LeaAnne DeRigne, MSW, Ph.D.

Associate Professor Florida Atlantic University

  • Boca Raton FL

LeaAnne DeRigne's area of research expertise is in paid sick leave, flexible work, vacation time, and pensions.

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FAU Experts Available to Speak on Coronavirus and its Impact Worldwide

Coronavirus has now earned global attention and Florida Atlantic University experts are available to speak with media about the impact of coronavirus on areas related to this worldwide epidemic, including hospitality, tourism, employment sick leave, and politics.   If you are a journalist covering the progress of this virus and how it is impacting various sectors and segments of society – then let us help with your stories, questions and ongoing coverage.   LeaAnne DeRigne, Ph.D., MSW, associate professor in FAU’s Phyllis and Harvey Sandler School of Social Work LeaAnne DeRigne is an expert on paid sick leave and its impact on the health and financial security of individuals, families and public health in general. Her recent research on the importance of paid sick leave benefits has received wide press coverage,and has been cited around the country by policy makers, lobbyists, and advocates pushing cities and states to mandate sick leave coverage. Key findings from the study, which are representative of the nation, showed that regardless of income, age, race, occupation, full-time or part-time work status, health status or health insurance coverage, workers without paid sick leave were three times more likely to delay medical care than were workers with paid sick leave. She also conducts research on other workplace benefits such as flexible work, vacation time and pensions.   Peter Ricci, clinical associate professor and director of the Department of Marketing and Hospitality Management in FAU’s College of Business Peter Ricci is a hospitality industry veteran with more than 20 years of managerial experience in segments including food service, lodging, incentive travel, and destination marketing. While filling the role of hotel general manager for almost a decade, Ricci served as a part-time educator before entering academia full time as both a clinical associate professor and administrator. Kevin Wagner, Ph.D., professor and chair of FAU’s Department of Political Science in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Kevin Wagner’s research and teaching interests include presidential and judicial politics, political behavior and legislative behavior. He is also a research fellow of the FAU Business and Economics Polling Initiative (BEPI). Wagner has lectured extensively on American politics and has served as an expert in many leading newspapers including the New York Times, Boston Globe, New York Newsday, the Dallas Morning News, and the Miami Herald. He has been featured as the political analyst for CBS 12 in West Palm Beach and on national television including NBC’s “Today.” All of the experts listed above are ready and available to speak with media. To arrange an interview simply click on an expert’s profile or email Lisa Metcalf at lmetcalf@fau.edu.

LeaAnne DeRigne, MSW, Ph.D.Kevin Wagner, Ph.D.Peter Ricci, Ed.D.

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Biography

LeaAnne DeRigne earned her Ph.D. and MSW in social work from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as a B.S. degree is in psychology from Missouri State University. She taught as a visiting professor from 2006-2008 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis after completion of her Ph.D. in 2006. She worked as a lobbyist and policy analyst in Washington, D.C. and the Missouri State Capitol for five years following completion of her MSW.

DeRigne is an expert on paid sick leave and its impact on the health and financial security of individuals, families and public health in general. Her recent research on the importance of paid sick leave benefits has received wide press coverage, and has been cited around the country by policymakers, lobbyists, and advocates pushing cities and states to mandate sick leave coverage. Key findings from the study, which are representative of the nation, showed that regardless of income, age, race, occupation, full-time or part-time work status, health status or health insurance coverage, workers without paid sick leave were three times more likely to delay medical care than were workers with paid sick leave.

She also conducts research on other workplace benefits such as flexible work, vacation time and pensions. workers with paid sick leave.

She also conducts research on other workplace benefits such as flexible work, vacation time and pensions.

Areas of Expertise

vacation time
Pensions
Health Care Policy
Labor Market Participation
Sick Leave
Flexible Work

Education

Washington University in St. Louis

Ph.D.

Social Policy and Social Work

2006

Washington University in St. Louis

MSW

Social Work

2000

Missouri State University

B.S.

