This course introduces students to advanced concepts in child welfare with an emphasis on child maltreatment assessment and child protective services. The course addresses emerging assessment practices, data informed child protective service provision, the role of technology in child welfare practice, and workforce development.

This course will focus on the uses and potential uses of many forms of art in social work practice. Students will learn how to apply art forms such as music, theater, literature, art, poetry, movement, and dance into practice through exploring A. self-awareness and personal growth of the professional social worker, B. a strengths approach to practice with individual clients, and C. social awareness and social change. This course will be an advanced generalist elective. Students will have the opportunity to develop an art portfolio, completing a new project each week, having the opportunity to reflect personally as well as professionally on the application of these methodologies to practice.

The aim of this course is to prepare students to act as informed human service professionals through a better understanding of social problems, social welfare policy, and the American social welfare system. Students are provided with an overview of the origins and development of social welfare policy in the United States, the political processes in our federal and state systems, and the values and ethics which shape our present social welfare system. The course also helps students examine ways they can influence policy formulation while advocating for human rights and social/economic justice.

Basic concepts, theories, and skills of social work practice. Lectures and discussions, readings and written exercises, and laboratory and practice sessions. Students use the experiential parts of the course (laboratory and interview simulations) to apply the conceptual and theoretical knowledge.