Miguel Ferguson – författare

Caught in the Storm tells the story of Helping Hands, a small nonprofit social service agency set in the fictional community of River City. Readers will recognize Helping Hands as the type of agency where social workers are often employed to assist individuals and families to meet basic economic needs. In fact, many social workers have founded agencies like Helping Hands to meet pressing needs in their own communities. But Caught in the Storm stands in sharp contrast to didactic textbook accounts of agencies and their clients. It also differs from the accounts others have written of individuals trying to survive since Congress and President Bill Clinton ended welfare as we knew it.Caught in the Storm is most compelling in its use of narrative to tell the story of an agency, its staff, and its clients. The issues about social welfare policy and administration the authors have chosen to highlight emerge through action and dialogue among the book's characters. Readers will identify with Martha, the insightful and energetic executive director, as she and her staff reach out to other nonprofit and faith-based organizations to implement a welfare-to-work program, which will make a difference in the lives of the low-income clients they serve. Caught in the Storm also incorporates personal and ethical issues and political differences among staff and clients, revealing the day-to-day dramas with which social service agencies must deal even as they assume a larger role in the delivery of important social welfare services.

Navigating Policy and Practice in the Great Recession is a fictional narrative that follows Martha White, the intrepid executive director of a small non-profit organization, as she navigates policy practice and demonstrates enlightened administrative leadership in the years during and following the Great Recession. Based on the authors' 20-plus years of experience in non-profit management and the evaluation of more than 40 welfare-to-work programs, the narrative encompasses a broad range of policies, programs, and critical issues related to macro-practice and organizational leadership. Readers will be exposed to the causes and consequences of the Great Recession and learn the real-life implications of policy and practice on the lives of vulnerable families and the social service system. Engaging for students and helpful for professors, the text is ideal for to social work, social policy, and social justice introductory courses.