Social Service Review

Do What You Love? A Qualitative Study of Unionized Public Mental Health Clinicians’ Labor Organizing Challenges | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 4 Abstract Unionized public mental health clinicians have increasingly engaged in labor organizing to improve their demanding labor conditions and to stem the tide of ongoing public mental health workfo...

📣 Our full December issue is online!

Check out Briana S. Last, Danielle R. Adams, and Rebecca Mirhashem’s qualitative study exploring labor organizing challenges among public mental health clinicians.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

“Playing the Game”: How Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance Recipients Cope with Administrative Burdens | Social Service Review Abstract Administrative burden can impede access to programs for individuals with diminished material and cognitive resources. Research shows that individuals may respond to burdens differently—they a...

Read Katie Savin and Carolyn Barnes' latest article on how SSI and SSDI recipients navigate and cope with administrative burdens by “playing the game.”

Find the full piece in our December issue!

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Perinatal Wage Equity, Parental Leave Access, and Reproductive Justice Among American Indian and Alaska Native Working Mothers in Washington State | Social Service Review Abstract Researchers and policy makers who focus on paid family leave have devoted little attention to American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people. To address this gap, the authors investigate ear...

Check out our December issue!

Read Teresa Abrahamson-Richards and colleagues' new article - Perinatal Wage Equity, Parental Leave Access, and Reproductive Justice Among American Indian and Alaska Native Working Mothers in Washington State.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

What Happens When the Fight for $15 and a Union Is Won? Understanding Workers’ Perceptions and Implications for Organizing | Social Service Review Abstract The Fight for $15 launched a resurgence of the US labor movement. Little research has examined the impact of unions established through this movement, particularly in the health-care industry...

The 2026 Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize has been awarded to Kess Ballentine and colleagues for their article “What Happens When the Fight for $15 and a Union Is Won? Understanding Workers’ Perceptions and Implications for Organizing."

Read for free now!

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

“I Don’t Fit the Stereotypes”: Housing Choice Voucher Recipients and the Navigation of a Voucher Identity | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 3 Abstract This article examines how Housing Choice Voucher Program participants encounter and negotiate stigma during the housing search. The stigmatization of government subsidies is well documented, ...

How do housing voucher recipients navigate stigma during their housing search?

Check out Rachel Engel and colleagues' exploration of recipient experiences and potential policy feedback in our September issue!

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Street-Level Disparities: How Place Shapes the Process of Frontline Child Welfare Investigations | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 3 Abstract Street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) define policy implementation and outcomes through their direct interactions with clients and their discretionary decision-making. SLB choices, though generally...

📣 Our September issue is live!

This issue’s free article, by Melanie Nadon, explores how place shapes street-level decision-making in child welfare investigations and ultimately affects outcomes for families.

@mnadon.bsky.social

🔗 Read it here!

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Debt Strain and Child Protective Services Involvement | Social Service Review Abstract Research has identified a likely causal relationship between economic precarity and both child maltreatment and child protective services (CPS) involvement. Yet little is known about the rela...

How does credit-related economic precarity impact families?

New research by Trisha Chanda and colleagues links "debt strain" to higher risk of CPS involvement - especially for child neglect.

Read now in our September issue 👇

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

📣 Reminder: Call for Papers!
The Next 100 Years: Reflections on the Centennial of SSR

Abstracts due by September 15.

Submit via the SSR Editorial Manager page: www.editorialmanager.com/ucp-ssr/defa...

Wasted Time: Legal Temporal Obligations Among Reentering Citizens | Social Service Review Abstract The expression “doing time” is no longer limited to the forced idleness and penitence of prison. The reentry process now places considerable demands on the time of reentering citizens, who mu...

Read in our September issue!

Timothy Black and colleagues explore how "legal temporal obligations" act as hidden barriers to reentry and employment for those completing community supervision, extending the carceral experience beyond prison walls.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

The Long-Term Impacts of Child Development Accounts on Parental Educational Expectations and College Preparation | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 2 Abstract This article reports the long-term effects of child development accounts (CDAs), a policy fostering asset building for all children, on two educational outcomes: parents’ educational expectat...

Check out our June issue! A longitudinal study shows Child Development Accounts (CDAs) can raise parents’ educational expectations and increase college preparation. CDAs may be a powerful tool for reducing education gaps.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Check out this Imprint feature of Katherine Gibson's important research, including a mention of her SSR article from 2023!

Call for papers!

*The Next 100 Years: Reflections on the Centennial of SSR*

To celebrate 100 years of SSR in 2026, the journal will publish a collection of thought-provoking papers exploring the history, current state, and future of social work and social welfare.

Abstracts due September 15!

Estimating the Antipoverty Effects of Social Security Programs for Children in Multigenerational Families | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 2 Abstract A growing share of children reside in households that include at least one grandparent. Safety net programs have typically been designed for a “traditional” household structure and may not ac...

U.S. children increasingly live in households with grandparents, yet most safety net programs still assume a “traditional” family structure. In our June issue, Lawrence M. Berger and colleagues examine SSA use in multigenerational households.

Read now! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Reciprocal Legibility: How School Social Workers Broker Equity for Legally Precarious Immigrant Students | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 2 Abstract In this article, we explore how school social workers recognize and respond to the precarity of immigrant students in their schools, with particular attention to how they broker resources to ...

