Social Policy for Effective Practice (PDF)

Dr. Rosemary Kennedy Chapin is an award-winning teacher and researcher possessing extensive program development experience in the social policy arena. After receiving her PhD, she worked as a research/policy analyst for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, where she was involved in crafting numerous long-term care reform initiatives. In 1989, she joined the faculty at the University of Kansas, where she established the Center for Research on Aging and Disability Options (CRADO). CRADO's mission is improving social service practice and policy for older adults and people with disabilities, particularly those with low incomes. She retired from the University of Kansas in 2018. A prolific author, she is renowned for her work on the strengths perspective, home-based and community-based supports and services, and social policy. In 1995, she reformulated strengths principles to guide policy practice in an article published in the journal Social Work. This textbook grew out of that foundational strengths policy practice scholarship. Many of her other research publications have helped shape Medicaid long-term care policy reform. She has been recognized by many groups at both the state and federal levels for her years of cutting-edge research and advocacy. In 2016, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) chose her to join the ranks of pioneers in social work honored by the profession. If you would like to learn more about the work of past and present leaders in the field, including Dr. Chapin, search the web for "NASW Social Work Pioneers." She has also been singled out for her pioneering policy practice work by the national organization Influencing Social Policy. She and her husband have three children and live in Lawrence, Kansas.