The Routledge Handbook on Financial Social Work explicates the financial needs, issues, and interventions within populations and theoretical approaches, and it assists clinician practitioners in intervening expertly and comprehensively. This book covers a range of issues in populations seeking services around complex financial needs and struggles, including those in the child welfare system; those with housing issues or facing homelessness; those coping with chronic and acute medical and psychiatric illnesses; those recovering from interpersonal violence; those facing recovery from incarceration; children and families involved in the child welfare system; and much more. In addition, policies will be woven in to inform the work. This book thoroughly explores research and evidence-based interventions around each population, and teaches clinicians to understand and treat financial distress holistically and empathically.

This handbook will explain why understanding financial capability in these populations is so critical and how clinicians can step up their practices to meet those needs. Professionals from multiple disciplines ranging from financial therapists to social workers to financial coaches to financial planners will find this handbook eminently useful.

About the Author

Christine Callahan is Research Associate Professor with the Financial Social Work Initiative (FSWI) at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She joined the FSWI in July 2012 and conducts research to grow the FSWI as a national leader in financial capability. Dr Callahan received her MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1993 and her PhD in social work from the Catholic University of America in 2012. She worked as a clinician for 20 years at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. Since 1999, Dr Callahan has presented regularly at national conferences, including AOSW, SSWR, CSWE, and SWHPCN General Assembly, and has written steadily on psychosocial issues related to cancer and social work practice and financial capability, including in The Journal of Social Work Education, Social Work in Health Care, and The Journal of Psychosocial Oncology.

Jodi Jacobson Frey is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Chair of the Employee Assistance sub-specialization and Financial Social Work Initiative. Her MSW and PhD degrees were earned from the University of Maryland. Dr Frey's research focuses on adult behavioral health and suicide prevention. She integrates public health social work approaches to work towards improving the quality of life, including financial well-being, for working-aged adults and their family members. She has published over 45 peer-reviewed journal articles in leading journals and is regularly asked to present her research internationally. Dr Frey is the Co-Editor in Chief for the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health.

Rachel Imboden is a PhD student in the University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore. Rachel worked as a human service professional and social worker for over 15 years and received her MSW from Temple University in 2009. Her research interests include workforce development and ethics in social work practice-including how political and economic factors impact both.

Reviews

The social determinants of health (and education) are now well understood-much less clear are the array of clinical, organizational and policy interventions that can improve financial well-being. This Routledge Handbook of Financial Social Work: Direct Practice for Vulnerable Populations is the first of its kind and crisply presents a powerful set of ways that social workers and allies can help individuals, families, and communities turn the corner to gain traction up the treacherously sloped path away from financial distress. The chapters are grounded in solid science and deep practice. This volume should have a place in the syllabi of many courses and trainings and on the desk of the many who could better assist their clients if their own expertise about financial social work was greater.

Richard P. Barth, PhD, MSW, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Chair of the Grand Challenges for Social Work.

The CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) were established with the dual intent of creating continuity among our social work education programs and providing flexibility so that programs can respond to our ever-changing environmental landscape and contexts. While there is substantial history of financial social work, this Routledge Handbook of Financial Social Work: Direct Practice for Vulnerable Populations makes a strong case for why this is essential knowledge for contemporary social work today and will be a fabulous resource for programs seeking to strengthen the toolkit for the next generation of social workers to become champions for economic justice.

Darla Spence Coffey, PhD, MSW, President and Chief Executive Officer, Council on Social Work Education.

The Routledge Handbook on Financial Social Work: Direct Practice with Vulnerable Populations is a substantive deep dive into the social service world's multiple "SuperVitamin Effect" opportunities that we and our municipal government partners see as key to large-scale and sustainable financial empowerment. Thank you to Callahan, Frey, and Imboden for this thorough - and practical - new resource!

Jonathan Mintz, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund.

Social workers fully understand the importance of finances on family well-being, but are often limited by a lack of training and encouragement to address clients' financial struggles. This timely book by experts in financial social work is a valuable resource for those seeking to integrate financial assessments and effective interventions into a wide range of practice settings. Readers will discover strategies and tools to enable diverse groups of people - through direct intervention, program and policy innovations and advocacy, and research - to achieve financial stability and security.

Margaret Sherraden, PhD, Research Professor, Washington University in St Louis.

Former Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) gave strong support for Financial Social Work skills and practice as a critical skill for social work students and practitioners in the field. During her address at the Daniel Thursz Social Justice Lecture (University of Maryland School of Social Work, Spring 2019), she said, "First of all, I think that the issue of income and social disparities are the challenge of our time, and we must deal with the disparity situation aggressively and forcibly. For social work, though, I've been seeing all the wonderful and diverse majors that you have now that I didn't have when I was here, like financial social work. I think that's terrific!"

Book Information
ISBN 9781032239460
Author Christine Callahan
Format Paperback
Page Count 158
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g