Psychology and Sociology

1995

Selected Media Appearances

Thousands of laid off workers are shut out of Florida’s meager unemployment system

Sun Sentinel  

2020-03-26

Derigne teaches social policy, specializing in pensions, sick leave and vacation time. She has no doubt that the state lacks the employees to handle the flood of unemployment claims.

“We didn’t anticipate this, so it’s not like the state of Florida was able to ramp up,” she said. “In a normal unemployment cycle they don’t experience the backlog.”

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Coronavirus: Paid sick leave emerges as hot issue

Palm Beach Post  

2020-03-12

“There’s really no way for them to stay home without putting their jobs in jeopardy,” said LeaAnne DeRigne, an associate professor in Florida Atlantic University’s School of Social Work.

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Coronavirus Hits America Where It’s Weakest With Big Health Gaps

Bloomberg  

2020-03-06

The wider problem the U.S. faces right now, according to LeaAnne DeRigne, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University who focuses on health-care policy, is that so many people have no paid sick leave at all. It’s “definitely a public health crisis,” she said. “It really does exacerbate a pandemic and all but guarantees that the people rolling your burritos and taking your blood at a lab might be doing it while they’re sick.”

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Selected Articles

Workers without paid sick leave less likely to take time off for illness or injury compared to those with paid sick leave

Health Affairs

LeaAnne DeRigne, Patricia Stoddard-Dare, Linda Quinn

2016

Paid sick leave is an important employer-provided benefit that helps people obtain health care for themselves and their dependents. But paid sick leave is not universally available to US workers. Little is known about paid sick leave and its relationship to health behaviors. Contrary to public health goals to reduce the spread of illness, our findings indicate that in 2013 both full- and part-time working adults without paid sick leave were more likely than workers with that benefit to attend work when ill. Those without paid sick leave were 3.0 times more likely to forgo medical care for themselves and 1.6 times more likely to forgo medical care for their family compared to working adults with paid sick leave benefits. Moreover, the lowest-income group of workers without paid sick leave were at the highest risk of delaying and forgoing medical care for themselves and their family members. Policy makers should consider the potential public health implications of their decisions when contemplating guaranteed sick leave benefits.

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The employment and financial effects on families raising children with special health care needs: An examination of the evidence

Journal of Pediatric Health Care

LeaAnne DeRigne

2012

Over 10 million children in the United States have special health care needs (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2008). Parents struggle to afford needed health care and wrestle with the dual responsibilities of caregiving and employment. Researchers from a variety of disciplines, health care, and social science, in particular, are analyzing what variables affect a family’s ability to access needed health care while balancing work and caregiving.

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Employment change and the role of the medical home for married and single-mother families with children with special health care needs

Social Science & Medicine

LeaAnne DeRigne, Shirley Porterfield

2010

One in five U.S. households with children has at least one child with a special health care need (USDHHS, 2004). Like most parents, those with children with special health care needs struggle to balance child-rearing responsibilities with employment demands. This research examines factors affecting married parents' and single-mother's employment change decisions focusing specifically on whether having a medical home influences these decisions. This study includes 38,569 children with special health care needs from birth through age 17 surveyed in the 2005–2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. The employment model is estimated using multinomial logistic regression with the choice of a parent to maintain their current level of employment, reduce work hours, or stop working as the dependent variable. Independent variables are those characterizing the needs of the child, the resources of the family, and the socio-demographic characteristics of the family. Components of the medical home variable include: 1) having a usual source of care; 2) care provided is “family centered”; 3) receipt of care coordination services; and 4) receipt of needed referrals. Half of the children in our sample met criteria in all four facets. If the child has a medical home, the relative risk of a parent choosing to cut hours rather than not change hours decreases by 51%. The relative risk of choosing to stop working rather than not change hours decreases by an estimated 64%. Care coordination services significantly reduce the odds of changing employment status. Our results suggest that the medical home is a moderating factor in parental decisions concerning change in employment status.

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