SSSP Sociology & Social Welfare Division Newsletter Summer 2023 Greetings Division Members! Dear SSW Division Members: Hello everyone. This is Bill Cabin, the new senior co-chair of the Division. Tracy Peressini joins me as co-chair for the 2023-2025 term. I have been here before, many years ago, as Division chair. I am glad to be back as I enter my 20th year as a SSSP member. Our Division has a long history of being at the forefront of social issues within SSSP. Our role is even more important now as multiple social issues persist and, unfortunately, in many cases have become worse. We also are entering a crucial and exciting time for SSSP, as multiple changes accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to change the landscape of academia and its professional societies and associations. We rely on your knowledge and creativity in keeping both the Division and SSSP vital and look forward to working with you. My best, Bill Cabin Email: wcabin@umich.edu Recent Publications From Division Members Cabin, W. (2023). ÒThey Are Measures Without ImpactÓ: Home Care Social Workers Criticize OASIS-E. Home Health Care Management and Practice, Accepted March 26, 2023. Cabin, W. (2023). ÒThey Live in an Isolation ChamberÓ: Medicare Fails the Depressed Homebound Elderly. Home Health Care Management and Practice, Accepted March 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/10848223231165274 Davis, M.T., Bohler, R., Hodgkin, D., Hamilton, G., Horgan, C. (2023).The Role of Health Plans in Addressing the Opioid Crisis: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.josat.2023.209022 Annual Division Meeting The annual Sociology and Social Welfare division meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 26 from 1-2:30 pm EST. Members will be sent a calendar invite. SSSP Annual Meeting Please join us at the SSSP Annual Meeting for the following Sociology & Social Welfare division-sponsored and co-sponsored sessions. Friday, August 18, 2023 Experiences of Essential Workers and Health Care Workers in the Context of a Continuing Pandemic Time: 8:30 am- 10:10am Room: Salon 5 & 6 Sponsors: Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Labor Studies Sociology and Social Welfare Organizers: Christina Barmon, Central Connecticut State University Noreen M. Sugrue, The Latino Policy Forum and The Council of International Neonatal Nurses Presider: Christina Barmon, Central Connecticut State University Discussant: Noreen M. Sugrue, The Latino Policy Forum and The Council of International Neonatal Nurses Description: COVID-19 exposed the working conditions of those who perform critical services that uphold and support communities and the economy. This session highlights the experiences of healthcare workers and essential workers during the peak of the pandemic. Social Safety Net Programs Time: 12:30 pm- 2:10 pm Room: Freedom E Sponsors: Poverty, Class, and Inequality Sociology and Social Welfare Organizers: Zachary D. Kline, University of Connecticut Ethan J. Evans, California State University, Sacramento Presider: Ethan J. Evans, California State University, Sacramento Description: While often at risk of reduction, scholarship and evaluation of safety net programs is essential. This session will highlight work adding to the field. Creating Communities of Care and Wellbeing Time: 2:30pm-4:10pm Room: Freedom E Sponsors: Society and Mental Health Sociology and Social Welfare Organizers: Erica Jablonski, University of New Hampshire Miriam J. Landsman, The University of Iowa Presider: Miriam J. Landsman, The University of Iowa Description: This session explores diverse contexts in which communities of care and well-being have emerged to respond to recurring social problems in new ways. Participants will learn about research with five different examples of such communities of care: Native people striving to preserve their culture and tribal sovereignty; women who have lost custody of their children due to substance use; peer support specialists bringing lived experience with a mental health challenge to support peers; rural consumers of personal caregiving services; and a homeless communityÕs experience in building social ties. Arts Based Justice: Using Art to Respond to Social Problems Time: 10:30am-12:10pm Room: Salon 3 & 4 Sponsor: Sociology and Social Welfare Organizer & Presider: Greer Hamilton, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Description: In 1961, James Baldwin said ÒYou read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that he is alone. This is why art is important. Art would not be important if life were not important, and life is important.Ó As we deal with persistent social problems it is important to remember the varied ways we can think and act on these problems. Art can be a mechanism for resistance, remembrance, and liberation. This session will feature a range of arts-based approaches, including visual methodologies and theatre, used to discuss social problems globally.