Center for Social Development

Director: Michael Sherraden

Home Page: http://gwbweb.wustl.edu/csd/ Location: 46F Goldfarb Hall Email: csd@gwbmail.wustl.edu Telephone: (314) 935-7433

The Center for Social Development (CSD) is a unit of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work (GWB) at Washington University in St. Louis. The impetus for creating CSD was from Dean Shanti Khinduka, and the Center began in 1994 with Michael Sherraden as the founding director. Although relatively young as an organization, CSD has established itself as a leading academic center in social development.

Social development refers to focusing on development and building capacities of individuals, families, and communities, in contrast to a more traditional social services focus on maintenance and problem solving. CSD has a multipurpose agenda encompassing social theory, research, policy innovation, projects in the community, and teaching. CSD projects connect academic and applied interests and build bridges across public, non-profit, and private sectors. Both academic excellence and real-world involvement are emphasized. The watchwords are inquiry, innovation, and impact.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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Training social work professionals for public service roles School of Social Work offers new full-tuition Richard A. Gephardt Public Service Scholarship June 19, 2006 -- Gephardt The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis announces the new Richard A. Gephardt Public Service Scholarship. Recognizing the need for trained social work professionals who engage in public service roles and who promote civic inclusion, this two-year full-tuition award will help advance the education of individuals committed to making a difference through service with a focus on stimulating volunteerism and political engagement. Applications for the Gephardt Public Service Scholarship are available at http://gwbweb.wustl.edu/academic/msw/admission.asp. For more information about the School of Social Work or to find out about additional scholarship opportunities for the fall, call 935-6676.

Asset building is the key Ford Foundation grant helps the Center for Social Development invest in the poor Nov. 28, 2005 -- At the Center for Social Development (CSD) in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Michael Sherraden, Ph.D., and his faculty colleagues, staff, and graduate students are dedicating themselves to addressing the root causes of poverty and finding solutions. To this end, CSD has found a partner in the Ford Foundation, a philanthropic organization whose goals include asset building to create better societies.

Small Grants and Fellows Program Center for Social Development announces the 2005 recipients of the Civic Service Small Research Grants March 29, 2005 -- The Center for Social Development (CSD) at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis recently announced the 2005 grant recipients of its Civic Service Small Research Grants and Fellows Program. This program is part of the Global Service Institute (GSI) research initiative funded by the Ford Foundation.

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Faculty Experts:

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Amanda Moore McBride Assistant Professor of Social Work Amanda McBride Download Amanda Moore McBride specializes in civic engagement and civic service, which is a type of long-term, intensive volunteering. She researches inclusive definitions and measurement of civic engagement, international service and global citizenship, youth service as youth development, and the relationship ... Expertise: civic engagement, civic service, social development, asset development, qualitative field methods and analysis, international and comparative research Direct contact: (314) 935-9778 / ammcbride@gwbmail.wustl.edu

Michael Sherraden Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development Michael Sherraden Download Michael Sherraden works on creating, implementing, and studying policy and community innovations, focusing on the least advantaged, and drawing lessons from historical and international examples. Research on asset building, community and family development, service, productive aging, welfare reform, ... Expertise: IDAs, asset-building, community and family development, productive aging, social and economic development, welfare reform Direct contact: (314) 935-6691 / sherrad@gwbmail.wustl.edu

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Related News Clips:

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Retirement Cash: Will You Have Enough? Readers Digest (NY) Sept. 7, 2007 -- There's a gap between the dream of retirement and the reality Americans face. A recent study from WUSTL School of Social Work estimates that 4 out of 10 people over age 60 will fall below the poverty line at some point in their later years. Countless more will watch their dream retirement fade as they discover that their savings barely cover their immediate needs. But the prospect of fiscal free fall has yet to alter most Americans' behavior, and baby boomers are saving a scant third of what they'll need.

In N.Va., Let Down By a Rising Economy Washington Post, Seattle Times and 5 others Feb. 28, 2007 -- Article looks at a growing underside of the vibrant, rapidly shifting economy of northern Virginia, where the high cost of housing and the unpredictable nature of the job market can plunge workers into poverty and homelessness. The situation in northern Virginia is similar to those surfacing nationwide. WUSTL social work professor Mark Rank is one of the experts commenting.

Baby boomers seen as source of global volunteers The Washington Times Dec. 6, 2006 -- Volunteer agencies were urged yesterday to tap into the pool of aging and retiring baby boomers at a forum on international volunteerism at the Brookings Institution. The goal of the Brookings initiative is to double international volunteerism in three years, from 50,000 people to 100,000 people. Margaret Sherraden, researcher at WUSTL's Center for Social Development, comments on international volunteerism.

New programs spur working poor to begin saving Wall Street Journal Jan. 11, 2006 -- An increasing number of state governments, nonprofit groups, foundations and private companies have been running pilot programs to induce poor and working-class Americans to save. The results, they say, are surprising: When participants get the right incentives and financial counseling, many open savings accounts, arrange for payroll deductions, and begin accumulating assets. The savings programs have their roots in the work of WUSTL professor and social worker Michael Sherraden. His 1991 book, "Assets and the Poor," argued that governments and charitable groups should move beyond traditional welfare's aim to provide the poor with income to meet immediate needs. The broader goal, he wrote, should be to help the poor save money, which can provide them a stepping stone to escaping poverty.

Barrio study links land ownership to a better life Wall Street Journal Nov. 9, 2005 -- Story on the San Francisco Solano study, a provocative research project that examines if land ownership lifts people out of poverty. The study was conducted by two Argentine universities and Harvard Business School. The researchers found that landownership status seemed to make no difference in employment or income. But it did seem to affect the way residents spent their money, and their aspirations and expectations. WUSTL Nobel Prize-winning economist Douglass North, a specialist in property rights, comments.