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Shirley L. Porterfield

Associate Professor
202 Bellerive Hall
Telephone: 314-516-4617
Fax: 314-516-6416
porterfields@umsl.edu

To view a Faculty Video Interview, click here.

Shirley L. Porterfield joined the Department of Social Work at the University of Missouri-St. Louis as an assistant professor in the Fall of 2003. She is also a research affiliate in Washington University’s Center for Social Development and a member of the board of directors of the Missouri Budget Project (a nonprofit policy research organization). Dr. Porterfield received her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics, with an emphasis in Community Economic Development from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1988. She previously held positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, the Rural Policy Research Institute, and Washington University.

Dr. Porterfield's professional interests lie in the areas of social policy, child disability policy, and issues facing low-income families. Her recent papers and presentations examine children with special health care needs, particularly the characteristics, work choices, assets and income of their families, as well as access of these children to health services. Other recent research projects include an analysis of teen time use and a primary data study of matched savings accounts for elementary school children. Her articles on these and other topics can be found in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Children and Youth Services Review, and Monthly Labor Review. She has actively participated as both PI and co-PI on grant research funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Council on Economic Education.

Dr. Porterfield teaches undergraduate Research Methods in addition to graduate-level courses in Program Evaluation and Health Care Policy. In 2001, she received the Excellence in Ph.D. Mentoring Award from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and in 2003, the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award from the Graduate Student Senate, both at Washington University in St. Louis.

Research Interests:

• Children with Special Health Care Needs
• Health Policy
• Assets
• Poverty
• Work-Family Issues

Teaching Interests:

• Research Methods
• Health Policy
• Social Policy

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1988
• MS, University of Arizona, 1984
• BS, Oregon State University, 1982

Recent Publications

Sanders, C. and S.L. Porterfield. "The 'Ownership Society' and Women: Exploring the Ability of Women with Children to Accumulate Assets in America." Forthcoming, Journal of Family and Economic Issues.

DeRigne., S.L. Porterfield, and S. Metz. 2009. "The Influence of Health Insurance on Parent Reported Unmet Mental Health Needs of Children." Maternal and Child Health Journal 13(2): 176-186.
(Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of unmet mental health needs in children identified by parents as having long-term emotional and behavioral problems, to identify the characteristics of these children, and to evaluate the influence of health insurance status and type on the odds of reporting unmet mental health needs. METHODS: We used the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NSCSHCN) to estimate the prevalence of unmet mental health needs among children with long-term emotional/behavioral conditions. Using logistic regression models, we also assessed the independent impact of insurance status and type on unmet needs. RESULTS: Analyses indicated that of the nearly 67% of children who needed mental health care or counseling in the previous 12 months, 20% did not receive it. Moreover, parents of uninsured children were more likely to report unmet mental health needs than insured children. Parents of children covered by public health insurance programs (Medicaid, Children Health Insurance Program-CHIP, Title V, Military, Native American) were less likely to report unmet mental health needs than those with children covered by private health insurance plans. CONCLUSION: Results from this study suggest a need for expansion of health insurance coverage to children especially those with long-term mental health conditions. It also suggests a need for parity between mental and physical health benefits in private health insurance.)

Porterfield, S.L. and A.E. Winkler. 2007. "Teen Time Use and Differences by Parental Education: Evidence from the ATUS, CPS, and MTF." Monthly Labor Review, 130(5):
37-56.
(Responses from three surveys indicate that parental education plays a critical role in the way teens spend their time in employment and other activities; in recent years, teen employment rates have declined most for those with more highly educated parents, while their rate of engagement in volunteer activities has increased)

Sherraden, M.S., L. Johnson, W. Elliott, S.L. Porterfield and W. Rainford. 2007. "The I Can Save Program: School-based Children's Savings Accounts for College." Children and Youth Services Review, 29(3): 294-312.
(Abstract: This paper examines an innovative college savings program for public elementary school children. The project is based on the proposition that children will gain financial knowledge and be more likely to view college as an attainable goal because they are accumulating savings to help pay for higher education. As the latest in a long history of school-based savings programs, this program pioneers the idea of matched savings in which children and family savings in the students' accounts are matched one to one up to a maximum of $3000. Findings suggest that the principal, teachers, children, and their families are enthusiastic about the program. Saving patterns show that families can save, but low levels and patterns of saving suggest that structures that encourage regular saving might improve saving rates. The program successfully teaches financial education through an after-school club, but it has been more difficult to incorporate it into classroom teaching and to reach parents. Universal children's savings accounts may circumvent some of the limitations of this program, although more research is required to assess which program components would be the most effective in such a system.)

Porterfield, S.L. and T.D. McBride. 2007. "The Effect of Poverty and Caregiver Education on Perceived Need and Access to Health Services Among Children with Special Health Care Needs." American Journal of Public Health, 97(2): 323-329.
(Abstract: We examined the association between several variables and the use of specialist physician services, developmental therapies, and prescription medications among children with special health care needs (N=38866). METHODS: We used a bivariate probit model to estimate whether a given child needed specialized services and whether that child accessed those services; we controlled for activity limitations and severity of special needs. Variables included family income, mother's (or other caregiver's) educational level, health insurance coverage, and perceived need for specialized services. We used data from the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. RESULTS: Lower-income and less-educated parents were less likely than higher-income and more-educated parents to say their special needs children needed specialized health services. The probability of accessing specialized health services-when needed-increased with both higher family income and insurance coverage. CONCLUSIONS: Children with special health care needs have less access to health services because their parents do not recognize the need for those services. An intervention in the form of information at the family level may be an appropriate policy response.)

Porterfield, S.L., W. Rainford, and C. Sanders. 2006. "The Wealth Holdings of Families with Children with Disabilities." Journal of Policy Practice, 5(4): 19-40.
(Abstract: Research has shown that households with children with disabilities are at risk of significantly lowered incomes. This paper extends this research by examining the wealth and asset holdings of married-couple households with children. We find that households with children with disabilities are less likely to own a house and to own interest-bearing assets, though the values of these assets, if held, don't vary with the disability status of children. The presence of a child with disabilities does not affect the number of automobiles owned, but does significantly reduce the average value of each vehicle.)

Courses:

FS2009

• SW 5410 - Social Work Research Methods and Analysis I
• SW 6443 - Health Care Policy
• SW 6800 - Graduate Field Practicum II