Rutgers professor becomes fellow at national social welfare academy

Kathleen Pottick, a professor in the Rutgers School of Social Work and faculty member of Rutgers’ Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH), has been selected to be a fellow for the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW), according to a press release. 

Continuing her work as a clinical social worker in New Jersey who tries to remove the barriers preventing children and adolescents from seeking help for their mental health, Pottick will join a national organization committed to social welfare research, according to AASWSW’s website. 

In the past, Pottick has researched racial and ethnic disparities in mental health service use among children and adolescents with serious emotional disorders, according to the release. Pottick has also analyzed outpatient mental health services for minority inner-city children in Newark, New Jersey. 

“I’ve always been interested in the paradox of programs and policies that are meant to help people, but sometimes do not,” Pottick said, according to the release. “I am thrilled, and very honored to receive this recognition, for me, and for Rutgers.”

Pottick’s research has received national honors before, receiving funding from sources such as the National Institute of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, according to the release. 

She has also appeared in publications such as Social Service Review, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and American Journal of Psychiatry, according to the release. 

Pottick additionally serves on the advisory board of the international social work journal, Ethics and Social Welfare, according to the release. 

Founded in 1985, the IFH is an institute that advances health and wellness through research of critical areas of behavioral health, health services, health disparities, health policy, health economics, pharmacoepidemiology and aging research, according to the release.

The IFH, along with Pottick, brings together Rutgers faculty and faculty members from other universities to collaborate on research, according to the IFH’s website. It currently employs six members elected to the National Academy of Medicine and 150 members representing more than 30 schools, institutes and units with adjunct members from 29 national and international universities, according to the release. 

“We are extremely proud of Kathy for this remarkable achievement,” said IFH Director Dr. XinQi Dong, according to the release. “Her research has contributed greatly to the field of social work and the critical mental health services delivered by the workforce in New Jersey communities, and across the country.”