School of Social Work

Education

• Interdisciplinary Ph.D., Social Work, Sociology and Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State University, 2005
• MSW, Clinical Social Work, Michigan State University, 1996
• BSW, Central Michigan University, 1985

Biography

Dr. Reaves’ interest in the area of health, accessibility of services and culturally competent mental health services began many years ago. Her undergraduate degree in social work is from Central Michigan University. She subsequently became employed as a geriatric social worker. After completion of a master’s degree from Michigan State University, she worked in the area of substance abuse treatment, home health care and clinical services. Her experiences have increased her understanding of the difficulties individuals and families endure when faced with a variety of health related issues, and reinforced her dedication as a social worker to eliminating health disparities, providing competent and professional services and increasing utilization of health services. Her dissertation research was on African American women addicted to crack cocaine and she has published research findings on kinship care providers and drug addicted women.

Publications

• Okagbue-Reaves, J. (2002) Economic Status, Gendered Roles and Family Structure. International Conference on Social Sciences, Conference Proceedings. June, 2002.
• Okagbue-Reaves, J. (2005) Kinship Care: Analysis of the Health and Well-Being of Grandfathers Raising Grandchildren Using the Grandparent Assessment Tool and the Medical Outcomes Trust SF-36 TM Health Survey, Journal of Family Social Work, 47–66, Volume 9 Number 2. The Haworth Press, Inc.
• Okagbue-Reaves, J. (2007). (Book) Crack Cocaine and the Experiences of African American Women: A statistical Study of Positive Treatment Outcomes, Lewiston New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd.
• Brooks, Judi, Fox, Diane Poretta, Okagbue-Reaves, Janet and Lukomski, Angela (2009). Best Practices for an Interdisciplinary Team-Taught Course. Educational Gerontology, 35 (9), 818–830.

Courses

• SWRK 120 Intro to Social Welfare Policy and Services
• SWRK 478 Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
• SWRK 478 Child Welfare and Substance Abuse
• SWRK 591 Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
• SWRK 591 Child Welfare and Substance Abuse
• SWRK 652 Policy Issues in Mental Illness Chemical Dependency Services
• SWRK 653 Dynamics and Practice: Chemical Dependency Services