Category: SPI News

Male Caregivers and Engagement in a Family Strengthening Program for Child Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Abstract Awareness and interest in involving male caregivers in child mental health treatment has grown, especially for youth with disruptive behavior disorders like oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between male caregiver involvement and treatment engagement for child ODD. Children (n = 122) ages 7–11 and their caregivers participated […]

Tackling Disparities in Child Education Amidst COVID-19 Recovery: Lessons from Israel

Yung Chun, Oren Heller, Jason Jabbari, Yaniv Shlomo, Ayala Hendin, Fanice Thomas  and Michal Grinstein-Weiss The COVID-19 pandemic made significant and wide-ranging impacts on child education by disrupting learning process and exacerbating existing inequalities across continents. School closures intended to curb the virus’s spread, resulted in reduced instructional time and limited access to crucial resources […]

Fostering Inclusive Policy Research: Embracing a Participatory Approach

By Katie Ragsdale & Katie Kristensen At the Social Policy Institute (SPI), we are deeply committed to fostering inclusive and impactful policy research. We recognize that the traditional top-down approach to policymaking often neglects the voices and experiences of communities and stakeholders most impacted by the problem at hand. Over the past two years, we […]

Participatory Research for Guaranteed Income: In Her Hands

By Katie Ragsdale, Katie Kristensen, Dr. Leah Hamilton, and Dr. Latrice Rollins The Social Policy Institute (SPI) seeks to shift to a participatory approach throughout its research and programming. Our working definition of a participatory approach draws on the theory and practice of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). While CBPR is not always feasible or appropriate […]

Social Policy Institute Welcomes Second Cohort of Doctoral Scholars

We’re thrilled to announce and welcome a new group of emerging leaders in policy research and translation to the JPMC Social Policy Research Scholars Program! This initiative, now in its second year, supports doctoral students from historically marginalized groups underrepresented in academia in their efforts to create a more inclusive, socially, racially, and economically just […]

St. Louis Social Sector Leaders Discuss Data Equity at STL DataFest 2024

What is the role of data in improving impact? And why is this a matter of equity? St. Louis social sector leaders addressed these questions in a panel discussion at STL DataFest 2024 titled Power in Numbers: How Data for Social Impact Cultivates Inclusive Growth on Friday, May 17. The panel was moderated by Simon Huang, Chief Technology Officer for […]

Data for Social Impact Initiative Launches Data Equity Learning Cohort

To build connection and capacity for social sector leaders in equitable, collaborative data practice, Data for Social Impact (DSI), an initiative of the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, launched a Data Equity learning cohort in January 2024 in collaboration with Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) of the University of Pennsylvania. […]

Mastercard Impact Fund renews grant to Social Policy Institute

Latest $1.5M grant will extend ongoing work to foster inclusive economic growth in St. Louis The Mastercard Impact Fund, with support from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth —a founding partner of the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis — will continue its support for SPI with a second round of […]

Social Policy Institute to study impact of short-term credentials on advancing equity and meeting local labor market demands

Contact: Jason Jabbari, Associate Director of Community Partnerships, Social Policy Institutejabbari.jason@wustl.edu. ST. LOUIS, Missouri (August 28, 2023) – The Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis has received a two-year, $475,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation. These funds will support a research project aiming to understand the impact of short-term credentials on […]

JPMorgan Chase awards $1.6 million grant to address employment vulnerability of low-wage frontline workers

JPMorgan Chase has awarded a $1.6 million grant to the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis in aid of its Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) Project to address the employment vulnerability of low-wage frontline and essential workers. Through this work, SPI will build a better understanding of the public policy […]

Free Online Course Focuses on Cultivating Collaborative and Equitable Data Practices

Data for Social Impact, an initiative of the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, has launched a free online course for social sector professionals. While many courses develop technical data skills, this course—designed with, by, and for social sector leaders—supports organizations in cultivating equitable, collaborative data practices. Each module includes worksheets, resource […]

Launch of a new Social Policy Research Scholars program with the first cohort of doctoral students

The Social Policy Institute is proud to announce the launch of our Social Policy Research Scholars Program. With support from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the program supports doctoral students from historically marginalized populations underrepresented in academia in their research endeavors to achieve an inclusive society that is socially, racially and economically just.  The scholars program […]

Data for Social Impact Summit [Five Key Takeaways]

In November 2022, the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis hosted Data is for Everyone: A Data for Social Impact Summit.   The summit’s goal was to build connection and capacity among social sector organizations to cultivate equitable, community-centered data practices. The event featured 21 local and national speakers across five panels. Each […]

Op-ed: We have the tools to end childhood poverty. Why don’t we?

One year after the last monthly Child Tax Credit payment, Congress has failed to gather enough support to extend this program, which our research suggests provided a critical safety net to American families. A key part of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Child Tax Credit provided $3,600 for each child under six and $3,000 for each child […]

Habitat for Humanity International awards $350,000 to investigate impact of housing on wealth building

Yung Chun, research assistant professor of the Social Policy Institute and Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, received a $350,000 research award from Habitat for Humanity International to evaluate homeownership programs implemented by local Habitat affiliates and investigate the impact on wealth building for households with low incomes. Through this project, the Social […]

Changes in food insecurity levels during the COVID-19 economic crisis: Differences based on sociodemographic factors

By Oren Heller, research director, Israel; Yaniv Shlomo, Data Analyst, Israel; Hayley Kalb, communications assistant; Michal Grinstein-Weiss, founding director Food insecurity is a national problem with short and long-term consequences that harm the economy and society. This problem was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the labor market changed, affecting the disposable income of many […]

Lessons from a global team

I truly believe we can accomplish more by stepping outside of our own culture and seek to understand and learn from each other. This is what makes SPI’s global approach to its work so impactful. I look forward to hosting WashU colleagues in Israel next time.

Human-centered approach to benefits research for health care field

By Kourtney Gilbert, program coordinator, SPI As researchers, we work a lot with numbers on a page. These numbers often feel distant from the people they represent, or the policy and practices we hope to inform. For this reason, when the Social Policy Institute launched its Building on Benefits research project aimed at better understanding […]

Household Financial Security: What can we learn from research in the U.K.?

A Trans-Atlantic Policy Forum could bring together academic researchers,
policy makers, advocates, and corporate leaders in the U.S. and U.K. to develop
insights to fuel changes in public policies and corporate behavior to promote the
financial security of low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals and families.