As U.S. schools grapple with how to support immigrant students, Benjamin Roth and Leticia Villarreal Sosa examine how school social workers address the needs of undocumented students through the concept of “reciprocal legibility.”

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

The Benefits and Costs of Paid Parental Leave in the United States | Social Service Review Abstract To inform US policy debates about the introduction of a national paid leave program, we conduct a benefit-cost analysis of its introduction. We identify high-quality, quasi-experimental studi...

Check out the free-to-read article in our June issue! Buyi Wang and colleagues examine the benefits and costs of paid parental leave in the U.S.

📖 Read now!

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

The Limits of Human Rights Discourse within Sovereign Territory: Examining US Refugee Policy Formation | Social Service Review: Vol 97, No 2 Abstract Human rights denote universality, moral normativity, and the international community. Citizenship rights, meanwhile, denote particularity, collective identity, and sovereign territory. Yet so...

As the Trump administration challenges birthright citizenship in the Supreme Court and enforces selective refugee admissions, revisit Odessa Gonzalez Benson’s 2023 article on human rights and neoliberal citizenship in U.S. refugee policy discourse.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

New article ahead of print!

Read Matthew Clair and colleagues' latest article -- Spatial Burdens of State Institutions: The Case of Criminal Courthouses

How does space shape access to state institutions and deepen inequality?

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

The 2025 Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize was awarded to Kristen Brock-Petroshius for her article “Race Talk to Change Carceral Attitudes: A Field Experiment on Deep Canvass Organizing."

Read it for free in our December 2024 issue!

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Don’t miss out! Sign up for our Writing Great Book Reviews webinar next Tuesday at 1pm CDT.

Join former SSR editorial assistant, Matthew Borus, PhD, as he shares expert tips on crafting standout book reviews for journals.

REGISTER NOW!
uchicagogroup.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Examining the Role of Public Pre-K Expansions in the Changing Supply of Child Care in Wisconsin | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 1 Abstract Across the United States, the supply of child care is changing, and for many states, this includes a decline in family child care. Family child care and center-based care offer different adva...

Check out Jill Hoiting and colleagues' article in our latest issue! They explore how Pre-K expansions have shaped child care supply in Wisconsin and discuss implications for early care and education policy.

🔗 www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

This is going to be a great event, particularly for early career folks. Everyone is welcome!

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Writing Great Book Reviews. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Have you ever been invited to review a new book for an academic journal, but felt unsure of how to proceed? Book reviews are an important service to the academic world, but few of us were ever taught...

Join us April 8 at 1pm CT for our Writing Great Book Reviews workshop!

Have you ever been invited to review a book for a journal, but felt unsure of how to proceed? This webinar will offer tips on how to craft effective, insightful reviews.

Register here:

uchicagogroup.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Does Reducing Child Benefits Mean Parents Work More? A Mixed-Methods Study of the Labor Market Effects of the United Kingdom’s “Two-Child Limit” | Social Service Review: Vol 99, No 1 Abstract Child benefits can play an important role in supporting families during a life stage of increased household needs. However, they may also have negative effects on parental work incentives, po...

In our latest March 2025 issue, Kitty Stewart and colleagues examine the effects of the UK's "two-child limit" policy on labor market engagement and family well-being.

📖 Read for free now!

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Social Service Review | Vol 99, No 1

🚨 New Issue Alert 🚨

The March 2025 issue is live and available online now!

Check out the latest articles covering:

Child Benefits in the UK
Antidrug Social Work in China
Pre-K Expansion in Wisconsin
And more!

Explore the full issue today: www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/ssr/curr...

Trump’s tax giveaway delivers little for the middle class | GUEST COMMENTARY President Donald Trump’s tax plan serves America’s gilded class more than the middle class, writes Bruce Fuller.

We’re excited to share a recent op-ed from Bruce Fuller, building on findings from an article in our current issue on who benefited from the expanded child tax credit.

Check it out now!
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/02/06/t...

The article is a great example how to use innovative methods to address enduring social problems and social work priorities. We are proud to have published it! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

Social Service Review: Press release

We are thrilled to announce the winner of the 2025 Bruel Prize for the best paper published in SSR: Kristen Brock-Petroshius (@4heartsnminds.bsky.social) for her article “Race Talk to Change Carceral Attitudes: A Field Experiment on Deep Canvass Organizing.” www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/ssr...

Social Service Review: Special collections - The Role of Community in Social Work

Our second collection is entitled "The Role of Community in Social Work" and was curated by Ram Cnaan and Carl Milofsky. Please check out this rich history of one of the central concerns of the field! www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/ssr...

We currently have two special collections published. Our inaugural collection was curated by @yoosunpark.bsky.social and Odessa Gonzalez Benson and is entitled "On Democracy, Liberalism, and Social Work" So timely! It turns out our concerns are not new. www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/ssr...

Social Service Review: Special collections

🚨Introducing SSR Special Collections!
What is a special collection? It is a curated selection of articles, chosen by a guest editor(s), that showcase work published in SSR on a specific topic. All articles chosen are free to read for 6 months! www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/ssr...