MANDEL SCHOOL
NEWS AND EVENTS

The Plain Dealer refers to and analyses data regarding "The Changing Face of Poverty," a Briefly Stated report by the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, at Case Western Reserve University.

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The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Case Western Reserve University released a report entitled The Changing Face of Poverty in Northeast Ohio which details the increase in poverty across the region.

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On February 8, a researcher from Washington, D.C., will present her findings about the life of Elsa Leichter, an MSASS alum and Austrian refugee social worker whose American social work career started in Cleveland during WWII.

Researcher Barbara Reiterer, a Doctoral Fellow in Residence at the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C., will discuss how Leichter found refuge as a social worker. The lecture, entitled, Elsa Leichter's Second Chance: Interruptions and Continuities in a Refugee Social Worker's Transatlantic Career, will be held on February 8 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 320 at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. Reiterer's talk is free and open to the public.

During World War II, American social work provided a professional refuge for Leichter, a Jewish exile from Vienna who came to the United States on the eve of World War II. Reiterer's research provides a history of Austrian and American social work in the mid-twentieth century and the experiences of Jewish women exiles in the United States.

Even though a cursory glance at Leichter’s biography may yield a neat and smooth narrative, interruptions complicated her life. After serving 12 years as a social worker for the Vienna city municipality, she had to start over when she came to the U.S. It was in Cleveland where she received her "big second chance," as she repeatedly said. Reiterer's discussion of Leichter will trace her complex, often difficult career path, for which her time at the Mandel School played a central role.

Leichter received her degree in social work from Case Western Reserve University in 1942. She went on to work for the Jewish Family Service in New York City where she earned distinction in the field of family therapy. Starting in the 1970s, she traveled to Europe to give lectures and workshops, thus contributing to the transatlantic circulation of knowledge in the applied social sciences. She died in 1997 at the age of 92.

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Bingo may be a popular activity in nursing homes, but MSASS Dean Grover Gilmore is seeing a lot more benefits that extend well beyond socializing.

According to Gilmore and other psychology researchers, the high-contrast, large bingo cards boost thinking and playing skills for people with cognitive difficulties and visual perception problems produced by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The findings were reported in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. Learn more

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The North Dakota Department of Human Services has been calling upon Ohio's expertise in the implementation of evidence-based practices for people with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders since 2006. Today, outcomes from the department's data analyses show that the use of Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment has been significantly reducing crisis services, psychiatric hospitalizations, incarcerations, and more. ... This story features Ric Kruszynski, MSSA ('93), LISW, LICDC, director of substance abuse and mental illness consulting and training initiatives at the Mandel School's Center for Evidence-Based Practices. Kruszynski is a 1993 graduate of the Mandel School.

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The story of a Girl Scout troop in Austin, Texas, has a connection close to home, thanks to MSASS alumna Darlene Grant.

For 11 years, the 1984 MSSA grad from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences was in charge of the program evaluation for a therapeutic prison visitation involving girls with incarcerated mothers. The program was among several Girl Scouts Beyond Bars programs -- the only one that is designed around the social work ideal of providing wrap-around services to at-risk youth.

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Our evidence-based practice (EBP) conference is back by popular demand and will take place on Oct 22 and 23, 2012 at the Cleveland Airport Marriott in Cleveland, Ohio, so save these dates! The event will feature keynote addresses and numerous workshops exploring introductory, intermediate, and advanced topics about implementing and integrating EBPs, emerging best practices, and other healthcare and behavioral-healthcare innovations that improve outcomes for people with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. | Ohio providers: $200/$125| Non-Ohio providers: $300/ $225.

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International travel was the highlight of this week's Observer, the student newspaper at Case Western Reserve University. Trips to Ecuador and Bangladesh will be taking place over winter break, thanks to the MSASS Study Abroad program.

In addition to trips scheduled in January, a whole new round of travel begins for students who want to immerse themselves in cross-cultural studies, social policy and mental health. Spring break opportunities are still available to those who want to travel to Guatemala, the Netherlands or Poland.

Join alumnus Jeremy S. Evenden, MSSA ('03), LISW-S, consultant and trainer from the Center for Evidence-Based Practices, at his Motivational Interviewing (MI) training events in Boardman, Ohio, from January to May 2012. Register online today. Evenden is a member of the international Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). Participants learn MI's client-centered approaches for responding to desire for change and resistance to change among individuals with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders. Ideal for IDDT, ACT, other best practices. $60/event. CEUs & supervisory credit.

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Join consultant and trainer Scott Gerhard, MA, LSW, of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at his Motivational Interviewing (MI) training events in Columbus, Ohio, from January to April 2012. Register online today. Participants engage in skill-building exercises to learn MI's client-centered approaches for responding to desire for change and resistance to change among individuals with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders. Ideal for IDDT, ACT, other best practices. $60 each event. Get CEUs & supervisory credit.

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One of our most popular events returns on February 28 and 29, 2012 in Cleveland for innovators in Ohio and across the nation who are implementing an Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) team with aspirations of high fidelity to this evidence-based practice for people with co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorders. This event provides practical resources, tools, and methods for successful implementation. Teaching methods emphasize interaction among participants. | $125 Ohio providers; $275 non-Ohio providers | CEUs.

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Case Western Reserve University students enrolled in the MSASS study travel course to Ecuador got an inside view of international relations from a special guest on December 3. Former U.S. Ambassador Heather M. Hodges gave a presentation at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences on the current political situation in Ecuador and offered insights into her expulsion from the country earlier this year.

Hodges, a native of Cleveland, arrived shortly before 1:30 p.m. to meet with students and MSASS faculty members Mark Chupp, Sonia Minnes and Debby Jacobson. Professor Chupp set up the visit through the Cleveland Council of World Affairs, where Hodges recently began as president.

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The debate about childhood obesity continues to rage on, and here in Cuyahoga County, it's making social workers stand up and take notice.

Associate Professor David Crampton recently appeared on WCPN-90.3 to talk with local officials after Cuyahoga County social workers placed an 8-year-old boy in foster care. The 200-pound third grader was removed from his home because many believed the boy’s mother was neglecting his health needs. Crampton was interviewed by Sound of Ideas host Mike McIntyre, who provided details of the case, along with special guest Sumana Narasinham, MD, director of Healthy Kids/Healthy Weight program, University Hospitals; Shakyra Diaz, policy director, Ohio ACLU; and Patricia Rideout, chief administrator, Cuyahoga County Department of Children & Family Services.

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If you or others you know are interested in earning a master's degree in social work and pursuing a career in clinical leadership for evidence-based practices that improve outcomes for vulnerable populations, contact the Leadership Fellows Program at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. Qualified candidates with a bachelor's degree in any discipline will be considered. Full scholarships available.

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Since 2004, Mandel School alumnus Patrick Boyle of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices has been transferring knowledge about evidence-based practices from the center's work in Ohio and other states to the Netherlands. He's also been teaching an annual study-abroad course that takes health and human-service professionals and university students to the Netherlands to study with policymakers and service providers there.

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Take an educational holiday overseas to the Netherlands in March 2012 by signing up for Patrick Boyle's course, "Integrated Mental Health & Substance Use Services." Boyle has been an adjunct instructor at the School for more than 20 years and is director of implementation services at the School's Center for Evidence-Based Practices. He is also a graduate of the AODA and mental-health specializations. Boyle's travel-abroad course is one of serveral for Case Western Reserve University students, which are also open to working professionals in health and human services. Other classes travel to Guatemala and Poland.

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Take a look at and listen to this interview from the 2008 archives of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices for a little inspiration to sign up for the travel-abroad courses to the Netherlands during spring break. ... Albert Dijkhuizen, MD, and Johan Weterings, PhD, of the city of Eindhoven are veterans of an old system of care that provided separate, non-integrated services for mental illness and addiction. Listen to their stories of transformation, which have occurred as a result of Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment. Tracks #4 & 5 feature consumer success stories. Track #7 features Weterings speaking in Dutch, offering a message of hope to his colleagues back home.

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The Brookings Institution reports that Northeast Ohio has shown some of the fastest growth in the nation for the number of people living in extremely poor neighborhoods, a situation that Dr Claudia Coulton, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, confirmed in a November 3, 2011 article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Brookings' "The Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty: Metropolitan Trends in the 2000s" looked at the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country where at least 40 percent of residents were at or below the poverty level including 24,000 residents in "high-density" suburbs such as Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid, Kent, Lorain, and Painesville.

"Yes, this is exactly what we've seen," said Dr. Coulton about the report. "It [poverty] has hit the suburbs hard."

Read more in "Brookings report finds poverty-stricken neighborhoods jump dramatically in Cleveland area" in the Plain Dealer and below.

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What does the future hold for the next generation of nonprofit leaders? We posed this question to Robert Fischer, PhD, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development. Fischer gave us his views on the realities of a tough job market and the potential opportunities for young social work graduates.

A recent article in The Plain Dealer, entitled "Young nonprofit graduates struggling to find jobs here," raises an important topic, but also casts light on the realities of nonprofit organizations and the limited data we have about them. The survey report in the article, credited to The Young Nonprofit Professional Network, was based on a class project by three master's students in a nonprofit management course I taught at Case Western Reserve University in the fall of 2010.

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The Center for Evidence-Based Practices has launched a new website, and we need your help with the transition by creating (or re-creating) your own membership account, which is free. The new "my account" feature helps you manage your event registration, resource downloads, and more. We have also moved the websites of our Ohio Coordinating Center of Excellence (CCOE) initiatives and Tobacco Recovery model to this new website, so remember to update any references to those links.

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How can youth violence be measured?

Cleveland city leaders gathered with researchers from The Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education to discuss the topic of youth violence during a recent consortium at the Hilton Garden Inn. The event was sponsored by the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS) and the Partnership for a Safer Cleveland.

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Researchers from the Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Center at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences will continue their work with the Partnership for a Safer Cleveland over the next two years, thanks to a $200,000 grant made possible by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In addition, matching contributions from The Cleveland Foundation, Saint Luke’s Foundation and Sisters of Charity Foundation will provide for a combined total of $400,000.

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Local leaders from around Cleveland - and international experts from around the world - gathered at Case Western Reserve University on October 1 to talk about a topic that most 60-something boomers don't care to discuss: what it means to grow old.

Nearly 250 people attended the Active Aging Symposium to talk about the aging workforce, the impact of global aging, redefining retirement and civic engagement among senior volunteers.

Participants arrived for a full day to attend breakout sessions and hear academics talk about their theories on why active aging is part of a growing global movement.

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On Friday, September 30, The Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Center at MSASS and the Partnership for a Safer Cleveland will host a seminar featuring Dr. John A. Rich and former U.S. Rep. Louis B. Stokes. The seminar will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1100 Carnegie Ave., Cleveland, Ohio.

Researchers from the Begun Center will be naming The Greater Cleveland Consortium on Youth Violence Prevention in honor of Stokes. This is a special event since Stokes is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at MSASS.

