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Nov. 29, 2004

Community award to fund child and family research

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Michael E. Woolley and collaborators Larry Gant, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor and Carol Mowbray—all faculty members from the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan—have been selected as the recipients of the first Olivia P. Maynard and S. Olof Karlstrom Award Fund for Community-Based Research.

Woolley and his colleagues received funding for "Community Resilience: University-Community Partnerships to Investigate the Impacts of Neighborhood Strengths from a Spatial Perspective."  The project will focus on the Flint community, and will be conducted in collaboration with members of Community Based Organization Partners, Flint Community Schools and the Resource Center, as well as the Prevention Research Center, a longstanding community-based research partnership in Flint that is housed in the U-M School of Public Health.

According to the researchers, the project will utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methods and a social work model for understanding neighborhood/community effects on child and family outcomes, such as school success, disease prevalence, crime/delinquency, child abuse and neglect rates, and other important social issues. 

The project will collect data that reflect community strengths (protective factors) rather than being primarily deficit oriented.  If validated, the benefit of this kind of model would be “to provide information the characteristics of 'resilient' communities that can be used by community organizations, researchers and others to plan and implement interventions and further research,” Woolley said. Community residents and organizations and SSW faculty and students will work together on planning, collecting, analyzing and reporting the data.

The Olivia P. Maynard and S. Olof Karlstrom Award for Community-Based Research Fund makes an annual award of $50,000 to support community-based participatory research. The award is designed to stimulate and to support community-based participatory research that addresses social and economic justice, poverty, diversity, family, community organization, or social welfare issues in Flint, Detroit or their metropolitan areas.

The award is made possible by a donation from U-M Regent Maynard and her husband Karlstrom, with additional support from the U-M Office of the Provost and the School of Social Work. One award is made annually to a tenured, tenure track, research or clinical faculty member from any discipline from the U-M-Flint School of Education and Social Services or the U-M School of Social Work.

Founded in 1921, the U-M School of Social Work was granted School status in 1951. At the master's level, the School prepares professional practitioners to work with individuals, children and their families, organizations, and communities in fields such as substance abuse, aging, mental health, education, child and public welfare, and public policy. The Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science is the only one of its kind, and prepares students for academic and research careers. Graduates of both programs are found in leadership positions around the world. The School ranks consistently as one of the best in the nation.

Related Links:

Gant:
http://ipumich.temppublish.com/public/experts/ExpDisplay.php?ExpID=281

Grogan-Kaylor:
http://www.ssw.umich.edu/faculty/profile-agrogan.html

Mowbray:
http://ipumich.temppublish.com/public/experts/ExpDisplay.php?ExpID=553

Woolley:
http://www.ssw.umich.edu/faculty/profile-woolleym.html

Contact: Terri Torkko
Phone: (734) 763-9534
E-mail: torkko@umich.edu
or
Contact: Jared Wadley
Phone: (734) 936-7819
E-mail: jwadley@umich.edu