Tanya Rhodes Smith
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About Tanya
Rhodes Smith’s research examines voting as a social determinant of health and social work intervention. Her work and scholarship include the development of evidence-based civic engagement training models for social workers, organizations and underrepresented populations, including formerly incarcerated. She is the Director of the Nancy A Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work and has trained thousands of social workers and leaders to be more politically active as elected officials, voting advocates, campaign volunteers, and staff. She advocates for expanded voting rights and access locally and nationally and is a member of the Hartford Votes~Vota and Full Citizens Coalitions.
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Describes the implementation of a voter engagement model in social work education. Findings demonstrate the efficacy of this model in increasing social work students’ perceived importance of voting to their practice, their likelihood of voting in future elections, and their likelihood of engaging others in voting in future elections.
Highlights the increasing disparities in voter turnout among various demographic groups over the past four decades. Describes the conceptualization of voter engagement as a three-legged stool, consisting of voter registration, regular voting, and basing voting decisions on self-interest. Stresses that neglecting any one leg weakens the potential for generating political power and influencing elected officials.
Outlines the "Power of Three" strategy, designed to engage undergraduate students in voter outreach during their BSW studies. The approach involves assigning BSW students the goal of registering a minimum of three people to vote and engaging community members in the voting process. The findings suggest that this strategy is effective in increasing students' participation in voter engagement activities and improving their understanding of the significance of voting in the context of social work practice.