Leah Hamilton

Leah Hamilton received her BSW from Metropolitan State College of Denver in 2005, her MSW from the University of Denver in 2006 and a PhD in Public Policy at the University of Arkansas in 2011. She served as a Foster Care Case Worker and trainer for five years in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Hamilton’s research interests include poverty, child welfare and social policy. Her dissertation was entitled The Foster Parent Bill of Rights: An Examination of its Perceived Effectiveness in Arkansas. Her CV can be viewed at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fF4Tzwn9U3qRauY82QBCsal5mNkNMc9qJymhJyIte_8/edit?usp=sharing (link is external)

There are 13 included publications by Leah Hamilton :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Cohabitation And Marital Status: Their Relationship With Economic Resources And Intimate Partner Violence 2011 1144 Household economic decisions have historically been viewed through a patriarchal lens; however, using empowerment theory, the effects and implications of economic resources in the lives of low-income individuals are being reexamined and reconstructed...
Distance Education In Social Work: A Review Of The Literature 2017 1208 The growth of online technologies in higher education has presented new challenges for the field of social work education. Some have questioned whether this human interaction-dependent profession can be ethically delivered online. Technology also pos...
Examining Relationships Between Financial Capital And Personal Well-Being 2013 543 Researchers have traditionally examined economic well-being with income data, yet recent findings indicate positive effects of assets on well-being, independent from income. For this study, baseline data from 904 low-income individuals were used to e...
An Exploratory Investigation Of Foster Parent Retention In Arkansas 2011 614 While widely regarded as problematic among child welfare professionals, the issue of foster parent retention has received limited academic attention. Even less is known about the state of foster parenting in Arkansas. In this exploratory study, the a...
The Forgotten 1980s Rule That's Hurting Poor Families' Savings 2015 259 Essay posted on theatlantic.com.
Foster Parent Support And Retention: A Policy Approach 2013 690 Foster parent retention is an important, yet often overlooked, component to long term outcomes for children in the foster care system. A recent pilot study examining the perspectives of four Arkansas foster care caseworkers found that, much like the ...
Incentives In The Temporary Assistance For Needy Families Program: A Review Of The Literature 2016 1941 The alleged disincentives created by generous public assistance programs are common fodder for political debate. However, there appears to be limited empirical support for these statements. This review of relevant literature attempts to aggregate cur...
“It’s All About Security to Me”: The Role Of Environment In Youth Financial Literacy And Savings Behaviors 2012 828 This qualitative study explores financial behavior and expectations in families of origin in addition to youth financial education and savings behaviors. The authors interviewed 14 youths, aged 17 to 19 years, whose families had low incomes, educatio...
Predicting Paternalism: Welfare Asset Limits And State-Level Demographic, Economic, And Political Factors 2019 1326 Welfare eligibility is usually determined via income and financial assets. Since devolution of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families administration in 1996, there is significant state variation in these criteria. Previous research suggests that inc...
Preparing Children For Success: Parents’ Perspectives On Promoting Savings And Education 2014 505 Many states are implementing asset development strategies to promote postsecondary education for low- to moderate- income families, realizing that limited education is a powerful predictor of poverty, and poverty mediates the likelihood of obtaining ...
Shelter From The Storm: TANF, Assets, And The Great Recession 2015 540 A growing body of literature suggests that asset limits in public assistance are associated with low savings rates among low- income families. Several states have begun eliminating or significantly increasing asset limits in an attempt to address pot...
Student Attitudes Toward Poverty In A Social Welfare Policy Course: Online Versus Face To Face 2017 1494 The growth of online higher education has presented important questions for social workers in academia. Can a human-based profession be properly taught online? In macro courses, are social work students able to gain a complex understanding of human e...
Voices From The 'Holler': Implementation And Analysis Of An Advanced Advocacy Practice Course In Rural Appalachia 2019 490 The availability of quality macro education is a critical determinant to policy engagement among social workers, especially for those in geographically isolated areas. This mixed methods, pilot study compares self-assessed CSWE policy competencies of...