homewood Children’s Village Full-Service Community School Education Pipeline, John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, Center on Race and Social Problems Interim Director and Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement
Build healthy relationships to end violence
  • Get Safe: Youth Social Networks and Activity Spaces, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Translating TGQN Campus Climate Findings into Practice, Rachel Gartner, Assistant Professor and Adrian Ballard, Doctoral candidate
  • Understanding conflict and violence in families of persons with serious mental illness, Travis Labrum, Assistant Professor 
  • Families as Partners in Reducing Violence, Christina Newhill, Professor
  • Preventing Violence and Improving Community Mental Health in Fineview & Perry Hilltop (Intergenerational Community-based Intervention focused on building collective efficacy and social connections for the prevention of youth and community violence and the promotion of community mental health), Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
  • Expect Respect Middle School: Preventing Severe and Lethal Violence among Youth with Prior Violence Exposure, Daniel Rosen, Professor
Advance long and productive lives
  • Change-Sensitive Measurement of Adult Functional Outcomes in Developmental Disabilities, Shaun Eack, Professor and James and Noel Browne Chair
  • Cognitive Enhancement for Persistent Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder, Shaun Eack, Professor and James and Noel Browne Chair
  • Developing a Gold Standard for Tracking Adult Functional Outcomes in Autism Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder, Shaun Eack, Professor and James and Noel Browne Chair
  • Dimensional Outcomes and Neural Circuitry Associated with Psychosis Risk, Shaun Eack, Professor and James and Noel Browne Chair
  • Implementation of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Verbal Adults with Autism Throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Shaun Eack, Professor and James and Noel Browne Chair
  • Web-Based Training and Community Implementation of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy, Shaun Eack, Professor and James and Noel Browne Chair
  • The Impact of COVID-19 on Human Service Organizations and the Essential Services They Provide, Rafael Engel, Associate Professor
  • Assessing the Effects of COVID-19 on the Economic, Health, Mental Health, Workplace and Family Well-being of Health Care Workers, Associate Professors Rafael Engel, Sara Goodkind, Jeffrey Shook
  • Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education
  • Early Psychosis Intervention Network, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Lancet Commission on Psychoses in a Global Context, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Statewide policy for homeless persons with mental health issues, State of Tamil Nadu, India, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Understanding long-term trajectories following discharge from specialized early psychosis services, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, Elizabeth Mulvaney, Clinical Associate Professor
  • Aging in the Community with Pets, Mary Rauktis, Research Associate Professor
  • Center for Integrated Health Care Delivery and Prevention Program, Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • Opioid Workforce Expansion: Social Work Initiative for Program Professionals, Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • 2020 Expansion of Practitioner Education (Prac-Ed) Grant Program, Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Strength-based Perspective and Intervention, PI: Fengyan Tang, Professor and Co-PI: Elizabeth M.Z. Farmer, Dean
  • Preventing Cognitive Decline and Dementia Among Older Chinese Immigrants: The Role of Activity, Engagement, Immigration Experience, and Neighborhood Environments, Fengyan Tang, Professor

Stronger Social Fabric

Eradicate social isolation
  • Get Safe: Youth Social Networks and Activity Spaces, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • The SPIN Project: Spaces and People in Neighborhoods for Positive Youth Development, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Factors associated with perceived social isolation among family caregivers of persons with mental illness, Travis Labrum, Assistant Professor 
  • Community Thriving:  Enhancing Resiliency of Communities after Stress and Trauma, Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
  • Preventing Violence and Improving Community Mental Health in Fineview & Perry Hilltop (Intergenerational Community-based Intervention focused on building collective efficacy and social connections for the prevention of youth and community violence and the promotion of community mental health), Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
End homelessness
  • Statewide policy for homeless persons with mental health issues, State of Tamil Nadu, India, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Understanding long-term trajectories following discharge from specialized early psychosis services, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
Create social responses to a changing environment
  • Cyber Awareness: PGH Blueprint, Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
Harness technology for social good
  • Get Safe: Youth Social Networks and Activity Spaces, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • From Data Literacy to Collective Data Stewardship: Technology-Supported Community-Driven Solutions for Urban Youth, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • The SPIN Project: Spaces and People in Neighborhoods for Positive Youth Development, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Teaching to Tech: A Quasi-experimental assessment of a technology-enhanced social work course, Leah Jacobs, Assistant Professor
  • Developing and Evaluating Social Work Teletherapy Continuing Education Course, PI Deborah Moon

