Study: Children of Lesbian Couples Do Better
EDGE Boston
Averett, Blace Nalavany (also of East Carolina University), and the University of Texas School of Social Work’s Scott Ryan interviewed gay parents from around the U.S., and also drew on information from the child welfare system of the state of Florida.

Race conference at Pitt emphasizes solutions
University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News
In his welcome speech to participants on Thursday night, Larry Davis, dean of Pitt’s School of Social Work, explained that America’s current financial crisis represents the perfect time for a restructuring of country’s systems to improve racial equality.

Depression and anxiety: Readers reveal the therapists and drugs that helped
Consumer Reports
Psychologists (Ph.D.s), social workers (M.S.W.s), and licensed professional counselors (L.P.C.s) received equal helpfulness ratings from those who had talk therapy.

Larry E. Davis, photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work and Center on Race and Social Problems will hold a conference examining the state of minorities in America, according to this article in Pittsburgh-Tribune Review.

The conference, which lasts June 3-6, will look at how minorities are affected by economics, education, criminal justice, race relations, health, mental health, and families, youths and the elderly.

“America is in the process of rebuilding. So is Pittsburgh,” said Larry E. Davis, director of Pitt’s Center on Race and Social Problems and dean of the School of Social Work. “This is a great opportunity for us to take advantage of the down time and make a better product.”

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

The forum examined the scientific, historic, legal and socio-cultural role of race in American society. Several National Association of Social Workers members attended.

It’s not too late to catch the forum. Click here to watch it on C-SPAN’s Web site.

To find out more about NASW’s work to end racism read Institutional Racism and the Social Work Profession: A Call to Action.

School of Social Work Dean Larry Davis

The United States elected its first African American president but skin color still has a big impact on a person’s place in society. The University of Pittsburgh has launched a new journal to examine this dilemma.

“Race and Social Problems” looks at the impact of race on a variety of issues, including criminal justice, economic conditions, education, the elderly and mental health.

The quarterly journal from the university’s School of Social Work and Center on Race and Social Problems publishes original empirical studies, reviews of past research, theoretical studies and essays from social work experts.

“It has a potentially broad reach,” said Larry Davis, dean of the university’s School of Social Work and director of the center.  ”It reaches across disciplines, it reaches across ethnicity or racial groups.”

The journal is not the university’s sole effort to address racial issues. The University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work and Center on Race and Social Problems will also sponsor a “Race in America” conference June 3-10 to examine ways to restructure American society to make it more racially equitable.