Overview

About the West Coast Poverty Center

The West Coast Poverty Center at the University of Washington serves as a hub for research, education, and policy analysis leading to greater understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and effective approaches to reducing it in the west coast states. Funded in October of 2005, the Center is the newest of three regional poverty centers funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Education (OASPE). The other regional centers are the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky and the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin. OASPE also sponsors the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan.

A collaborative venture of the UW School of Social Work, the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, and the College of Arts and Sciences, the West Coast Poverty Center creates new opportunities for cross-disciplinary exchanges and collaboration among poverty researchers and fosters a network of poverty scholars in the west coast region. At UW, the Center mentors the next generation of poverty scholars and practitioners through faculty awards, research assistantships and dissertation fellowships for graduate students, and graduate and undergraduate programs of study. Beyond the university, the Poverty Center works to bring poverty-relevant knowledge to policymakers and practitioners through outreach, communications, and events.

An interdisciplinary group of Faculty Affiliates of the Poverty Center hold teaching appointments at the University of Washington. The Center is governed by a group of Senior Faculty Affiliates at UW who constitute an Executive Committee and an external Advisory Board.

The WCPC brings an important west coast perspective to poverty studies. A key theme in our current work is "Old Assumptions, New Realities: Economic Security for Working Families in the 21st Century," which has both been the unifying theme behind our ongoing academic Seminar Series and the 2008 Conference.

West Coast Poverty Center activities include:

Research

• Academic conferences:"Old Assumptions, New Realities: Economic Security for Working Families in the 21st Century" (2008) Local Contexts and the Prospects for the Second Generation" (2006);
• Western Poverty and Policy Small Grants for scholars studying poverty and policy issues on the West Coast
• UW Seminar Series on Poverty and Public Policy for faculty and graduate students
• West Coast Poverty Researchers Network linking poverty scholars at UW and throughout the west coast region.
• Incubator Program supporting academic-practitioner research partnerships that link faculty researchers with policy practitioners/researchers in agency and community settings.

Mentoring

• Emerging Poverty Scholars awards for junior faculty at UW
• Dissertation Fellowships for UW doctoral candidates completing dissertations on poverty and policy topics
• Doctoral Program of Study to provide training, mentorship and professional development opportunities for Ph.D. students pursuing studies relating to poverty and policy (under development)
• Poverty and Policy undergraduate minor program (under development)

Outreach and Communications

• Poverty research dissemination through the West Coast Poverty Center's Poverty Research Flash series, available both online and in print
• Communications and events to increase awareness and understanding of poverty issues and to bring poverty researchers together with policy practitioners, journalists, and the public
• Resources for the media, including an "Experts on Poverty" Speaker's Bureau

A PDF flyer describing WCPC's activities is available here.