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On Tuesday, September 27, The Schubert Center for Child Studies is sponsoring a seminar entitled "Merging Research, Practice, and Policy in Addressing Children's Exposure to Violence." The event is for faculty, students and community members interested in child well-being and child policy.

The seminar will feature Daniel Flannery, director of The Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at MSASS. Flannery will present his work on the Defending Childhood initiative, a federal program that received funding from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Researchers at the Begun Center are part of the collaborative effort in Cuyahoga County, providing ongoing planning, data and evaluation support. Guests will talk about their experiences in the community and policy implications associated with the effort.

Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Location: Room 115, Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, 11402 Bellflower Road

The program will feature Janet Kronenberg, MPA, JD, manager of the Cuyahoga County Witness/Victim Service Center. For more information, please visit the Schubert Center website.

A special lecture on social work in Israel will be held from 12:45 to 2 p.m. on Friday, September 23. The event is sponsored by MSASS.

The lecture entitled, "Policy Practice in Social Work in Israel and in an International Perspective" features John Gal, PhD, a professor and dean of the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He will be joined by Idit Weiss-Gal, PhD, a senior lecturer at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work at Tel-Aviv University.

This lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required. The program has been approved for 1.25 CEUs for social workers and counselors. A light lunch will be available.

The event will be held in Room 115 across the street from MSASS in the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, 11402 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH 44106.

The just-released 2010-2011 Research & Training Annual Report of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences demonstrates the considerable contributions of the school's faculty to scholarship, research and training. Highlights include the following:

- External research and training grant funding totaled almost $6 million to our 30-member faculty, the second highest in the school's history.

- Research grants have more than doubled (136 percent increase) in the last six years.

- More than two-fifths of our faculty’s research is federally funded.

- MSASS faculty accomplishments in research and training were recognized through a $7 million bequest from James Williamson. This is the largest single gift in the school's history.

- Academic Analytics, LLC, ranks the faculty of our school as seventh among social work doctoral programs.

Additional Highlights

Much of our work is conducted through the Mandel School's five research and training centers, which are featured in this year's annual report. The report also highlights additional independent faculty projects. Faculty infuse new knowledge from research and training initiatives into master's and doctoral coursework, and many students gain practical experiences as active members of research teams.

Patrick Boyle, MSSA, LISW-S, LICDC, of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices is presenting at this year's Roads to Recovery Conference, titled "Behavioral Health: A System Under Construction," which takes place on September 12, 2011 in Cleveland, Ohio, and is sponsored by the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County. He will moderate a panel presentation about evidence-based practices. Christina M. Delos Reyes, MD, of the Cetner will also present. Sign-up for their workshops. CEUs available.

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More than 100 community members, faculty members and staff from Case Western Reserve University attended a welcome reception on August 18 for The Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education. The event ushered in a new chapter for The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS), which heralded the arrival of Daniel Flannery, PhD, and his research team from Kent State University this past July.

"It's a big team here — a very talented team," said Dean Grover "Cleve" Gilmore. "This is a group that will continue to make a great impact that fits into the mission of our school."

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In the fall of 2010, Dr. Robert Fischer, Co-Director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development and Research Associate Professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and students from his course MAND 410: Quantitative Analysis for Nonprofit Leaders at the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations conducted a survey project for the Cleveland chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. Their work is cited in the recently released report:

Building a Career in Nonprofit Cleveland: Focus on the Nonprofit Identity (full report and executive summary)

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Dr. Robert Fischer, Research Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is featured in a video presentation on program evaluation titled "Showing That Your Work Matters" on Grant Space, a service of the Foundation Center, Cleveland.

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Christina M. Delos Reyes, MD, medical consultant at the Center for Evidence-Based Practices, will present "The Opiate Epidemic in Ohio: What Psychiatrists and Other Healthcare Professionals Can Do" on Friday, August 19, 2011 from 7:45 to 9 am on the campus of Case Western Reserve University as part of Grand Rounds, sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry at the Case School of Medicine. The event is open to the public. Pre-registration is not required. CMEs are available. Other CEUs may be available.

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The staff at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences received a special treat when they showed up for work last Wednesday. The second floor of the school was adorned with the artistry of several staff and faculty members.

Colorful photographs, watercolors, acrylics, charcoal drawings and abstract art were all part of the collection on the second-floor walls, usually reserved for local artists from all across northeast Ohio. "I'm so amazed at all the talent we have here at MSASS," said Dean Grover Gilmore. "What a special treat, seeing all this beautiful work. Our faculty and staff are truly multi-talented."

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A memorial service for Edmond Jenkins will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 18, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The church is located at 2172 E. 49th St. in Cleveland, just south of Cedar Avenue.

Professor Jenkins died on August 4, 2011. He taught at the Mandel School from 1969 until his retirement in 1992. He directed "Project Go" during the time he was at MSASS. Dorothy Maroff, assistant to the director at the Lillian F. & Milford J. Harris Library, remembers how Jenkins donated the first audio-visual materials there.

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Urban art therapy is giving the residents of Detroit Shoreway cause for reflection after a gas explosion destroyed nearly five dozen homes and buildings in 2010. Richey Piiparinen, a researcher with the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at MSASS, explains his collaboration with the W. 83rd St. Project on Rustwire.com.

There are top trends and then there are 10 that have influenced social work culture over the last decade. M.C. "Terry" Hokenstad Jr., the Ralph S. and Dorothy P. Schmitt Professor at MSASS, explains why globalization made the list and why social work educators need to promote more international field placements. His comments appeared in the July/August edition of Social Work Today, the nation's leading news magazine for social workers.

When women are incarcerated and later released from prison, the stories of abuse and addiction can be overwhelming. Many of these stories often go untold without a clear understanding of what these women have endured.

But during the wake of the Anthony Sowell trial in Cleveland last week, WCPN-90.3 featured a story about a group of women that are getting help, thanks to creative writing and encouragement from MSASS Associate Professor Kathleen J. Farkas. Farkas was a featured guest of radio host David C. Barnett, who spoke about the Women's Re-entry Network and a creative writing program for women at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center.

Join the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at the Addiction Studies Institute in Columbus, Ohio, on August 17, 18 and 19, 2011, hosted by Talbot Hall of The Ohio State University Medical Center. Deborah Myers, MEd, PCC-S, and Scott Gerhard, MA, LSW, of the Center are presenting. Sign-up for their workshops: "Motivational Interviewing in Addictions" and "Tobacco Dependence: The Forgotten Substance-Related Disorder." Look for our display table.

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Patrick Boyle, MSSA ('89), and Debra Hrouda, MSSA ('94), of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices -- and its Ohio SAMI CCOE initiative -- are presenting three posters at the "First Biennial Global Implementation Conference" (GIC) in Washington, DC, on August 15, 16, and 17, 2011. The event brings together scientists, policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders for an unprecedented focus on evidence-based practices and how they can be implemented effectively to improve outcomes for people and organizations. Boyle and Hrouda will also be participating in ongoing learning clusters with colleagues from the conference over the coming year.

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Debra Hrouda, MSSA ('94), LISW-S, of the Mandel School's Center for EBPs--and its Ohio SAMI CCOE initiative--has been invited to present results of a CEBP study of Ohio behavioral-healthcare claims data during a free webinar hosted by the the National Research Institute (NRI), Inc. on August 2, 2011. The study showed that Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) helped save Ohio $1.4 million in service costs for a group of 160 people diagnosed with a severe mental illness and a co-occurring substance use disorder. Register online today.

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Daniel Flannery, PhD, was a featured guest on WCPN 90.3 on Tuesday, July 12. He spoke about youth violence and "flash mobs" that are creating fear in public spaces and local communities.

He joined a host of local officials on The Sound of Ideas, which aired at 9 a.m. Flannery is the new director of The Dr. Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Center for Violence Prevention, Research & Education.

He joined MSASS on July 1 and brought along a team of 23 researchers, evaluators, consultants and trainers. As a leading scholar in the study of violence and exposure to violence, he currently has more than $6 million in funded research, evaluation and training projects. More

Dr. Rob Fischer, Co-Director of the Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences has been invited to be an adviser on The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University's prestigious Advancing Knowledge Advisory Council Scholar Community, that awards grants, and mentors non-profit leadership.

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The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences has achieved another milestone in its long history of excellence in social-work education. Its master's-degree program was recently accredited by a new licensing entity, the Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board (OCDPB), which oversees the certification and licensing of chemical-dependency counselors.

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The Federal Reserve, through its Community Development staff located at its 12 regional reserve banks and the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., works to bring together key community stakeholders to identify local problems and explore solutions, some of which are highlighted in a series of three concise video documentaries.

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"Finding Place in Community Change Initiatives: Using GIS to Uncover Resident Perceptions of their Neighborhoods," by Claudia Coulton, and Tsui Chan of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, and Kristen Mikelbank of the Cleveland Food Bank, has been published by the Journal of Community Practice, released March 4, 2011.

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The journal article, "Do employment and type of exit influence child maltreatment among families leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families?" by David Beimers, and Claudia J. Coulton is in-press at "Children and Youth Services Review," and available online as of February 9, 2011.

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On March 10, the US Census Bureau released, "Ohio's 2010 Census Population Totals, Including First Look at Race and Hispanic Origin Data for Legislative Redistricting."

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An article from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland titled, ""Slowing Speculation: A Proposal to Lessen Undesirable Housing Transactions" includes suggested readings from two reports published by the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development: "Pathways to Foreclosure: A Longitudinal Study of Mortgage Loans, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 2005-2008" and "Beyond REO: Property Transfers at Extremely Distressed Prices in Cuyahoga County, 2005-2008".

The Center has worked closely with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and with the Cuyahoga Land Bank, also discussed in the article, and provides information to nonprofits and government programs for neighborhood stabilization, and bank foreclosure prevention and remediation programs via the property data portion of its Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing (NEO CANDO)website, and through other research programs.

NEO CANDO is a free online database of social, property, and economic indicators combined with geographic data markers down to the neighborhood level, and mapping utilities, created and maintained by the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development. The Center is one of several research centers at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

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Enterprise Community Partners hosted a live online webinar titled: "Using Local Market Data to Support Neighborhood Stabilization." It was held on Thursday, February 10, 2011 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM

The Powerpoint presentation for this webinar is now available here online.

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A recent journal article "Getting the Most Out of Service Learning: Maximizing Student, University, and Community Impact" in the Journal of Community Practice, is by professors Mark Chupp and Mark Joseph, is outlined in this |think magazine blog article.

Additional articles about their work, and the efforts of Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences students can bee see in the August and July 2010 articles here.

Both Mark Chupp and Mark Joseph are faculty associates of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.

The following case study by the Enterprise Foundation, focuses on NEO CANDO and the partnerships that utilize the data it provides to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods.

"Local market data systems are of great value to nonprofits, local governments and other community stakeholders who are working to stabilize neighborhoods struggling as a result of foreclosures, blight, vacancies or economic decline.

