It seems like it took forever for this day to arrive, but today is Election Day, and we will learn much about our country. We’re going to see who goes to the polls. We will know how crucial reproductive freedom is to women and to which groups of women. We will get a sense of …
Yesterday, the Supreme Court began hearing two cases concerning admissions criteria using affirmative action as one means of determining who gets coveted entry into Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. According to media reports, most justices appeared ready to end decades of judicial precedent and rule the use of affirmative action at public …
The Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP) and the National Foster Youth Initiative (NFYI) will convene a Congressional Briefing tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. in Room HVC 201 in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, First Street and East Capitol Street, Washington, DC 20515, to explore legislative remedies should the Supreme Court overturn the …
Congress Works to Protect Indian Child Welfare Act Read More »
“You cannot love your country only when you win.” These words, spoken by President Joe Biden during his address to the nation Thursday night, stood out for me. That phrase immediately took me back to President John F. Kennedy’s memorable statement during his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, when he said: “Ask not what your …
As economic inequality grows unabated in the United States, policymakers are reaching for solutions to ensure the future of children born into low-income households. This is a quest that Brown School professor Michael Sherraden has been at for decades with notable success in the US and abroad. Most recently, researchers at the Center for Social …
California Invests in the Future of Young People Read More »
When I received the invite to attend Monday evening’s Capitol Hill dinner celebrating progress on legislation supporting the needs of foster care youth, I was a bit surprised by the nature of the bill. Of all the needs of foster care youth, particularly those who are aging out of the system, getting a driver’s license, …
The United States economy is teetering on the brink these days, as are most of the world’s economies. Many are predicting dire days ahead. Stock market watchers such as British investor Jeremy Grantham believes bubbles created by the longest bull market in history, interrupted briefly in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic, are about to burst. Coupled with …
One of most rewarding aspects of the work we do at CRISP is encountering so many gifted social workers in all parts of the country who are eager to become change agents and difference makers by working in the policy and political arenas. Many are young and in the beginning stages of their budding social …
Justin Hodge: Political Social Worker on the Rise Read More »
The Social Work Democracy Project, officially launched last month during CRISP’s Social Work Day on the Hill event, is pleased to welcome Marla Blunt-Carter to its Board of Directors. An Associate Professor of Professional Practice at Rutgers School of Social Work, to say that Blunt-Carter has extensive experience in the world of politics is an …
I was back on Capitol Hill Tuesday, April 5, for the first time in two years. My last visit to the Hill was CRISP’s Social Work Day on the Hill reception in the Rayburn Building in March 2020. We cancelled Student Advocacy Day scheduled for the next day as the House and Senate would go …
While CRISP focuses on Congress and the federal government, social issues such as, child welfare, healthcare, housing, and voting rights are being decided at the state and local levels as well as Congress. Our very democracy could be in jeopardy if citizens are not actively engaged in its preservation. CRISP will provide you with information that will equip you to be an informed and responsible citizenry. We send representatives to government to look out for the welfare of citizens. It is up to us to hold them accountable.
Justin Hodge is a clinical assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan. He is the co-lead for the Policy & Political Social Work Pathway and the director of the Online Certificate in Political Social Work. Hodge is committed to increasing the presence of social workers in policy and political spaces. He teaches courses that provide students with the tools to engage in politics and approach policy work from a social justice perspective. Hodge was elected to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in November 2020. As a county commissioner, he brings his social work perspective to addressing the most pressing problems facing Washtenaw County. Hodge has a particular focus on addressing inequities in the county and promoting economic opportunity. In 2021, Hodge was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Commission on Community Action & Economic Opportunity, where he is able to lend his expertise at the state level. Nationally, Hodge serves as board president of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy, which works to expand the participation of social workers in federal legislative and policy processes. He is also a founding board member of the Social Work Democracy Project, a charitable organization focused on providing resources to Schools of Social Work to advance knowledge of government and democracy.