Luke Shaefer, Kohn professor of social policy and social justice, speaks during his appointment as chief executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for the City of Detroit. Photo credit: City of Detroit.
Luke Shaefer, Kohn professor of social policy and social justice, speaks during his appointment as chief executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for the City of Detroit. Photo credit: City of Detroit.
In January, Luke Shaefer, Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Policy and Social Justice, was appointed chief executive of Health, Human Services & Poverty Solutions for the City of Detroit. He is now responsible for the Detroit Health Department, the Office of Immigrant Affairs and Economic Inclusion, and a new Department of Human, Homeless, and Family Services. He plans to return to his faculty post after a two-year leave from the university.
Mayor Sheffield created a new, broad-based human services department. What difference will this make for Detroiters?
Mayor Sheffield’s unified strategy is so essential. In addition to overseeing the new department of Human, Homeless and Family Services, my role will lead Detroit’s Health Department—one of the city’s most important departments, providing critical services to many residents. We will work in tandem with departments across the city, and with the state, to create a new doorway by which Detroiters will be able to access the range of housing, homelessness, health, and behavioral health services we have to offer. We will look for synergies, reduce fragmentation, and increase impact.
Cities often lack individualized approaches to real issues on a population level, and I am energized about building a strategy of household-level interventions to deliver real impact for Detroiters. We’re going to have a special focus on reducing child poverty and will do everything we can to lift our kids up. We’ll also focus relentlessly on delivering real resources to Detroiters with dignity and respect.