In Cleveland, data transformed the focus and implementation of neighborhood stabilization, allowing stabilization efforts to achieve a level of impact that was not otherwise possible....

This case study examines the value of parcel-level real estate data for neighborhood stabilization programs in general, and looks specifically at how the Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing system (NEO CANDO) is used in Cleveland. Examples of some of the ways community stakeholders have used the data generated by the NEO CANDO system are provided. General information describing the operations of the NEO CANDO system, the data used, and the sources of that data are also provided to aid communities considering creating their own local market data system."

This case study is located on practitionerresources.org, where other Enterprise Community Partners resources are also listed.

MSASS is the only social work school in the country that guarantees a stipend for field placement work. Students at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences provide some 225,000 hours of community service for approximately 350 community agencies. This service enabled the social work school to become eligible for increased work-study funding from the federal government through special funding.

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Dr. Anna Santiago, Dr. George Galster, and Renee Nicolosi, are in a podcast titled, "Where People Live Matters: Using Housing Policy as an Anti-Poverty and Asset-Building Intervention," on the University at Buffalo School of Social Work's Living Proof Podcast series Episode 64.

"In this episode, our guests discuss their research that attempts to respond to and understand how housing policy influences not only its clients, but the neighborhoods in which they reside. They describe, amongst other programs, the Home Ownership Program in Denver, Colorado; their longitudinal research; their findings; and the continuing challenges to sustaining home ownership and its effect on poverty."

If you wish to hear play the mp3 directly click here.

Dr. Santiogo is a Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

A new report from Case Western Reserve’s Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development documents the problem of so-called bank walkaways in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

The report, titled Stalling the Foreclosure Process: The Complexity Behind Bank Walkaways, takes an in-depth look at stalled foreclosure cases in Cuyahoga County in order to describe the factors involved in delayed foreclosure cases. Foreclosure cases that remain unresolved for long periods of time can result in serious spillover damages, incurring costs like unpaid taxes, unpaid utility bills, nuisance abatement assessments, maintenance, and in the most severe cases, could include fire damage or demolition.

The researchers examined the court records of 999 stalled foreclosure cases (cases where a decree of foreclosure has been granted but the property did not go to sheriff’s sale for over 180 days), finding that 56 percent of these stalled foreclosure cases could possibly be considered bank walkaways. The researchers also found that the possible bank walkaways are more likely to be vacant, tax delinquent, and demolished.

When considering the status of a foreclosure case in court, the researchers determined that cases where a plaintiff (the mortgage lender or subsequent note holder) took no action for 180 days or more after receiving a foreclosure judgment, and cases where a plaintiff dismissed a foreclosure judgment for reasons that did not involve resolving the mortgage lien, among other scenarios, could possibly be considered bank walkaways.

“It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what’s going on with a foreclosure case,” reports Michael Schramm, co-author and Research Associate at the Center on Urban Poverty. "Paper and electronic court records might be missing details, and plaintiffs often only give boiler-plate reasons for their actions. But defining the problem and outlining how to recognize it is the first step in finding the solution.”

Click here to download the file.

For questions or comments about this report, please contact Michael Schramm at 216-368-0206.

This work has been possible using the Center's freely available, social, economic, neighborhood and property information database, NEO CANDO, can be found on the web here.

An article in the Windy City Times, announces a new, feature-length documentary, Cabrini Green: Mixing it Up, which has political and historical analysis provided by Dr. Mark Joseph, of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, among others. Dr. Joseph studies mixed income housing development in Chicago and other areas.

Since 1995, 23 high-rise buildings have been demolished, that may have contained between 15,000 and 20,000 residents at their peak. New mixed-income developments have been built in some areas to replace these public housing high-rises that now contain an estimated 1,000 residents, of these only about 15% of which are original public housing residents.

"Critics assert that the plan does not eliminate the problem (poverty and the systemic causes of poverty) but merely displaces people and disperses the poverty around the city. Janet Smith, co-author of the report "Where are Poor People to Live," told Bower that only about 15 percent of the displaced Cabrini families are living in the new mixed-income developments that replaced Cabrini. Smith wondered on camera, "who will actually benefit from the Plan for Transformation when it is complete?"

....Cabrini Green: Mixing it Up features students at Jenner Elementary school, one of whom confronts Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley; the Stamps family of educators and activists; and a woman who is one of the few Cabrini residents that qualified to return to live in the new mixed income development. Academics Janet Smith (University of Illinois at Chicago) , Mary Pattillo (Northwestern University) and Mark Joseph (Case Western Reserve University) provide political and historical analysis."

Dr. Joseph is a faculty associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

Researchers from the Center for Evidence-Based Practices (CEBP) recently conducted an analysis of claims data for behavioral-health services in the State of Ohio and found that Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT), the evidence-based practice, helped save the state approximately $1.4 million in service costs for a group of 160 people diagnosed with a severe mental illness and a co-occurring substance use disorder. The people in this group were among the highest users of mental-health and addiction services. The savings took place only one year after they started to receive IDDT services. This analysis is compelling, because it shows that IDDT can make an impact upon costs in a short amount of time.

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The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is the evaluation partner for Cuyahoga County's Invest in Children Program. Videos summarizing the 2010 annual progress are here.

Videos about the programs' progress, the evaluation and recent benchmarks from the last years are available from the 2010 Annual meeting here. The program is a comprehensive, voluntary, and high quality early care and education program. The video regarding the Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program's evaluation, titled "Universal Pre-Kindergarten: Making a 'BIG' difference," has comments from Dr. Robert Fischer, Co-Director of the Center.

In the videos, Dr. Fischer comments, "... what's very interesting here is that the kids that were lowest performing and lowest developmental scores at baseline show the most dramatic gains, the most meaningful gains in these measures."

For more information regarding the Invest in Children programming please see their web site here, or look on this page for both the Invest in Children and the Early Childhood Initiative Evaluation reports.

The ten year retrospective of the Center's Evaluation of the Invest In Children project, titled "Inform, Influence, Impact, " can be read online or downloaded here.

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development in partnership with the United Way of Greater Cleveland, has released a series of 12 data briefs on key social demographic and population dimensions of Cuyahoga County. The data briefs address issues related to United Way’s core community priorities, with specific attention to changes in indicators over time. Using data from a range of Census and local sources, the briefs highlight important dimensions of life in Cuyahoga County that can inform approaches to address community needs.

The briefs examine shifts in population (changing demographics, child population, mobility), indicators of risk (poverty, child maltreatment, teen/unmarried births, educational attainment, adult literacy), and indicators of opportunity (employment, public schools, safety net supports, housing affordability).

The United Way of Greater Cleveland used these demographic analyses as a discussion launching point for their request for proposal committee process for the 2011 year. The United Way of Greater Cleveland used these demographic analyses as inputs for their request for proposal committee process for the 2011 year. This social research is
available on our website as individual briefs or one combined .PDF. They are also shared on the United Way server here.

Take an educational holiday overseas in March or May 2011. Engage in cross-cultural studies of social policies and practices for health and human services. Several three-credit travel-abroad courses for Case Western Reserve University students are open to students at other colleges and universities and to working professionals in health and human services. Each trip is led and taught by instructors from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve. Join Patrick Boyle of the School's Center for EBPs for his course, "Integrated Mental Health & Substance Use Services," and a trip to Amsterdam, The Netherlands (March 4 to 13). Other trips/courses include the following ...

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This season marks the tenth anniversary of the State of Ohio's investment in evidence-based practices for the treatment and recovery of residents with severe mental illness (SMI) or co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorders. It also marks the tenth anniversary of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at Case Western Reserve University. Both anniversaries were celebrated at the Center's EBP conference, which took place on October 12, 13, and 14 in Columbus. This year's conference was the ninth sponsored by the CEBP and its Coordinating Center of Excellence (CCOE) initiatives. Over 330 people from Ohio and 17 other states attended.

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"Donors to former County Auditor Frank Russo received more than $1.8 million on their property taxes. Russo has pleaded guilty to taking more than $1 million in bribes over 10 years and will serve more than 21 years in prison," says this Plain Dealer Article.

NEO CANDO, as well as over 2,000 paper documents, and the County Treasurer database are cited as some of the sources of the ongoing Plain Dealer Investigation, of the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision, which incoming County Executive Ed FitzGerald has vowed to completely replace.

The article begins, "Many of the people who contributed to former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo's election campaigns also went to his office in search of tax breaks -- and got them.

They received hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars off their tax bills thanks to reduced property valuations, a Plain Dealer analysis of campaign-finance reports and county records has found."

The section citing the methods and sources of the report states, "The newspaper used the state's public records laws to acquire county payroll records, campaign finance reports and databases showing reductions of property values. Case Western Reserve University's NEO CANDO, a data system containing demographic, economic and property data, provided the newspaper with county property values from 2003 through 2009.

Reporters also searched Ohio Secretary of State filings and corporate websites to unearth connections between Russo's most generous donors -- those giving $1,000 or more -- and corporate interests that received property reductions."

NEO CANDO is a free online database of social, property, and economic indicators combined with geographic data markers down to the neighborhood level, created and maintained by the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development. The Center is one of several research centers at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

Case Western Reserve University will host "Social Justice, Race, and Profiling: An Intergenerational Think Tank" on November 19 and 20, 2010. This event also launches the public program of the newly established, university-wide Social Justice Institute.

View more information at the event's page and download the program.

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An article in Forefront, a publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, titled Battling the Next Phase of the Housing Crisis, refers to the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development's research article, "REO and Beyond: The Aftermath of the Foreclosure Crisis in Cuyahoga County, Ohio," on the "rising tide" of Real-Estate Owned Properties in Cuyahoga County.

"The foreclosure crisis is breeding a new one: a crushing load of REO, or real-estate-owned, properties. These are the foreclosed homes that banks and other lenders have on their books after failing to sell them at sheriff’s auctions. In weak housing markets, including many in the Fourth District, these unsold houses too often stand vacant and neglected.

A new volume published by the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Boston and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors highlights the latest research and on-the ground efforts to attack the REO problem on several fronts. The collection of articles, REO & Vacant Properties: Strategies for Neighborhood Stabilization, was released in September to coincide with a summit hosted by the Federal Reserve in Washington. The summit aimed to help communities and practitioners find the most promising practices for addressing neighborhood stabilization and the disposition of REO properties across the country.

Among the Cleveland-area contributors to the volume were researchers at Case Western Reserve University. The researchers reported a worsening scope to the problem in northeast Ohio, offering new evidence of how REO properties further drag down communities.

