University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration

The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration is among the nation’s most prominent social work schools. This award supports the University’s convening of a national conference on Promising Solutions to Advance the Era of Smart Decarceration. The conference is expected to attract 200 practitioners, researchers, policymakers and community members, and will promote the integration of research, practice, and policy into the building and sustaining of a new era of decarceration.

The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration is one of the country’s leading social work graduate schools. In 2006 and in 2009, the Foundation funded the research team to explore the implementation and community-building process at three mixed-income developments at former public housing sites in Chicago. This grant supports continued analysis by researchers to mine the rich sets of data that were created through the Foundation’s previous support to further explore and disseminate findings on mixed-income communities. Researchers also will plan a future in-depth research project on the experience of youth affected by the CHA’s Plan for Transformation.

To support the study, Building Mixed-Income Communities: Documenting the Chicago Experience (over three years).

In support of research to document the experiences and outcomes of public housing residents who move into mixed-income developments (over three years).

For efforts to ensure that the social services available to public housing families match their needs.