Just Society

Eliminate racism
  • Center on Race and Social Problems:
    • Center on Race and Social Problems Speaker Series 
    • Center on Race and Social Problems Summer Institutes
    • Center on Race and Social Problems Fellows
  • Community Thriving:  Enhancing Resiliency of Communities after Stress and Trauma, Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
  • Research on Barriers to Fair Housing Choice in the City of Pittsburgh, Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor and Co-PI: Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Strengthening Resident Civic Engagement on Behalf of Equitable Development: Partnering for Community-Based Participatory Research in Homewood (Research for Equity and Power), Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
Promote smart decarceration
  • Behavioral Health Treatment, Neighborhoods, and Housing: How Services and Social Circumstances Affect Criminal Recidivism, Leah Jacobs, Assistant Professor
  • Housing Instability and Recidivism: Understanding Risk and Sources of Systematic Discrimination, Leah Jacobs, Assistant Professor
  • Juvenile Mental Health Courts & Linkage to Care for Youth with Psychosocial, Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Improving Juvenile Indigent Defense and Health through Holistic Representation, Jeffrey Shook, Associate Professor
Build financial capability for all
  • Career Development & Advancement Pathways among Peer Providers in the United States, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Optimizing SSI decision making and vocational advancement in the context of first episode psychosis, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Optimizing family representative payeeship for persons with mental illness, Travis Labrum, Assistant Professor 
Reduce extreme economic inequality
  • COVID-19 Impact of COVID-19 on nonprofit organizations. Rafael Engel, Associate Professor, Sara Goodkind,  Associate Professor and Jeffery Shook, Associate Professor
  • COVID-19 Study. Impact of COVID-19 on low wage workers and nurses, Rafael Engel, Associate Professor, Sara Goodkind,  Associate Professor and Jeffery Shook, Associate Professor
  • From Barely making it To . . .? Effect of Raising Wages among Low-Wage Workers and Their Families, Rafael Engel, Associate Professor and Co-PIs:  Sara Goodkind,  Associate Professor and Jeffery Shook, Associate Professor
  • Moving Beyond $15: Comparing Hardships among Healthcare Workers Earning Below and Above $20/hour , Rafael Engel, Associate Professor, Sara Goodkind,  Associate Professor and Jeffery Shook, Associate Professor
  • Understanding the Effects of the Benefits Cliff on Low-Wage Workers and their Young Children, Sara Goodkind, Associate Professor and Co-PI: Jeffrey Shook, Associate Professor
  • Career Development & Advancement Pathways among Peer Providers in the United States, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Optimizing SSI decision making and vocational advancement in the context of first episode psychosis, Nev Jones, Assistant Professor
  • Raising the Minimum Wage to $15: Effects on Pittsburgh Nonprofit Human Service Organizations, Jeffrey Shook, Associate Professor
Achieve equal opportunity and justice
  • LCSW Training Institute & LSW Supervision Matching Program, Molly Allwein, Director of Professional Education
  • From Data Literacy to Collective Data Stewardship: Technology-Supported Community-Driven Solutions for Urban Youth, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Get Safe: Youth Social Networks and Activity Spaces, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • The SPIN Project: Spaces and People in Neighborhoods for Positive Youth Development, Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Browne Leadership Fellows Program, Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement
  • Factors of Racial Self-Classification Among Ethnically Diverse Latinx Adults, Victor Figuereo, Assistant Professor
  • Countywide Mental Health Literacy Survey Project, Dashawna Fussell-Ware, Doctoral student
  • African American Students’ Sociocultural Experiences, Motivation, Identity and Performance in Math, James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • In Spite of Parents? Examining the Value of Family Involvement in Educating African American Adolescents, James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Just Discipline Initiative and Just Discipline Regional Impact Model, James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Hill House Fellowship Program (Community Engagement Fellowship), Alicia Melnick, Field Education Coordinator and Lecturer and Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement
  • Strengthening Resident Civic Engagement on Behalf of Equitable Development: Partnering for Community-Based Participatory Research in Homewood (Research for Equity and Power), Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor
  • Research on Barriers to Fair Housing Choice in the City of Pittsburgh, Mary Ohmer, COSA Chair and Associate Professor and Co-PI: Jaime Booth, Associate Professor
  • Promoting trustworthiness of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among Black and Latinx communities, Daniel Rosen, Professor
  • Pitt Assisted Communities and Schools Program in Homewood - Program Operational Support, John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, Center on Race and Social Problems Interim Director and James Huguley, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Homewood Children’s Village Full-Service Community School Education Pipeline, John Wallace, Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development, David E. Epperson Chair and Professor, Center on Race and Social Problems Senior Fellow for Research and Community Engagement and Aliya Durham, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement

Centers & Studies