From the Dean
Dean's Message
Jane Addams Alumni and Friends,
Spring is officially here; the semester and academic year are almost over, and our students who are graduating are counting the days to commencement. It has been a very good year at the College with many positive accomplishments and reasons for celebration. In addition to faculty and staff receiving prestigious awards, our research and sponsored projects portfolio is robust, student and peer reviews of the curriculum and teaching are highly positive, and our social impact is evident. While good, the year has been challenging for higher education institutions and JACSW as well. In an era and environment where facts are dismissed as irrelevant and social justice as discriminatory, we have remained true to mission and to teaching, research, and service that show that mission in action. At the heart of our work are caring and concern for disadvantaged, marginalized and vulnerable populations and the social policies and practices that affect them.
This issue of Affirmations provides overviews of work we are doing in collaboration with community partners to enhance the behavioral health workforce and services delivery system in Illinois. Featured are how the Jane Addams Center for Social Policy and Research is assisting the state of Illinois in overhauling its response system to better help individuals who are experiencing a mental or behavioral emergency; a new website toolkit developed by the JACSW’s Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Center that will assist behavioral health organizations retain their staff; and a recap of the 30th Karen J. Honig Memorial Lecture, where Trina Reynolds-Tyler presented “Missing and Forgotten Women: Lost in the Shadows.”
Your support does not go unnoticed, and we truly appreciate it. We always like hearing from you, so please feel free to reach out. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Creasie Finney Hairston, PhD
Dean