Social Work Faculty Members Invited to Present at U.S. Department of the Treasury

Kameri Christy-McMullin, associate professor, and Marcia Shobe, director of the University of Arkansas School of Social Work, have been invited to an invitation-only workshop titled "Exploring the Intersection between Financial Capability and Domestic Violence," on May 17 at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington.

The invitation comes from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s office of financial education and financial access, the office of the vice president, the White House Council on Women and Girls, the U.S. Social Security Administration, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Financial Security.

Christy-McMullin was also invited to provide the following presentation workshop for attendees: "Building the Capacity of Human Service Providers to Deliver Financial Literacy to Domestic Violence Survivors."

The goal of this workshop is to encourage further research and understanding about the impact of domestic violence on personal financial capability, and to better understand the links between domestic violence and individual and household financial well-being and capability. Workshop attendees are comprised of researchers, practitioners, and policy makers; they will spend the day exploring and discussing the intersection of financial capability and domestic violence over the life course. This is an important step toward shaping a blueprint for future research in this area, particularly research that can inform practice and policy.

Christy-McMullin and Shobe have collaborated on economic development research and community development projects for the past 13 years. Christy-McMullin’s research areas of expertise are related to interpersonal violence; gender issues; economic and health discrepancies, and economic development. Shobe has collaborated with colleagues from social work, nursing, epidemiology and health administration to examine the effects of household income and assets on health and mental health risk factors and outcomes, including functional status, health literacy, and domestic violence for African American, First Nations, Latino, and non-Hispanic white women and children.

In the past several years, Christy-McMullin, Shobe and their research team have also conducted qualitative and quantitative research with low-income, diverse adolescents who participate in a program designed to match their savings for post-secondary education. Their longitudinal, multi-state research projects are currently funded by the Ford Foundation and the Indiana Housing Authority.