Ron Avi Astor, professor of social welfare at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and Marjorie Crump Chair in Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, took part in a congressional hearing on “Bringing the Power of Social Work to Schools” on Sept. 23.
Professor Astor discussed his recent findings on the increase of hunger in schools, as he recently shared in an op-ed for CNN. He called on schools to provide critical social services for basic needs such as food, health care and housing for students and their families.
“There are needs at a mass scale that we probably haven’t seen in our country since the Great Depression,” said Astor, citing a recent policy brief he co-authored.
Professor Astor urged policymakers, education professionals, social workers and scholars to consider key questions of: “What do want our schools to look like in our country? What kind of democracy do we want to have? Should the zip code of a child dictate the kind of resources and opportunities they have?”
For more information and to view the congressional hearing on YouTube, visit the UCLA Luskin School website. (Astor begins speaking at 11:46)
Visit this link read Professor Astor’s research brief on “Opening Schools Safely in the COVID-19 Era: School Social Workers’ Experiences and Recommendations.”