BURS

Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium (BURS)

BURS provides undergraduates an opportunity to conduct independent research and present it to a community of peers. Each spring students at Belmont gather to present their findings, listen to eminent speakers, and enjoy the company of fellow researchers.

SWK 2008 BURS Presentations

“Aging Out to the Hope of Education and a Better Future” Julia Caruthers-Thorne, Hannah Gentiles, Sarah Hylton, Elizabeth Kearse, Caitlyn Lecksell, Alicia McDonald, & Alison Peak

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Lorraina Q. Scholten

The 105th General Assembly of the Tennessee State Legislature has proposed a bill, HB2960, requiring the state to provide resources to children aging out of foster care in order to allow them to finish their high school diploma, GED, or vocational training program. The “aging out process” is defined as the process in which a child in foster care exits the system at age 18. In this process the children leave state’s custody on their 18th birthday and thus also exit many of the services and support systems that are included in foster care. The legislation states that the youth’s status after age 18 will be voluntary so that the youth has the decision to stay and pursue a high school degree or not. The goal for this bill is to allow these children their right to the completion of their high school education. Homelessness, welfare reliance, and prison stays have been linked to higher percentages of undereducated foster youth. This bill seeks to reduce the frequency of these problems. This study aims to demonstrate how this bill would change the current aging out process and show the possible reduction in the numbers of foster youth who would be dependent on the system in some manner if these changes are not made. Using social work values, including self-determination, this study will argue in favor of HB2960 on both economic and bio-psycho-sociological aspects.

 “What Does Pegram Have to Offer: A Community Analysis”

Kubar Abdi, Julia Caruthers-Thorne, Jessica Chapman, Hannah Gentiles, Stephanie Gregory, Elizabeth Kearse, Cait Lecksell, Alicia McDonald, Hannah Olsen, Alison Peak, Sara Rosenbaum, Lizzie Simpson, January Utermahlen

Faculty Advisor: Sean Muldoon, MSW

Pegram is one of three towns within Cheatham County in the state of Tennessee. Pegram is the smallest of the three incorporated towns and it is located roughly forty-five minutes from Nashville and Davidson County. Its rural setting provides a stark contrast to its metropolitan neighbor. Social Work is a discipline called upon to not only work with individual clients, but groups and communities as well. In this study the discipline of social work advocacy is applied to the town and people of Pegram in order to create a collaborative community analysis of the services available to the community, its history, and its economic and cultural norms. This study demonstrates the strengths and challenges that the community has, as well as the community’s ability to address those challenges by drawing on the resources in the other towns in Cheatham County as well as resources in Metropolitan Nashville. The study analyzes the community of Pegram with regards to what it has to offer as well as what other communities and cities have to offer it.

“Legislation Analysis: Dual Diagnosis Treatment within TennCare”

Authors: Lizzie Simpson, Kubar Abdi, Stephanie Gregory, January Utermahlen, Sara Rosenbaum, Hannah Olson, Jessica Chapman

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Lorraina Scholten

HB 1964 and SB 2024, sponsored by Representative Joe Armstrong and Senator Tim Burchett respectively, seek to amend Tennessee Code Annotated Title 33, Titles 68 and 71 relative to treatment of dual diagnosis. The bills, referenced in TennCare, shape a four-year pilot program to be made up of providers both public and private that treat dually diagnosed women under TennCare.  The program will include a 30-day detoxification program, capabilities to serve pregnant women, comprehensive discharge planning, and components for women in the criminal justice system, components to restore children in state’s custody to their mothers, and treatment for pain management with holistic alternatives. Low-income women seeking drug and alcohol treatment, especially those dually diagnosed, have little choice as far as affordable and available services.  We support this legislation and proposed program to treat and help dually diagnosed women and their families.