In “REO and Beyond: The Aftermath of the Foreclosure Crisis in Cuyahoga County, Ohio,” Claudia Coulton, Mike Schramm, and April Hirsh found:

• Since 2007, almost all properties in Cuyahoga County (home to Cleveland) that come out of foreclosure sales have ended up as REOs.
• The number of REOs in the county peaked in 2008 at just over 10,000 properties and had declined to about 7,300 by late 2009.
• REOs are disproportionately concentrated in lower-income communities.
• From 2004 to 2008, the percentage of properties on Cleveland’s east side that sold out of REO at extremely distressed prices—$10,000 or less—shot up from 4 percent to almost 80 percent.
"

Read the full "Forefront" article here.

A Plain Dealer article discusses the presentation of the results of the Cuyahoga County child-welfare department review panel. Both Drs. Vicotor Groza, and David Crampton from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences are on this review panel.

A review panel Wednesday called on the Cuyahoga County child-welfare department to improve the way it manages high-risk families, but it also put responsibility on the community and the next county government to keep children safer.

The panel appointed by Director Deborah Forkas issued 12 pages of recommendations, which deal in large part with beefing up services to combat threats to children from domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness.

The presentation to an audience of nonprofit social services providers contained criticisms that the agency has not done enough to address risks to children, such as engaging mental health and addiction experts in cases. But the event was also part pep rally to solicit help from outside the county bureaucracy.

"It's not about the department, it's not about Deborah Forkas," said David Crampton, the panel chairman and an associate professor of social work at Case Western Reserve University. "It's about all of us working together to protect our children."

"...For a complete list of recommendations, go to cfs.cuyahogacounty.us and click on "community task force."

Read the full Plain Dealer article here.

Dr. Crampton is a faculty associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

A Plain Dealer article, discusses the national reclaiming vacant properties conference that is going on this week, and references the work that the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is doing in partnering with other local government and non-profit groups.

"Cleveland got clobbered early by the foreclosure crisis -- and has been trying to fight back with innovative strategies that will be showcased during a national conference here next week.

The conference -- Reclaiming Vacant Properties: The Intersection of Sustainability, Revitalization and Policy Reform -- runs Wednesday through Friday and is expected to draw about 900 people.

It is organized by the Center for Community Progress, a nonprofit with offices in both Washington, D.C. and Flint, Mich. that works with communities to return vacant or abandoned property to productive use.

"We've seen a lot of progress in Cleveland -- particularly with the foreclosure crisis -- and people are paying attention to the strategies being implemented there," said Jennifer Leonard, the center's vice president.

Cleveland was hit early by the foreclosure crisis and been working on responses longer than many other communities. "We might be a year or two ahead in trying things that others are just starting to look at," said Frank Ford, NPI [Neighborhood Progress Incorporated]'s senior vice president for research and development....

The region has also benefited from collaborations among people in both the city and Cuyahoga County. "A lot of cities and counties haven't figured out ways to do that," Leonard said. Ford said the conference will highlight local initiatives such as the data system known as NEO CANDO, which was developed by Case Western Reserve University researchers and provides certain demographic, economic and property data online and for free.

Among other things, the system's information has been mined to trace a web of mortgage fraud and track the footprint of companies trading in distressed and foreclosed houses.

"It really is a model," Leonard said. "Many cities don't have the information they need to make smart decisions."

The full Plain Dealer article can be read here.

A Cleveland Plain Dealer Article, "Census shows Cleveland is the second-poorest city in the United States," quotes Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences professor Claudia Coulton.

The article begins, "Hard times came to every corner of Northeast Ohio during a historic recession, as unemployment and its consequences rippled across the city and suburbs.

The hammer of despair landed hardest in Cleveland, where one out of every three people lived in poverty at the end of 2009, making Cleveland the second-poorest big city in America -- thank you, Detroit -- according to estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau."

The article continues, "...While much of the region's poverty is rooted in low education levels and high rates of single parenthood, the latest poverty spike is purely economic. This is unemployment poverty, said Claudia Coulton, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development at Case Western Reserve University. And it's not over yet.

'We have not created jobs, not enough to get us out of this unemployment crisis,' she said."

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, contributed to a Summit and to the joint publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston named, "REO & Vacant Properties: Strategies for Neighborhood Stabilization." Resources for stabilizing communities are available off the summit's website.

"The foreclosure crisis that the nation continues to grapple with has led to scores of real-estate-owned, or REO, properties. These and other vacant properties erode the values of nearby houses, fracture neighborhood stability, and threaten to undo decades of economic progress made in communities across the country over the past 25 years. How big is the REO problem? How are communities, banks, and policymakers dealing with the challenge? Most important, what approaches are showing the most promise for success."

The Center's Chapter is titled" REO and Beyond: The Aftermath of the Foreclosure Crisis in Cuyahoga County, Ohio." The full summit report PDF may be obtained here.

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is located within the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work, at Case Western Reserve University.

A Plain Dealer article, "Cuyahoga County child-welfare agency lacks sense of urgency, panel says" by Harlan Spector says,

"The panel appointed by Department of Children and Family Services Director Deborah Forkas is expected to issue a long list of recommendations this month. But the chairman [Prof. David Crampton,] said there is a lack of urgency at the agency to address ongoing risks to children from parents' mental illness, addictions, domestic violence and other problems. "

"We clearly need some system after the department closes the case to make sure they (parents) stay on their medications and are getting mental health treatment," said Crampton, an associate professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Additional articles about the Cuyahoga County Department of Child and Family Services may be viewed here.

Prof. Crampton is a faculty associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

Cuyahoga County’s comprehensive early childhood system, Invest in Children, shines in a recently released report by The Urban Institute. In Using Data to Promote Collaboration in Local School Readiness Systems, researchers at the Urban Institute highlight Cuyahoga County as a key example of how to build a community-wide early childhood system to promote school readiness.

The report highlights that in order for children to be truly ready for school they must be supported by a system that includes ready families, ready pre-schools, ready schools and ready communities. “Invest in Children’s multi-faceted approach is forging just such a system”, says Dr. Rebekah Dorman, Invest in Children’s Director, and we are very proud to be recognized in this national publication.”

Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the report concluded, “The collaboration in Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Cleveland) has perhaps the most impressive record – the Invest in Children Initiative (IIC).” The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, co-directed by Case Western Reserve University faculty members Claudia Coulton and Rob Fischer, participated as a research partner in the study, which included Atlanta, Chattanooga, Denver, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, and Providence. The Center is the long-standing independent evaluator of Invest in Children. In late 2009, the Center released a report entitled Inform, Influence, Impact - The Role of Research in Supporting a Community’s Commitment to Its Children, documenting a decade of research by the Center in evaluating the efforts of Cuyahoga County’s work in the area of early childhood.

"Poverty At Record Highs, Unemployment Slowing" is a radio new piece on WCPN quoted Prof Claudia Coulton, Co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences on Thursday, September 16, 2010 .

"The U-S Census Bureau released disturbing numbers about the national poverty picture today, while another economic indicator report also shows tough times still ahead for Northeast Ohio. Ideastream®'s Rick Jackson reports.

One of every seven Americans; more than 43 million people, now lives in poverty. Claudia Coulton of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at CASE says the 14.3% figure is actually not surprising, due to the depth of this recession....

“This one is worse. It’s pushed us higher in poverty than we’ve been in a long time - as a nation - so it’s different than other recessions where a little bit of government spending and a little bit of loosening up of various government policies turn it around.”

Hear or read more of "Poverty At Record Highs, Unemployment Slowing"

"Workshop #F4 | Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities" has recently been added to the lineup of over 60 workshops at the Center for EBPs' Conference 2010, "Sustaining Evidence-Based Practices: The Next 10 Years," which will take place on October 12, 13 and 14 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. The new workshop takes place on Thursday, October 14 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. The presenter is Phil DeVol, author, consultant, and trainer at "aha! Process, Inc." of Highlands, Texas, which has developed a method for helping people from all economic classes discover and share their ideas and models for solving the problem of poverty. Devol was a keynote speaker at our March 2009 Supported Employment Conference (click here). Learn more about this year's workshop and Confernece. Register online.

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Briefly Stated 10-02: Women Religious in a Changing Urban Landscape: The Work of Catholic Sisters in Metropolitan Cleveland by Rob Fischer & Jenni Bartholomew has been released, and mailed to the community.

Download the report here.

Summary: Women religious play a vital role in many communities in addressing the needs of the poor, neglected, and vulnerable members of society. In the history of Northeast Ohio, Catholic nuns have been instrumental in the arenas of education, healthcare, outreach and advocacy.

In high poverty cities such as Cleveland, women religious continue to provide essential services, supports, and spiritual guidance in many venues. The experience in Cleveland is relevant to cities with an urban core where the population has shifted to suburban areas, leaving inner-city churches with declining membership and support.

In addition, this case example will show how proactive and collaborative efforts on the part of women religious can enhance the likelihood of effectively addressing community needs presently and in the future.

A summary presentation of the results for Women Religious in a Changing Urban Landscape: The Work of Catholic Sisters in Metropolitan Cleveland can be viewed here.

On Tuesday, November 09, 2010, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., David Crampton, Ph.D. will give a talk titled, "Lessons in Child Welfare Reform from Cuyahoga County and Beyond: The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family to Family Initiative"

Place: The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, room 115
A light lunch will be served. All are welcome.

Click here to view Dr. Crampton's profile in our experts database Prof. Crampton is a Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work.

Schubert Conversations on Children in Research, Policy, and Practice are monthly seminars featuring cutting-edge research by CWRU faculty, with corresponding commentary by local professionals. These events stimulate an ongoing dialogue about child-related research, policy, and practice among faculty, students, policy experts, advocates, and professionals from Northeast Ohio.

The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations is located at 11402 Bellflower Road on the CWRU campus.

Parking is available on nearby streets and at the Severance Hall or Botanic Garden parking garages. Visitors may not park on Hessler Court or at the lot reserved for L'Albatros or the Spartan Diner.

Handicapped parking is available - please call the Center at 216-368-2275 for details.

Doctoral Candidate Diwakar Vadapalli presented a paper in India, at two separate occasions on collecting, analyzing, and using Social and Economic Indicators, based on the Center on Urban Poverty’s NEO CANDO database model.

The paper: "Indicators, actionable data, and ‘model villages’: NEO CANDO as an example for similar systems in India" by Diwakar K. Vadapalli, and Claudia J. Coulton was presented at: The National Seminar on ‘Building of Model Villages through Panchayat Raj Institutions’ on 10th August, 2010 at The National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad, India

The second presentation on this same research was titled, "Indicators, actionable data, and local decision-making: NEO CANDO as an example for similar systems in India" also presented by Diwakar K. Vadapalli on Aug 18, 2010 at the invitation of the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, India.

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Register online today! ... The annual conference of the Mandel School's Center for Evidence-Based Practices will take place on October 12, 13, and 14 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. The event, titled "Sustaining Evidence-Based Practices: The Next 10 Years," features over 60 workshops and presentations by Carlo DiClemente, co-creator of "stages of change," Richard H. Dougherty of DMA Health Strategies, the Directors of Ohio's departments of health, mental health, addiction services, and rehabilitation services. ... Learn about integrating primary healthcare with behavioral healthcare and providing evidence-based practices (EBPs) and other emerging and best practices to people with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. CEUs are available.

