Announcement
December 6, 2010

Professor Irwin Garfinkel Wins Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize

Irwin Garfinkel, Mitchell I. Ginsberg Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems at the Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW), has been selected to receive the prestigious 2011 Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize. The prize is awarded annually to the author(s) of the best article published in Social Service Review.

His winning article, coauthored with Lenna Nepomnyaschy, is entitled “Child Support Enforcement and Fathers’ Contribution to Their Nonmarital Children.”  Published in the September 2010 issue of the Review, Garfinkel and Nepomnyaschyexamine the full package of child support received by mothers from nonresident fathers of their children. The authors focus on three components of total support: formal cash, informal cash, and in-kind support. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, the authors consider how contributions change over time and the effects of child support enforcement on these contributions. Findings suggest that total cash support received drops precipitously over the first 15 months of living apart (as informal support drops off) and then increases slightly after 45 months (as the increase in formal support overtakes the decrease in informal support). While the study finds no effect of enforcement on total support received in the first five years after a nonmarital birth, the substantial differences in total cash support received by the length of time that parents have not been cohabiting suggest that strong enforcement may be efficacious over the long run.

Established in 1927, the Review features in-depth observations and balanced research from social welfare scholars and practitioners, as well as economists, theologians, historians, psychologists, and political scientists.  Articles cover a wide array of research conducted on child welfare, health care, social welfare policy, homelessness, community, clinical practice, juvenile delinquency, and other social issues.

For more information, please contact Jeannie Hii at 212-851-2327 or [email protected].

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About CUSSW (www.socialwork.columbia.edu)
For 112 years, the Columbia University School of Social Work has been a leader in the education of professionals for careers in practice, policy, and administration. Located in New York City, the School offers a master’s and a doctoral program which are nationally and internationally recognized for their excellence. With a signature curriculum that features multidisciplinary courses taught by leading scholars and practitioners and rich field education, CUSSW continues to be at the forefront of clinical and community practice, social policy, and social enterprise administration education, research and innovation in the 21st Century.