News: Social Policy

The La Follette School of Public Affairs and Department of Political Science at UW–Madison along with the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) are hosting a series of Real Town Hall events in preparation for the 2018 midterm elections.  

Before entering the La Follette School, Emily Frank served as a legal advocate for people facing issues with their food stamps and public assistance in New York City.

In light of concerns about Social Security’s costs and benefit adequacy, La Follette School Professors Tim Smeeding and Pam Herd along with colleagues at The Urban Institute and Syracuse University propose an effective and relatively inexpensive targeted program to provide a minimally adequate income floor to old-age income through the Social Security system.

La Follette School Professor Bobbi Wolfe will present her emerging research with Psychology Professor Seth Pollak during Neuroscience, Poverty, and Policy - a public presentation in Milwaukee on March 8.

The most recent issue of Focus, the flagship publication of the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), features the work of four La Follette School faculty members, including University of Wisconsin–Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank.

Learning the theories behind policymaking and public management has been really eye opening. There were so many times in class where I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, that totally happened to me at our organization!”

The Russell Sage Foundation awarded funding to La Follette School Professor Pam Herd and two colleagues from Stanford University for their research that analyzes newly available genomic data from a sample of older adults in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. The researchers will examine the role of polygenic scores in influencing educational, occupational, and economic outcomes.

La Follette School Professor Pam Herd presented her winning proposal in AARP’s Policy Innovation Challenge during a forum convened by the National Academy of Social Insurance and AARP on October 19. The day-long event in Washington, D.C., explored new ideas in Social Security policy.

La Follette School Professor Jason Fletcher will discuss his pioneering research that explores the integration of sociology and genetics – sometimes called socio-genomics – in Green Bay on October 24 and in Madison on November 5.

Katie Maguire-Jack (MPA ’06) and two colleagues received a $3 million grant to address substance abuse problems in Ohio. Maguire-Jack, who received her doctorate in social welfare from UW–Madison, is an assistant professor at The Ohio State University’s College of Social Work.