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An Editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer titled, "Cuyahoga Children Services is due a thorough inquiry, but that would require a panel that's truly independent," by The Plain Dealer Editorial Board, discusses the task force review of the Cuyahoga County agency by a committee chaired by Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences Prof. David Crampton.

Crampton emphasized that reviewing individual cases is not essential to the panel's main goal of reviewing systemic problems. Quoting from the article: "Task force chairman David Crampton, a respected child-welfare scholar and associate professor at Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, understandably bristles at the notion that he or other panelists are being manipulated into a bias in favor of Forkas or her department.

'My job is not to protect the job of a Deb Forkas; it is to have the best child-welfare system in the country,' Crampton says. 'I'm not doing this for any other reason than that.'

He adds that any best-practices review of child welfare won't dwell on a handful of tragedies but instead will take the widest-angled view possible of systemwide practices. "

The full editorial can be read here.

Additional articles about the Cuyahoga County Department of Child and Family Services may be viewed here.

Prof. Crampton is a faculty associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

An Article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer titled, "Child-welfare agency won't release case files to review panel," by Harlan Spector, discusses the task force review of the Cuyahoga County agency by a committee chaired by Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences Prof. David Crampton.

Crampton emphasized that reviewing individual cases is not essential to the panel's main goal of reviewing systemic problems. Quoting from the article: "The task force is looking specifically at whether the county follows the safest practices when it returns children to their parents after taking temporary custody due to maltreatment." Crampton said: "We need information on a larger number of cases. We don't need to see case files, but we need to see system issues."

The full article can be read here.

Additional articles about the Cuyahoga County Department of Child and Family Services may be viewed here.

Prof. Crampton is a faculty associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work at Case Western Reserve University .

MSASS Professor Learns More About Schools' Role in Revitalizing Neighborhoods

"Before parents with young children buy a new home, they want to know the quality of the neighborhood public schools.

Mark Joseph, assistant professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, does too. He's examining how public schools have a role in revitalizing urban neighborhoods—especially neighborhoods where new mixed-income developments are being built.

He's particularly interested in housing under development in Chicago and other major cities with HOPE VI funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Joseph and Jessica Feldman from the University of Chicago report challenges facing these schools in the article, "Creating and Sustaining Successful Mixed-Income Communities: Conceptualizing the Role of Schools," which appeared in the journal Education and Urban Society.

In a prior study, Joseph found that the income groups do not always mix in these housing situations and many middle-class families do not have children. But schools can shake things up. According to Joseph, they are a critical component in linking middle-class families and lower-income families to the broader social and economic mainstream."

More of the THINK article, "MSASS Professor Learns More About Schools' Role in Revitalizing Neighborhoods"

Click for more of Mark L. Joseph's research.

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is located within the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work, at Case Western Reserve University.

Bouncing Back: Report documents foreclosure crisis and community response in Greater Cleveland.

"The subprime mortgage crisis left tens of thousands of foreclosed homes in its wake, more than 10,000 in the Greater Cleveland area alone, according to a new report.

But new research from Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, Cleveland State University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland does more than illuminate grim statistics-it also documents how community groups mobilized to respond to the crisis.

The study's co-authors, Claudia Coulton from Case Western Reserve and Kathy Hexter from Cleveland State University, say they hope sharing Cleveland's story can help other cities in their own struggles.

'Facing the Foreclosure Crisis in Cleveland: What Happened and How Communities Are Responding' weaves together research from previous studies conducted by the poverty center, providing dozens of examples of community responses, ranging from government reform and legislation to counseling and prevention initiatives."


More of the THINK article, "Bouncing Back"

Get this report and others about the effects and size of Cleveland's Foreclosures crisis.

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is located within the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work, at Case Western Reserve University.

Professor Rob Fischer Co-Director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development was quoted in the Sandusky Register article, "Will Commissioner Cole help defeat another stereotype?" by Jason Singer, regarding Commissioner Diedre Cole living in public housing within the City of Sandusky on whose council she will serve, when Commissioner Brett Fuqua resigns to take a position in Columbus.

Directly quoting the article, "Local residents say Diedre Cole is many things: A lightning rod, articulate, charismatic, opinionated.

She's also historic....Once she's sworn in, Cole may be the first person in state history to serve in an elected position while also living in public housing."

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is located within the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work, at Case Western Reserve University.

As reported by WKYC Channel 3, foreclosures in Cuyahoga County have risen by more than 12% than the first half of 2009. The report uses data from the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development's NEO CANDO (Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing) that shows 7,440 foreclosure actions were filed through May while only 6,604 were filed in the first six months of the previous year.

Foreclosure counselors, including Tom Tusuksri of the Cleveland Housing Network, cite that unemployment and underemployment are a cause in the recent upswing in homeowners being unable to cover their mortgages in Cuyahoga County.

Read the full article "Cuyahoga County: New foreclosures blamed on unemployment" on WKYC.com and watch the televisized segment which aired on June 20, 2010.

Please note, the information obtained by WKYC was not, as is stated in the article, from a survey conducted by the Poverty Center but from data publicly shared in NEO CANDO.

A Plain Dealer Article "Foreclosure filings increase in Cuyahoga County during first half of the year" by reporter Sandra Livingston draws on data from the Center on Urban Poverty's NEO CANDO, social, economic, and property data system.

"New foreclosure filings in Cuyahoga County rose more than 12 percent during the first six months of this year, with the suburbs continuing to feel the brunt of the increases.

Residential and commercial foreclosure filings hit 7,440 in the first half of the year compared to 6,604 in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development."

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is housed at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work, at Case Western Reserve University.

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission displays Cuyahoga County Council District Social and Economic profiles using NEO CANDO data.

"Cuyahoga County Council Districts Social and Economic Profiles

The new Cuyahoga County charter created a county executive-county council form of government. Residents in each of the 11 geographic districts will elect a representative to serve on the county council. As part of the transition to the new structure, we are providing the maps and statistics below to better inform constituents and candidates.

Please visit the Transition Advisory Group for more information about the changes in county government."

These profiles contain:
"A selection of demographic indicators for Cuyahoga County's new council districts

* Population
* Age
* Persons and Poverty
* Families and Poverty
* Household Income
* Household Income by Source
* Education
* Public Assistance
* Foreclosures"

NEO CANDO, Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing, is a free and publicly accessible social and economic data system of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, which is housed at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work, at Case Western Reserve University. NEO CANDO allows users to access data for the entire 17 county Northeast Ohio region, or for specific neighborhoods within Cleveland.

The creative imaginative collage of animal portraits by local artist, Linda Ayala, are on exhibit at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. My first impression of the work was that it was playful, original, and fun.

Linda attended Cleveland State University and received a Bachelor’s of Art degree. Nature, history, music, and culture are just a few of the many things she enjoys. Linda states, “when I am ready to create an image or a concept, I decide how it should be realized, whether in drawing, collage, clay, recycled materials, or in fabric. Exploring a new medium is just as much fun as exploring different subject matters.”

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The 2010 Regionally Speaking SJA/I series leaders

The 2010 Regionally Speaking series focuses on the Social Justice Alliance Institute (SJA/I) at Case Western Reserve. SJA/I is working toward equal access to opportunity for all people through understanding and addressing the root causes of social injustice while developing innovative solutions. A few blocks from Case Western Reserve is the municipality of East Cleveland. An integral part of the SJA/I is the Collaborative Research Project and its impact on the community. Campus members are invited to join in on the conversation with the SJA/I leaders, Rhonda Williams, the program's director and associate professor of history; Marilyn Sanders Mobley, vice president for inclusion, diversity and equal opportunity; and Mark Chupp, project director and assistant professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, to learn about goals and implementation plans. Regionally Speaking, a virtual symposium, is hosted by Gladys Haddad, director of the Western Reserve Studies Symposium. Listen online.

The Jewish Family Service Association, Ascentia Art Therapy Exhibit “Rock Around Cleveland”, is extremely colorful and striking. This incredible exhibit of works is done by clients that struggle with mental health issues on a daily basis. Through the creative process, they begin to explore their own lives and sense of self.

Rock-and-roll has had a cultural impact on our society. Through the music, the clients have brought their personal self-expressions into their work. Their styles range from abstract to realistic as do their techniques and materials used. Their unique talents make this an awesome group exhibit.

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Briefly Stated no. 10-01, "Service Learning in Community Development: Partnering with East Cleveland" by David G. Harris & Mark G. Chupp has been released. Electronic copies are available here, and hard copies will be shared with partners in the community.

Summary:
Residents of East Cleveland are fighting to improve the quality of pubic education and access to vocational opportunities. “White flight,” economic disinvestment, and ineffective political leadership have led to the disadvantages faced by East Cleveland (Kathi & Cooper, 2005). Nearly 1,200 vacant structures blight their 3.1 square mile landscape. Case Western Reserve University recognizes the potential roles that they can serve in aiding neighboring East Cleveland into becoming a desirable place to call home.

Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences students joined residents and firefighters to survey every vacant property in the City. Students utilized their experiences with conducting the survey, and through additional fieldwork, recommended strategies for the impact of vacant housing on topics like workforce development, education, safe streets and neighborhoods, and the senior population.

Download file

This research, aided in part by the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University serves as the basis for a partnership for the revitalization of East Cleveland with contributions from students, faculty, and the university who are collaborating with residents, community organizations, and the City of East Cleveland.

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Richard M. Todd, Vice President of Community Affairs of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has completed a short paper, "Report No. 2010-2 Foreclosures on Non-Owner-Occupied Properties in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County: Evidence from Mortgages Originated in 2005–2006," using data on non-owner-occupied properties in Cuyahoga County which was obtained from the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

"Abstract: One aspect of the past decade's housing boom was an increase in mortgage borrowing by non-occupant owners of residential property. Using data on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Breck Robinson and Richard M. Todd summarize some of the basic facts regarding home purchases and mortgage borrowing and default by non-occupants who borrowed from 2004 to 2007[in the longer national focused paper linked below].

However, partly due to data limitations, few studies have examined home buying, borrowing, and mortgage default by non-occupant owners using detailed neighborhood and demographic data, including census tract data on the race and ethnicity of the non-occupant owners who borrowed and subsequently experienced foreclosure.

I do so here, using results from loan and foreclosure data on Cuyahoga County, Ohio, that were compiled by researchers at Case Western Reserve University for loans originated in 2005–2006. I find that the incidence of non-occupant foreclosures in Cuyahoga County was very high by national standards and was even higher for loans to minority borrowers made by non-local lenders in low-cost, low-income, minority neighborhoods...."

The more complete national analysis of non-occupant mortgages and foreclosures is titled, "No. 10-11 The Role of Non-Owner-Occupied Homes in the Current Housing and Foreclosure Cycle," by Breck L. Robinson and Richard M. Todd. There, Center data was used to validate another dataset.

