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Social work students are expected to engage diversity and difference in practice, yet few approaches in social work education explicitly focus on strengthening skills required for such allyship engagement. Constructs such as cultural competence, cultural humility, and intersectionality are often difficult for students to learn and for educators to teach effectively. This article describes Practicing Alliance, a curriculum that extends the Ally Model for Social Justice through a systematic integration of experiential learning theory, designed to increase the allyship skills of social work students across social locations. Participants (N = 85) in the pilot evaluation were students in the Foundation-year (n = 21) and second-year (n = 47) of a two-year MSW program, and 17 Advanced Standing MSW students. Practice experience ranged from 1–2 years (17.76%) to over 5 years (37.65%). Following completion of Practicing Alliance, 100% of participants reported that they were better able to practice allyship, 91% agreed that they were better equipped to intervene in incidents of discrimination, and 93% stated that Practicing Alliance contributed to their development as a social worker. Qualitatively, participants reported increased confidence in utilizing their allyship skills. The Practicing Alliance model is described with recommendations for implementation within social work education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Affordable Care Act paves the way for groups to develop innovative, affordable health insurance and care options known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OPs). These CO-OPs will be nonprofit, consumer-controlled entities that are designed to serve individuals and small businesses, especially in noncompetitive markets. The CO-OP provision was included in the Affordable Care Act to address the lack of affordable health plan alternatives in many state and regional markets and to counter a trend toward market concentration. Despite their promise, CO-OPs face a number of business challenges that go beyond typical start-up hurdles. This issue brief lays out a number of innovative strategies CO-OP organizers are developing to increase the odds of long-term sustainability and economic success. These strategies--aimed at building market share, creating integrated provider networks, and achieving cost savings through payment reform--could establish CO-OPs as a viable new entrant in the health care field.