Social Welfare Faculty Chosen as Editors for the Journal of Community Practice

A team of faculty from the KU School of Social Welfare will join a faculty colleague from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work to serve as the new team of editors for the Journal of Community Practice. The editors will serve a three-year term from 2022-2024. The editors from the KU School of Social Welfare include Michelle Mohr Carney, dean and professor, Amy N. Mendenhall, professor & associate dean for research & faculty development, and Deborah Adams, associate professor & MSW program director. They will be joined by Mary L. Ohmer, associate professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh. Ana Santiago-SanRoman, MSW, will continue to serve as managing editor. Mendenhall will serve as the Editor in Chief.

The Journal of Community Practice, sponsored by the Association for Community Organization and Social Action (ACOSA), provides a forum for community practice, including community organizing, planning, social administration, organizational development, community development, social action, and social change. Building on a 28-year history, the new team of editors looks forward to continuing a strong interdisciplinary journal with growing international readership to lead the scholarly field of community practice in social work and related fields.

The KU School of Social Welfare has a long history of contributing to community practice scholarship and academics within the field of social work, as demonstrated by the expertise amongst the new KU editors. “Community practice is foundational to the social work profession. We are very excited to host this important journal in the School of Social Welfare,” said Carney.

Michelle Mohr Carney has extensive experience in community practice, community engaged research, and administration. Amy Mendenhall serves as the founding director of the KU School of Social Welfare’s Center for Community Engagement and Collaboration. Deborah Adams served as chair of ACOSA in 2021, and studies asset building and asset effects among marginalized families in lower-income communities. Mary Ohmer brings her experience in community practice and research including her service as a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Community Practice. Her most recent book in this area is Measures for Community and Neighborhood Research.  Ana Santiago-SanRoman has been the managing editor for the Journal of Community Practice since 2004 and has been providing administrative support to ACOSA since 2016.

Publishing four issues per year, the Journal of Community Practice encourages submission of full-length original research manuscripts (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods) and manuscripts on theory and theory development, as well as shorter manuscripts for its features From the Field, From the Classroom, and Innovations in Community Research. Recent special issues have focused on ecological justice, racial justice in Black and Brown communities, and digital organizing demonstrate the Journal’s role in amplifying scholarship in pursuit of social justice. The team of new editors will continue the work of prior editors to enhance the visibility and stature of the Journal in social work and related fields and expand the interdisciplinary and international nature of scholarship published in the Journal of Community Practice.