A new report from Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, Cleveland State University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, documents the foreclosure crisis and community responses in Greater Cleveland.

The new report "Facing the Foreclosure Crisis in Greater Cleveland: What happened and How Communities Are Responding," weaves together updated research from Pathways to Foreclosure, Foreclosure and Beyond, and Beyond REO with over a dozen examples of community responses to the foreclosure crisis that range from government reform and legislation to counseling and prevention initiatives.

The report finds that in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, subprime mortgages, in some sections of the city and suburbs, rapidly supplanted conventional loans as the primary product for home purchases and refinances. By 2005, more than 10,000 foreclosures were filed on residential properties in a single year. A growing number of properties entered prolonged periods of vacancy, stuck either in the foreclosure process or in REO—real-estate portfolios of mortgage companies and servicers.

Untended properties deteriorated and were vandalized. The value of housing stock plummeted, leading speculators to buy REO properties in some neighborhoods in bulk and for pennies on the dollar. Neighborhoods with large African-American populations were particularly hard hit by foreclosures and the negative spillover effects.

But Greater Cleveland did not sit idly by; this report also documents our response. Local governments, non-profit organizations, and community groups mobilized to educate potential home buyers, prevent foreclosures, and rehabilitate vacant properties. They have coordinated their efforts and responded strategically, using data to drive their actions. In addition, groups have worked to mediate issues on-the-ground and at the policy level, working to prevent this crisis from ever happening again.

Download the "Facing the Foreclosure Crisis in Greater Cleveland: What happened and How Communities Are Responding" report

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University of Pittsburgh's, University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR), spoke with three national experts about the value & use of Neighborhood Information Systems on UCSUR Radio.

* Interview 1: Kathy Pettit, Co-Director of the The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) (www.urban.org/nnip)

* Interview 2: Robert N. Renner from HUD (www.huduser.org)

* Interview 3: Michael Schramm, Associate Director for Community Information, Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University (neocando.case.edu) (povertycenter.case.edu)

Professor Cyleste Collins's, Poverty Center's research was mentioned in an article about population estimates for Cleveland for the 2010 census results, in The Plain Dealer's "Counting Cleveland's citizens," by Mark Salling and Ellen Cyran

The article suggests that the population of Cleveland will not be under the 350,000 mark as some people are predicting, and gives some supporting rationale for this.

"...But where are families that lost their homes? [Cuyahoga] County records show that foreclosure filings in Cleveland are around 7,300 per year. Speculation includes that they are moving: (1) away from the city; (2) in with relatives or friends; and (3) into rental units.

Data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey show that rental vacancy rates are down, and researchers at the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Case Western Reserve University found evidence of doubling-up with other families. We can hope that the 2010 census will also find that population."

This research refers to the White paper and the Briefly Stated No. 09-03, April 2009 titled "Family Homelessness in Cuyahoga County" authored by Profs. Cyleste Collins, and Claudia Coulton, and by PHD candidate Seok-Joo Kim

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development is located within the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, a graduate school of social work, at Case Western Reserve University.

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University Circle's new website contains a section called, "I found my education in University Circle."

This website features a video of Diwakar, in the Center on Urban Poverty, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, at Case Western University, and around University Circle speaking about his love of the area and his enjoyment of the richness of the region.

"Diwakar Vadapalli is a Case Western Reserve University PhD student and teaching assistant at The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. His research and work at the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development has been enriched by studying in Cleveland's cultural mecca. Originally from Srikakulam, India and having spent time in places as far apart as Kansas and Alaska, he now lives in downtown Cleveland with his wife, Manjula, and commutes to the Circle on the HealthLine everyday."

Regionally Speaking:
Every Monday at 1:30PM on WRUW-FM 91.1
June 21, 2010
Listen to this radio program online here: Coming Together through Stories

The Living Through Legacies Project brings together older citizens from McGregor Home in East Cleveland with students from Case Western Reserve University.

Generations come together and the histories of the seniors are recorded. This week Regionally Speaking's Gladys Haddad brings together the director of the program David Harris, along with a interviewer and interviewee who participated in the Living Through Legacies Project.

Director David Harris, MSSA, was a recent Community Development intern at the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development during the time he started the program, and is also a recent Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences graduate.

Case Western Reserve University's, Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development (CUPCD) is partnered with the University of Pittsburgh's Interactive Database of Neighborhood Conditions and Stats called Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System (PNCIS) through the National Neighborhood Indicator Partnership (NNIP).

Pitt's Interactive Database of Neighborhood Conditions and Stats is gaining traction in revitalizing Pittsburgh citizens, community organizers, and city planners who use Pitt's online Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System. Researchers from NNIP including Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences' Mike Schramm, will discuss its value in reducing blight, expanding services, and renewing communities at inaugural users conference June 11, 2009.

"Mike Schramm from Case Western Reserve University's Center for Urban Poverty and Community Development will recount how Case Western's data system [NEO CANDO] was used to reduce foreclosures and help to stabilize communities affected by the 2009 foreclosure crisis in the Cleveland area." at this conference.

Also speaking are:

Kathy Pettit, codirector of the Washington D.C.-based Urban Institute's National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, will discuss innovative uses of community information systems across the nation and their role in neighborhood development

and,

Robert Renner from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Policy Development and Research will talk about the growing role of research at HUD, new neighborhood revitalization programs, and the implications for local communities and neighborhood information systems.

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Dr. Claudia Coulton, is quoted in the Lake County, News Herald article ""Predicting what the Census will show us," regarding her predictions of demographic changes that the 2010 Census results may show. The article discusses planning with Lake County Planning Commission Director Jason Boyd, and has emphasis on anticipated changes in demographics of Lake County.

In part the article states, "Claudia Coulton is co-director of Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.

The organization's research and study encompasses 17 counties, including Lake and Geauga.

Coulton believes the Census data will show the region's poverty rate increased from 2000.

'But I think the geographical location of people will have shifted,' she said.

Coulton explained that many poor and middle-income families have moved from inner Cleveland to the suburbs or even out of Cuyahoga County.

Some families also may have chosen to double up with other families, she added. Read the complete article here."

For information on recent research of doubled up families in Cuyahoga County please check here: doubled up homelessness.

Claudia J. Coulton is Co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, the Lillian F. Harris Professor of Urban Research & Social Change, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, at Case Western Reserve University More about Dr. Coulton's work can be obtained here.

An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, discussing The Harlem Children's Zone project and Cleveland's bid for Federal Promise Neighborhood funding to replicate it, quotes David Miller Phd.

The article begins, "What can be done to help families heal and move beyond generations of broken homes, neglect and embedded poverty?

It's a tough problem to tackle -- and an expensive one.

The acclaimed Harlem Children's Zone project in New York City spends $40 million a year to wrap low-income families in a blanket of services, including day care and schools, health care, counseling and job training. During his campaign, President Barack Obama hailed the concept as the future for erasing urban poverty...." Read More.

"We need to intervene and intercept" youths before they follow the wrong role model, said David Miller, a Case Western Reserve University professor who developed an "Urban Hassles Index" to draw attention to constant stress faced by urban youths."

David B. Miller is an Associate Professor, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and a Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at Case Western Reserve University More about Dr. Miller's work can be obtained here.

A Plain Dealer editorial urges a deeper look at the challenges faced by the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services as "an insider panel of well-regarded experts" begins meeting to advise the county on improving child welfare practices.

A Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences Faculty member, David Crampton is chairing the committee on which this editorial comments.

The editorial states: "The chair of the current reform panel, David Crampton, an associate professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, came aboard at the invitation of Deborah Forkas, the beleaguered director of children's services. He is concerned about what he sees as a tight July deadline to identify the department's weaknesses and recommend improvements."

Dr. Crampton commented on recent child welfare-related tragic events on WCPN's Sound of Ideas, "Decreasing Child Abuse," Friday, February 26, 2010 here, and in the Plain Dealer Community cooperation, not Plain Dealer criticism, will ensure the welfare of our children — a Letter to the editor of The Plain Dealer, on March 8, 2010.

David Crampton is also a Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. More about Dr. Crampton's work can be obtained here.

An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which interviews four sons of the alleged victims of Anthony Sowel, quotes David Miller Phd.

The article states, "All four say the cycle of neglect will stop with them," speaking about the neglect that each of them experienced from his parents, and of his dedication to changing that pattern.

"Out of this horrible mess and madness, these men are saying, 'We want to take what we've learned and put it to use so that our children will not have to experience anything like this,' " said David Miller, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

They will need a lot of help to shelter their children from poverty, drugs and crime, added Miller, who believes Cleveland's leaders, especially policymakers and pastors, should work harder to regenerate families. "

David B. Miller is an Associate Professor, at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and a Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, at Case Western Reserve University More about Dr. Miller's work can be obtained here.

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Dr. Claudia Coulton, professor and co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, is quoted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer article "New study reveals that 'family flight' is reshaping Cleveland and Northeast Ohio" on the problems of urban flight of households with children.

"'White flight' described the rush of white families to the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1980s, observers talked of "middle-class flight" to reflect black residents who had joined the tide. A new pattern may demand a new label. Research shows that an exodus of moms and dads of all races and income levels -- family flight -- is reshaping Cleveland and its region."

"This is definitely not trivial," said Dr. Coulton. "I think we're losing households with children and we're losing children, period... Both middle-class and low-income families are leaving the city. And parents tend to leave because they're trying to get a better future for their children."

Read the entire article at Cleveland.com.

Having grown up in poverty and lived in substandard housing has brought sensitivity to Anna Maria Santiago's social work research about how people live and how place affects their lives.

The Case Western Reserve University campus recently met Santiago, the inaugural holder of the Leona Bevis & Marguerite Haynam Professorship in Community Development at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, during a special reception.

Currently on the faculty at Wayne State University, Santiago will officially start at CWRU on July 1. Her arrival will build on the social work school's strength in neighborhood research by faculty members Mark Chupp, Claudia Coulton, Rob Fischer, Mark Joseph, Sharon Milligan and others from the Center on Poverty and Community Development.

"Place matters," Santiago says. "Where one lives has a tremendous influence on the resources available to the individual."

It's a finding emerging from her research with hundreds of families in public housing and who are raising thousands of children in Denver.

Schools, grocery stores, police protection, medical facilities and libraries are the kinds of resources not equally distributed among neighborhoods, Santiago said.

It was those kinds of resources—and in particular access to training in music and the arts in Milwaukee with progressive social services and neighborhood programs—and her mother's value of education, Santiago attributes to her success.

"I would not be where I am today," she said, noting that the opportunity to master the oboe earned her a college scholarship to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. She later changed her major to geography in the social sciences, with a specialization in the Caribbean and Latin America.

After working as a social worker in her old neighborhood in Milwaukee, she went on to earn a PhD in urban social institutions from UW Milwaukee.

