Center for Social Development

10/09/2026

How can adapt for the future? Join us for a special hybrid event with Antoinette Lombard, president of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (Iassw-aiets), and Dorian Traube, dean of the WashU Brown School. In a fireside chat moderated by Michael Sherraden, founder and co-director of CSD, two of the profession's leading voices will discuss how to renew the and prepare for the challenges and opportunities ahead. This event promises to bring fresh insight as the profession faces a turning point.

“Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work's Next Century”
🗓️ 10/26, Noon
🗺️ Hybrid: Brown Lounge, WashU, + Zoom
RSVP: https://csd.wustl.edu/social-works-next-century/

CSD is proud to cosponsor this event with the Global Programs Office of the WashU Brown School.

10/09/2026

Can homeownership be a social intervention?

CSWE is pleased to co-sponsor "Homeownership as Intervention: A Path to Financial Security" on October 14, 12 PM ET, with the Washington University Brown School Center for Social Development and the Society for Social Work Research.

New research on Habitat for Humanity’s affordable-homeownership model highlights the critical role of relationship-based, social work–informed support in helping families move beyond housing stability toward lasting financial security.

Explore what these findings mean for social work practice, affordable housing, and policy—and how this approach could help shape the future of homeownership.

🔗 Register: https://ow.ly/uN2s50ZVy97

10/09/2026

Automatic enrollment is a "big step" forward for Trump Accounts, CSD Co-Director Jin Huang tells the AP's Adriana Morga and Wyatte Grantham-Philips, but families still must navigate a formal claiming process. He explains why making it easier for them to claim the accounts matters—especially for the nation's most vulnerable kids.

Mott Foundation

Your child may be enrolled in a “Trump Account” whether you realize it or not. Rolled out earlier this year, the Trump Accounts program allows parents to claim special investment accounts for children who are 18 years old or younger.

10/08/2026

Research from the Brown School's Center for Social Development helped lay the groundwork for a major change to the federal government’s new Trump Accounts program: automatic account creation for eligible children, announced Sept. 29.

Treasury and the IRS will automatically create accounts for eligible children who don’t already have one. Families must still claim the account to access the federal seed money.

The policy change builds on nearly two decades of CSD research and policy engagement on automatically opening savings accounts for children.

"CSD has been the leading source of evidence supporting automatic enrollment in Trump Accounts,” said Michael Sherraden, the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor at the Brown School and founding director of the CSD. “Jin Huang, the Irving Louis Horowitz Professor in Social Policy at the Brown School and co-director of the CSD, led most of the policy briefs, and this evidence has played the dominant role in this policy decision by Treasury.”

Sherraden first proposed universal, progressive savings accounts beginning at birth in his landmark 1991 book, “Assets and the Poor: A New American Welfare Policy."

🔗 Learn more at the link in the comments.

10/08/2026

CSD’s Yung Chun is at the Affiliate Conference this week, presenting on the first nationwide evaluation of Habitat's model.

CSD partnered with Habitat for Humanity on research to examine how the specific support systems built into the Habitat model—including its affordable mortgage designs, unique program components, and long-term homeowner engagement—can turn a house into a lasting foundation for financial resilience and intergenerational opportunity.

If can't make it to Atlanta, join us next Wed., Oct. 14, for an event spotlighting the findings:
"Homeownership as Intervention: A Path to Financial Security."
🗓️Next Wed., 10/14
🗺️Zoom
➡️Register: https://csd.wustl.edu/homeownership-as-intervention/

10/08/2026

CSD Co-Director Jin Huang tells the Washington Post's Riley Beggin that automatic enrollment in Trump Accounts is a "big step in the right direction" toward including eligible children—a step with potential to shape social-emotional development, educational expectations, attainment, and other outcomes.

But he also notes that the claiming requirements are a barrier to full inclusion.

"For children, particularly those from low-income families, these steps are still hurdles to taking advantage of the accounts," Huang explains. CSD's research on policies points to important benefits, but implementation decisions will shape who is actually able to access the accounts and those benefits.

Go deeper: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/10/07/trump-touts-auto-enrollment-child-investment-accounts/

Mott Foundation

The change has been long sought by economists and advocates who argued that self-selection would benefit wealthier families.

10/05/2026

CSD Sr. Policy Advisor Ray Boshara speaks with Richard Rubin and Ashlea Ebeling for The Wall Street Journal's new story on the Treasury Department's move to accept stock donations for Trump Accounts. As Boshara notes, “Flipping the switch is really a game-changer.”

Millions of kids will receive donated stocks in individual companies that they can’t reject and can’t sell for five years.

10/05/2026

What models actually work?

Traditional paths to are out of reach for many and have repeatedly failed to produce durable wealth gains for low- and moderate-income families—particularly families of color. Policymakers, practitioners, and funders are increasingly asking what works and how we know. Register to join us Oct. 14 for evidence and expertise on helping families build long-term !

"Homeownership as Intervention: A Path to Financial Security"
🗓️ October 14, 12–1:30 PM CT
🗺️ Zoom
➡️ Learn more and register: https://csd.wustl.edu/homeownership-as-intervention/

SPEAKERS
🔹Tyler Haupert, Assistant Professor of Urban Studies, NYU Shanghai
🔹Yung Chun, Director of Data Insight, Center for Social Development, and Research Assistant Professor, WashU Brown School
🔹Michael Neil, Senior Fellow and Practice Area Lead in the Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute
🔹Esther Shin, President and CEO, Urban Strategies, Inc.
🔹Daisuke Nagase, Research and Learning Manager for U.S. Research and Measurement, Habitat for Humanity

This event is sponsored by the Center for Social Development at WashU Brown School, the Council on Social Work Education, and the Society for Social Work and Research.

10/02/2026

Auto-enrollment could expand access to Trump Accounts for over 60 million kids. CSD's Jin Huang tells The Wall Street Journal that it is “the most important design change since the law passed.” But how can we ensure that families take the next step to claim their account?

Richard Rubin reports on the changes.

The auto-enrollment change replaces the previous structure, which required parents or guardians to sign up.

10/02/2026

is only one piece of the puzzle.

Join CSD, the Council on Social Work Education, and the Society for Social Work and Research on Oct. 14 for "Homeownership as Intervention: A Path to Financial Security," a special online event exploring how homeownership, paired with sustained relationship-based support, can help families move from stability to long-term financial security.

Register: https://csd.wustl.edu/homeownership-as-intervention/