College of Social Work Hosts 13th Annual Rosenstein Lecture

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 28, 2015) — The University of Kentucky College of Social Work will celebrate the 13th annual Irma Sarett Rosenstein Distinguished Lecture. on "Child Poverty and Public Spending on Children" from 2-4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, in the W.T. Young Library UK Athletics Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, and a reception will immediately follow.

This year's lecture will feature Julia Isaacs, senior fellow in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute, a research institution that performs objective analysis on United States public policy. Prior to her work at the Urban Institute, Isaacs worked as a budget analyst at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and a senior civil servant at the Department of Health and Human Services. Isaacs was also a Brookings Institution fellow, where she conducted research on school readiness and effects of the recession on children.

Isaacs leads Urban Institute's "Kids' Share" analyses of public spending on children; directs child care and Head Start research studies; and evaluates individual state efforts to modernize families' access to Medicaid, child care, and nutrition assistance. As a budget analyst at the CBO, Isaacs was responsible for estimating legislation costs that would affect food stamps, child nutrition, child care, and child welfare programs.

Irma Sarett Rosenstein grew up in New York City and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master’s in social work. Rosenstein has always cared deeply about the welfare of children, the most vulnerable population. As a social worker at the UK Chandler Hospital, Rosenstein also taught in the College of Social Work and worked closely with the first dean of the college, Ernest Witte.  She recognized early on in her career that early intervention was the key to both treatment and prevention for kids in need.  Rosenstein brought an ethos of openness and of clarity to community problems.  She did not shirk from addressing racism and bigotry. She took on the big issues of her day, and still now her passion for social justice is evident.

Rosenstein was the driving force behind the Kentucky Conference on Christians and Jews, now named the Kentucky Conference on Communities and Justice (KCCJ), an organization dedicated to building community and ending bigotry.  She hosted one of social work’s most prominent leaders, Whitney Young, at a KCCJ dinner when no public places outside of UK were desegregated.

"Irma Rosenstein had a long and distinguished career in social work. We are grateful that she has continued her support of the profession through the Distinguished Lecture," said Ann Vail, interim dean of the College of Social Work. "This year's speaker, Julia Isaacs, MPP, is particularly well suited to contribute to and inform Ms. Rosenstein's lifetime body of work."

MEDIA CONTACT: Kathy Johnson, 859-257-3155