Santiago is the lead investigator on two major projects that involve families and children from the Denver Housing Authority: "Not Just Buying a Home: The Effects of Participation in Homeownership Programs On Building Human, Financial and Social Capital Assets of Subsidized Housing Residents and their Children," funded by The Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and "Magnitudes and Mechanisms of Neighborhood Impacts on Children: Analyzing a Natural Experiment in Denver," supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

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Lecture and Reception - May 6
5-7 p.m., Third Floor Atrium,
Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

Exhibit Dates: May 6 - June 20, 2010

Lydia Bailey’s Portraits of Homelessness exhibit features 40 photographs and stories of the residents served by the 2100 Lakeside Men’s Emergency Homeless Shelter. Run by the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, the shelter is the largest in Ohio and serves more than 3,000 men each year.

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Are you looking to expand your knowledge and skills and earn some continuing-education credits? The Office of Professional Development and Continuing Education at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (school of social work) at Case Western Reserve University sponsors a vareity of workshops. We've included a sample of a few that they thought might be of interest to you. The Center for Evidence-Based Practices (CEBP) is an initiative of the Mandel School and the Department of Psychiatry at the Case School of Medicine.

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Bridget Ginley's art work interplay with the elements of her daily existence. She is a painter, printmaker, and mixed-media visual artist. Shapes, color, form, and balance emerge from the work; they are playful and purposeful. She works with oils, watercolors, graphite, and found materials. Ripping and sanding her works until the image appears as she wants.

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Bruno Casiano contemporary abstracts are currently on display at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, on the first floor. Vivid colors, shapes, and surface texture explode on his canvases. He was recently (December 2009 – February 2010) in a juried art exhibit in The National Exhibition in San Juan Puerto Rico. He has also exhibited his paintings in other North East Ohio galleries.

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The Center for EBPs is participating in "Investing in Tobacco-Free Youth Advocacy Day 2010" on Wednesday, March 17 at the Riffe Center in Columbus. The event is designed to convince policymakers in Ohio to preserve funding for all tobacco-prevention and cessation initiatives in the state, including TRAC, a tobacco-recovery model designed by the Center for people with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders. Funding for Ohio's tobacco-control programs is scheduled to end on June 30. Tobacco-prevention advocates are pushing for a tax correction on non-cigarette forms of tobacco as a source of funding for cessation programs.

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Prof. Mark Joseph, Faculty Associate of the Center for Urban Poverty and Community Development, and Assistant Professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University was interviewed by Steven Webb for the show Information Saint John on Radio One, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The broadcast titled, "Learning From Mixed Income Housing Projects In The States" aired on March 4th, and the podcast can be found here. The program draws on Prof. Joseph's five-year research on residents of mixed income housing developments in Chicago, Illinois, and applies it to possible mixed-income projects in Saint John's Crescent Valley.

Sometimes it takes a personal tragedy to inspire the kind of advocacy that is necessary for significant, widespread change. This is one reason why Shelly Kiser is so passionate about efforts in Ohio to bring tobacco-recovery and cessation services to people with severe mental illness. Her sister-in-law, Allena, who lived with schizophrenia, died of cancer at age 43. She had smoked cigarettes most of her life. Kiser is a member of the advisory committee for the Center for EBPs' "Tobacco: Recovery Across the Continuum" (TRAC) initiative, a service model for people with severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders.

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A front-page, Sunday Plain Dealer article, "New Mayor Gary Norton hopes to bring big changes to struggling East Cleveland" on February 14, 2010, discusses planned changes in East Cleveland using the federal stimulus community development block grant funding for vacant and foreclosed properties and the efforts of the new Mayor, Gary Norton, to revive the city.

The article discusses a kick-off introduction event, hosted by the Social Justice Alliance, and organized by Professor Mark Chupp of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, during which Mayor Gary Norton took interested leaders on a tour of the city and discussed economic revitalization plans for specific neighborhoods and his economic development vision for the community.

The East Cleveland planning partnership and coalitions are being built include the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences(MSASS), Case Western Reserve University, the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at MSASS as a data partner, and other organizations. Maps of the planned area for economic development and also of foreclosed, vacant or abandoned houses in the city were provided for the tour by the Center.

The full article may be read here.

The full Case Daily article may be read here.

For a Case video on the partnership click here.

A short video about the East Cleveland Partnership initiated by the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences is featured in this Case Youtube video with MSASS Professor Mark Chupp, an advocate for university-community partnerships for neighborhood revitalization. Michelle Felder, an East Cleveland resident, is also featured.

"East Cleveland is not a dying city. There are people here who are committed in the long term to making this a great place. Our students and we, as faculty, designed a survey project to survey every vacant property in the city of East Cleveland. The goal was to determine which houses are suitable for rehab and which houses need to be demolished, because federal funds are designated for demolition and rehab. One of the things that I believe is possible through this East Cleveland Community Partnership is really the revitalization of East Cleveland so that it becomes a destination for people wanting to work in East Cleveland but it also becomes a safer, revitalized place for people who live here." said Professor Chupp.

The students' data has been collated, matched and mapped down to a parcel level through the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development using GIS mapping techniques. This survey data and the maps generated have been presented to the City to help inform the discussion between the administration and the citizens for planning the use of the federal stimulus funding.

"I love the neighborhood. I love the community...Its a community of people who work, who love their neighborhood....If you look down most of the streets its a beautiful place," said Michelle Felder.

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Steve Knerem’s work incorporates elements of bio-mechanical art, which is characterized by fantasy settings where humans and other creatures are rendered with a high degree of realism.

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The Mandel School's Center for Evidence-Based Practices is currently accepting abstracts for workshops from potential presenters for its Conference 2010, "Sustaining Evidence-Based Practices: The Next 10 Years," which will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio on October 12, 13 & 14. Workshops will focus on topics that enhance the delivery of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and emerging best practices for adults diagnosed with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders.

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Mandel Student Provides a Gift of Memories

Keepsake books will appear as holiday gifts for 10 senior citizens in Wadsworth, Ohio. The gift is one filled with their memories, which for some is a way to preserve their past before it is lost to the ills of aging.

David Harris, a graduate student at Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and a Master Student field placed with the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, and his longtime friend Joey Hanna from Wadsworth created The Living through Legacies Project with the Wadsworth Center for Older Adults, which allows for the creation of personal, timeless memoirs.

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From 12/6 to 12/8/2009, South Korean governmental officers of the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, Mr. Hwan Wi, Deputy Director and his two colleagues, a director (Dr. Keesung Noh) and a researcher of Korea Social Service Institute, Dr. Kwangho Jung (Professor, Seoul National University Seoul, Korea) visited to the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in order to observe the welfare delivery system of the U.S. Their visit was hosted by Dr. Joseph White, Director of the Center for Policy Studies.

At CWRU, they discussed the social service system of the U.S. and South Korea at a seminar with CWRU faculty members including Dr. White, Dr. David Crampton, and Dr. David Hammack. Afterward, they visited to Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.

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2009 Nonprofit Management and Leadership Editors' Prize for Best Scholarly Paper Interview

David Renz, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is interviewed by Robert Fischer, Ph.D., an Associate Research Professor at the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences regarding the practical implications of his research on nonprofit organizational effectiveness.

Prof. Renz is co-author and co-winner with Robert D. Herman, of The Nonprofit Management and Leadership journal 2009 NML Editors' Prize for Best Scholarly Paper, for their article “Advancing Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness Research and Theory: Nine Theses.”

The Interview of David Renz by Robert Fischer may be viewed here.

Breezy Snyder is a second year painting student at the Cleveland Institute of Arts. Her exhibit “Destiny of Dandelions” is her first solo debut in the Cleveland art community. Each ink drawing captivates the viewer’s mind; it is like poetry on paper.

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"Transforming Civil Discourse and Neighborhood Identity through Action Research," a paper written by Mark Chupp, was recently selected by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) as the "Best Paper for 2008." Chupp, Assistant Professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, presented the paper at ARNOVA's 2008 conference.

The announcement of this award was released during the 2009 conference and the notice of the award is listed in the ARNOVA Newsletter. WINTER 2010 VOLUME 38, NO. 3 on page number 3.

Representatives from nine community-based organizations and a state psychiatric hospital in Ohio attended a one-day training for “Tobacco: Recovery Across the Continuum (TRAC)”, a stage-based motivational service model that helps people diagnosed with mental illness and/or substance use disorders reduce and eventually eliminate the use of tobacco products. The event provided practical information and useful strategies for implementing TRAC services and featured Carlo DiClemente and other presenters from the Mandel School's Center for Evidence-Based Practices.

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Download Movie FileThe Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University will receive the Bronze Key Award, one of the highest honors awarded by the National Council for Alcohol and Drug Dependence to recognize leadership in the field of substance dependence and recovery.  This award will be presented by local affiliate Recovery Resources, a stalwart provider of substance abuse and mental health services in Northeast Ohio.

Download the Movie File

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Save these dates! The Center for Evidence-Based Practices (CEBP) at Case Western Reserve University will host its next conference October 12, 13, and 14, 2010. The event, titled "Sustaining Evidence-Based Practices: The Next Ten Years", will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the State of Ohio's success with implementing EBPs for people diagnosed with mental illness. The event will highlight national EBP research and lessons-learned from EBP initiatives in Ohio and other states. The Center for EBPs is a partnership of the Mandel School and the Dept. of Psychiatry.

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First year students Susan Ross and Jeong Woo Lee help survey vacant homes and lots in the City of East Cleveland, for their Macro and Policy Skills course. The students, accompanied by East Cleveland residents, surveyed the vacant properties and the results are helping city officials prioritize which buildings should be demolished. The students’ project helped the City of East Cleveland secure $2.2 million in federal funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

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A multi-institutional team of researchers, led by the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, will begin a five-year, $2.9 million National Institutes of Health-funded study. They will examine the lives of patients with both cataracts and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to document how restored vision improves everyday life for people with dementia.

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Thank you Dean for your very kind and generous introduction.

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen

I am very pleased to have the honor of speaking at this Commencement Exercise.

I congratulate you, the class of 2009, for persevering in the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and confidence to confront the social issues of today.

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Exhibit Dates: May 4 - July 11, 2009

The current exhibit on the second and third floors of the Mandel School is a collection of linoleum block prints by artist Pamela Dodds. She uses a technique called linocut, which is similar to that of woodcut. The smooth, grainless texture of the linoleum allows for the cutting of a fluid, detailed line. After the image is cut in the linoleum plate, the surface is carefully inked and transferred to paper.

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Exhibit Dates: May 1, - July 6, 2009

Paul Lender, an environmental photographer, has his work currently on display throughout the first floor of the Mandel School. According to his artist statement, he strives to capture the world around him as close as possible to the way he sees it. He aspires not only to highlight the beauty found in expansive landscapes, but also the magnificence found in small details.

