Fall 2009 - Columbia University School of Social Work

Message from the DeanThis has been an eventful, challenging year for our nation and the world. Astruggling economy with high unemployment rates, the reshuffling of the globalorder, 45 million Americans without health insurance, rapid global warming,turmoil in Afghanistan, an education system in need of transformation, andfears around H1N1 and its possible impact upon particularly younger segments ofour population are just a few of the challenges with which we are confronted.It is particularly in difficult times that professional social workers can demonstratetheir value at all levels of our society. This was nowhere more evident thanwhen I served as a member of the Obama transition team responsible for assessingthe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and offering policy, program, personnel, and managementrecommendations to the new Administration. I was moved and heartened by the comprehensive scope of ourwork and the depth of our discussions. An ambitious HHS policy agenda with a strengthened National Institutes ofHealth will have important ramifications for schools such as ours.Our faculty are renowned experts in a wide range of areas including infant and child development, at-risk youth,family well-being, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, aging, alcohol and substance abuse, immigration, community andsocial development, employment, and administrative processes that can impact service delivery. Groundbreakingresearch and interventions developed at our School in New York City and at sites in Africa, Asia, Latin America, andthe Middle East are improving the lives of people in communities in our own neighborhood and around the world.In this issue of Spectrum, we present the work of some of our faculty and alumni in education, immigration andchildren’s rights. The cover story highlights Dr. Jane Waldfogel’s study of income-related gaps in cognitive and behavioralaspects of school readiness in the U.S. and U.K. With the Obama administration prepared to spend $5 billion on earlychildhood programs and another $5 billion on closing achievement gaps, her research has important implications forinvesting in early childhood initiatives. Spectrum also showcases the fine work of Associate Professor Neeraj Kaushal,a labor economist whose enthusiastically received research focuses on social issues such as immigration and the economiceffects of the recession on immigrants in the U.S. Also included in this issue are stories of Michael Day, whowas motivated by his experience as a Marine sergeant in Iraq to study public policy at the School and of alumnus PaulFiszman, whose work as a child protection specialist for UNICEF in Africa is helping to advance children’s rights.Social workers leave a profound imprint on the lives of the people they serve. The wave of renewed hope andrevitalized commitment to social engagement and community organizing resonates with our profession. We areproud of our alumni and delighted that Vice President Joseph Biden named Jared Bernstein, who is a graduate ofour doctoral program, as his chief economic advisor. Because we prepare professionals to engage in social policyformulation, the design of systems of care, social enterprise administration, the provision of clinical services, socialintervention and policy research, and social development, I am certain that many more of our alumni will appearin leadership roles in government.True to its tradition, the School is preparing the best and brightest to be effective agents of social change.The very best to you,Jeanette C. TakamuraDean