Baylor research reveals effects of time, age, education, and income on birth mothers’ satisfaction following ‘life-altering decision’.

New research finding from the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work could change the adoption landscape for birth mothers.

Baylor states there is a consensus among researchers that for many birth mothers the experience of placing their children for adoption brings negative feelings of satisfaction.

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A majority of young adults with severe mental illness—bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or major depression—consider religion and spirituality relevant to their mental health, according to a new study from Baylor University.

Holly Oxhandler, associate dean for research and faculty development in Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, served as lead author on the study, published in the journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice.

Researchers examined data from 55 young adults, ages 18-25, with serious mental illness who had used crisis emergency services. Of the 55 young adults interviewed, 34 “mentioned religion or spirituality in the context of talking about their mental health symptoms and service use with little-to-no prompting,” researchers wrote.

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Both of her parents grew up in poverty, and she says she then grew up with some wealth. She is the daughter of an immigrant and a woman of color. This all ties closely to her calling of social work education and social justice. In her work as a professor of social work, Luci's areas of interest include diversity, ethical faith integration in social work practice, work with children and families, curriculum development, and undergrad student experiences. And, she was the first person in her family to attend college. Luci Ramos Hoppe: social work professor.

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Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Abraham Mathew to the Nursing Facility Administrators Advisory Committee for a term set to expire on February 1, 2021. Additionally, the Governor appointed Amanda Burnett and Sheila Haley, Ph.D. and reappointed Dennis Myers, Ph.D. for terms set to expire on February 1, 2023. The committee provides the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services with recommendations for licensure sanctions and rule changes for the Nursing Facility Administrator Licensing Program.

Last Sunday we drove nearly 500 miles from Waco to Brownsville, Texas, to pray. When we got there, what we really wanted to do was sneak through the fence, over a wall and through a window of the repurposed, former Walmart used to house children forcibly separated from their migrant parents.

We wanted to sit on the floor and hold babies, toddlers and preschoolers in our laps and wait with them until their mamas could come. We wanted to hear the names and listen to the stories of every child inside that facility. We wanted to shake the guards at the entrance by the shoulders and remind them that these are babies – children – someone else’s very best, most precious gift. We wanted to ask how on earth they could just stand there.

But we knew we could not get inside the building, the largest of the facilities where children from migrant families seeking asylum in the U.S. have been housed. Instead, we stood vigil with a group of people committed to praying, to speaking the injustice aloud and to declaring that our allegiance is to God – and that separating children from their families in this way is not only untenable but decidedly unbiblical, un-Christian and un-American.

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BROWNSVILLE, Texas—Cooperative Baptists gathered near the U.S.-Mexico border and declared “not on our watch” to political forces that use children’s freedom as a deterrent to parents who seek safety for their daughters and sons in the United States.

They prayed, read Scripture and sang in Brownsville, Texas, standing beside the largest immigrant detention center in the country, which houses more than 1,000 children and teenagers. News crews also descended on the location, where only hours earlier, a 15-year-old boy escaped.

Fellowship Southwest organized the vigil in partnership with eight other groups concerned for immigrants. They sought justice for more than 2,300 children separated from their parents by the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.

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“It is sad we have to gather on a day like this, in a situation like this,” said Jon Singletary, dean of the Diana Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. In seeking safety and security for their children, “families have to make hard decisions, life-and-death decisions,” he noted. “I cannot imagine my children being used as a deterrent to decisions I might make.”

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(Picture from Facebook.)