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We recently mailed the first issue of our new printed newsletter, "Evidence Matters." A free PDF is available from our web site. Please distribute it to anyone who is interested in enhancing services for people diagnosed with severe mental illness. We've retired our "SAMI Matters" newsletter. The Fall 2008 issue was the last. Find out why. Get back issues from this web page. Use them to educate staff and stakeholders. . . . The Center for EBPs is a partnership between the Mandel School and the Department of Psychiatry at the Case School of Medicine.

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John Moneypenny is Assistant Director of the Choices Community Social Center in Akron, Ohio, a gathering place that provides a social, recreational, and educational outlet for adults recovering from mental illness in the surrounding Summit County area. He recounts his recovery story, so it might be shared as a source of inspiration for others. . . . Listen to and download free ".mp3" audio files. . . . Choices is a community partner of the Center for EBPs at Case, which is a partnership between the Mandel School and the Department of Psychiatry at the Case School of Medicine.

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Keynote speaker Gary Bond, PhD, an internationally known SE researcher from Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis. . . . Keynote speaker Phil DeVol, co-author of "Bridges Out of Poverty". . . . Over 30 practical workshops. . . . This event is designed for those who want to acquire more information about and practical skills that pertain to providing evidence-based Supported Employment (SE) services for people diagnosed with severe mental illness. . . . . Sponsored by the Ohio Supported Employment CCOE, a program of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs)--a partnership of the Mandel School and Department of Psychiatry.

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It's always a pleasant surprise when a national discussion focuses on the work we do in the world of social services. It's all the more surprising when the conversation highlights one of our own at the Center for Evidence-Based Practices--a partnership of the Mandel School and Department of Psychiatry at the Case School of Medicine. The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric recently aired a report on Supported Employment (SE), the evidence-based practice, featuring our own SE Consultant and Trainer Nicole Clevenger.

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Web chat allows participants to communicate in real time using easily accessible web interfaces. It is a way to instantly connect with the admission and financial aid office as well as other groups. Our first web chat will take place on Thursday, January 15, 2009 from 5 - 6:30 pm. Prospective students will have a chance to chat and get involved in discussions about the admission and financial aid process. Feel free to submit your questions during this time and our admission counselors and financial aid staff will provide helpful answers and information. Please log in on January 15 from 5- 6:30 pm at this link: http://msass.universitywebchat.com/chat7417/ We look forward to speaking with you!!

The Center for Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) at Case's Mandel School and Dept. of Psychiatry is collecting audio recordings of service providers, consumers, and others telling stories of their experiences with evidence-based practices and other services. Share your story.

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The November/December 2008 cover story of the nationally distributed Social Work Today magazine features the Ohio Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Coordinating Center of Excellence (Ohio SAMI CCOE)--a program of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) at Case Western Reserve University. The Center is a partnership of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and the Department of Psychiatry at the Case School of Medicine. Both are curriculum innovators: both have fellowship programs for the study of co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorders. . . . (Featuring Mandel School graduate Ric Kruszynski, MSSA ('93), LISW, LICDC.)

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The Ph.D. Program at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences celebrates the second anniversary of its part-time study option for doctoral-level education in social welfare and is inviting applications from professionals with experience in social work and allied disciplines--such as psychology, public health, nonprofit organizations, law, anthropology, and sociology, among others. The doctoral program has both part-time and full-time study options available, along with financial assistance for both.

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As the Center for EBPs at Case/Mandel School looks toward its Supported Employment conference on March 24 and 25, 2009, we reflect upon the 8th Annual SAMI/IDDT conference that took place this past September in Columbus, Ohio and are reminded how conversations at these annual events continue to inform the implementation of evidence-based practices throughout Ohio and across the nation. Featuring audio interviews with Robert Drake, MD; Carlo DiClemente, PhD; Sandra Stephenson, MSW, director of ODMH; and more.

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On exhibit - first floor of the Mandel School until January 10, 2009

Eric Meyer welds and shapes handmade kitchen utensils out of pewter, silver, bronze, aluminum, and brass. His handmade objects, including a tea set, goblets, a tea infuser, and cutlery, have an opulence fit for royalty.

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Exhibit Dates: October 24, 2008 -- January 10, 2009

Judith Brandon graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1987 with degrees in drawing and enameling. It is the enameling techniques of scribing metal and the layering of transparent and opaque colors that are the foundation for her paintings. Her subject matter originates from the weather channel, travels and experiences. Oceans, rain, mist and ice, water in all of its forms and locations are an endless source of inspiration to her. Water is a dominant theme in her paintings.

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Exhibit Dates: October 20, 2008 – January 10, 2009

John Carlson began his career as an artist by attending Cleveland’s Cooper School of Art. Inspired by the works of Egon Schiele, Franz Kline, Edward Hopper, and Lucien Freud, he strives to find a balance between expressive drawings and boldly executed paintings.

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Times are especially good for NEIGHBORING's Chief Operating Officer Ken Gill, MSSA ('82), LISW-S, LICDC, and his Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) team. They are being recognized for raising the standard of exceptional care with the third annual Lynn Goff Spirit of Integrated Treatment Award. . . . Things, however, weren’t always running this smoothly.

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A few years back, the City of Painesville had a problem: what to do about the homeless population hanging out in its picturesque town square. For NEIGHBORING, a mental-health and substance-abuse service agency headquartered in the City of Mentor, this was another chance to step up and help out. . . . . (Featuring Mandel School graduate Ken Gill, MSSA (’82), LISW-S, LICDC, and other community partners.)

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The advisory committee meeting of the Ohio Tobacco and Recovery Project was held at Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare in Columbus this past spring. Mental health organizations around Ohio are getting ready to implement components of the new Tobacco and Recovery model.

(Featuring Mandel School graduate Patrick E. Boyle.)

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45 Works on Paper: Print Exhibition
Exhibit Dates: August 13 - October 6, 2008

Meet the Artist Brown Bag Lunch - September 10
12:30 p.m., Second Floor Atrium

Maggie Denk-Leigh is an Assistant Professor and Printmaking Department Head at The Cleveland Institute of Art, where she has been an instructor for the last nine years. She also is the Board Treasurer of the Morgan Conservatory. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Printmaking, Design and Business from Xavier University and her Masters of Fine Arts from Clemson University in South Carolina.

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Oil Pastels on Sandpaper
Exhibit Dates: August 13 - October 6, 2008

Pamelinda O’Keefe’s show displays 30 prints depicting common objects enlivened with bold lines and bright colors. Inspired during a particularly gray day in February, O’Keefe felt compelled to create colorful images to counteract the dreariness of that time of year.

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Ric Kruszynski, MSSA ('93), LISW, LICDC, provides consultation to mental-health and substance-abuse service agencies about the effectiveness of real-time clinical supervision in the community.

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The annual conference of the Ohio Supported Employment CCOE drew close to 200 participants from throughout Ohio and 10 additional states, demonstrating the growing national interest in this evidence-based practice. (Featuring Gary Bond, Ph.D., of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.)

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Award Winning MSASS International Study/Travel 3 Credit Hour Courses (Spring) for Undergrad & Grad students being planned for 2008 & 2009

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U.S. News & World Report released the rankings of Social Work Schools March 28th. MSASS is ranked #1 in Ohio and #10 out of 182 schools.

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Exhibit Dates: March 27 – May 19, 2008.

Zygote Press was founded in 1995 by Elizabeth Maugans (BFA ’89 KSU) and Joe Sroka, joined later by Bellamy Printz and Kelly Novak, to provide print facilities for artists interested in creating fine prints. Since its inception, Zygote Press has grown to offer many additional educational programs and exhibition opportunities in its expanded facilities.

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Two new faculty positions are available at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

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Information sessions, including a presentation, question and answer time, and one-on-one conversations with current students, faculty and alumni, to be held March 22nd and April 12, 10:00 a.m.

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Assistant Professor David Crampton, an expert on foster care with extensive experience examining Cuyahoga County's foster care system, is quoted in a column by the Plain Dealer's Phillip Morris.

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The Tobacco Cessation Kick-Off Event introduced community-based and hospital-based behavioral healthcare organizations to a new service model being designed and disseminated by the Center for Evidence-Based Practices.

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For anyone interested in registering for one of the 3 credit hour graduate and undergraduate International courses, please view the information meeting session slide show and see website for more info: http://msass.case.edu/international/index.html

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The U.S. foreclosure crisis has earned international attention, with BBC news turning toward Mandel professor and Poverty Center director Claudia Coulton for some answers and analysis.

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The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences recently hosted training sessions held by Hathaway Brown School's Aspire Program. Aspire is a tuition-free academic and leadership program which brings together adolescent girls who attend under-resourced public schools in the Cleveland area with new teachers who have tremendous potential in the field of education.

To find out more about the Aspire program, visit the Aspire website.

MSASS welcomes the Council of International Fellowship Conference, and Cleveland's Council of International Programs, July 23-27.

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In December for international study experiences

The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences is taking international social work courses on the road as it teams up for an India abroad experience with the Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Social Work, December 27 through January 11, and an El Salvador travel program from December 8-16 with International Partners in Mission.

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The Heights Community Congress (HCC) will host "Perception vs. Reality: How Do We Talk About Race, Class and Diversity In Our Own Community?" beginning at 7 p.m. on June 13 at John Hay High School, 2075 Stokes Blvd. Mark Chupp, a visiting assistant professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, is part of the panel. Free, open to the public. For more information, call the HCC at 216- 321-6775. Visit the Heights Congress site for more information.

The Mandel brothers -- Jack, Joseph and Morton -- were honored as the first recipients of The Advocate for Social Justice and Leadership Development Award from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University. In recognition of their family's commitment to educate leaders in the field of social services and nonprofit organizations, the Mandels received the prestigious honor during the MSASS and Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations diploma ceremony at Temple-Tifereth Israel on Sunday, May 20.

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Mandel School Professor Victor Groza traveled to Romanian orphanages to aid in that country’s social reform and now applies what he’s learned to the Ukraine. A Case Magazine profile.

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The Dual Disorders Fellowship Program gives employed mental health and substance abuse professionals the opportunity to enhance their education, credentials, and experience by earning a Master of Social Science Administration (MSSA) degree while staying in their current jobs and attending classes one weekend per month. The Program is also structured to provide financial support to students by forging a partnership among the employed student, his or her employer (service organization), the local community mental health and/or substance abuse services board, and the Mandel School. Each partner pays a portion of the tuition.

- Full news release
- Dual Disorders Fellows Program brochure

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People with severe mental illness and their families in communities throughout Ohio, several other states, and two countries are experiencing an improved quality of life, in part, because of the work being done by the staff of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs).

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U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich, six-term congressman from Cleveland's west side and a former mayor of the city, will deliver this year’s commencement address to the joint Mandel Center and Mandel School 2007 diploma ceremony.

Commencement 2007 Schedule

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"Grace Brody was a widow at age 26, left with a baby son and few prospects."

"Today, the 91-year-old is retired from the faculty at Case Western Reserve University and has donated more than $1.5 million to Case's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences."

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