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BSW
Child Welfare Consortium
The
Department of Social Work at St. Cloud State University is
a member of the
BSW Child Welfare Consortium. The Consortium is a partnership
between the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities School of
Social Work and the social work departments at Bemidji State
University; Minnesota State University Moorhead; Minnesota
State University, Mankato; St. Cloud State University;
and Winona State University and the Minnesota Department of
Human Services. The Consortium is housed in the
Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare at the University
of Minnesota .
The
goal of this project is to strengthen the preparation of BSW
social workers intending to work in Title IV-E public child
welfare agencies in non-metro areas in Minnesota . Title IV-E
grant funds will contribute to the development and introduction
of specific child welfare content into modules for required
BSW courses or as specialized elective classes, all subject
to the Council on Social Work (CSWE) accreditation standards.
Approximately fifty
students are supported during their junior and senior
years in the BSW programs at the cooperating state universities
at a rate of $1900 per student per semester. These child welfare students take a designated
child welfare services course and attend special seminars
designed for them.
In
consultation with each department's Field Coordinator, a field
practicum site will be selected in which the student will
complete 480 hours of supervised experience in a Title IV-E
recipient agency. Upon graduation from the BSW programs, the
students apply for and accept a social work position
in a Title IV-E agency, in non-metropolitan areas.
A
key purpose of this federal Title IV-E funding is to counteract
the trend among states and counties toward deprofessionalization
of public child welfare work. It has achieved marked success,
in that the number of social work-educated BSW's and MSW's
engaged in public child welfare services has significantly
increased nationwide.
Several
county social services directors have enthusiastically
supported this collaboration between the Minnesota State
Universities and the University of Minnesota. The hope is that it will
boost recruitment and retention of social work-educated social
workers in non-metro areas. Many counties participate by providing internship sites for undergraduate child welfare social
work students.
The
Principal Investigator for this project is Dr. James Reinardy, Director of the School of Social Work at the University
of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Questions can be addressed to
Dr. Reinardy at 612/624-3719, or to Dr. Mary Pfohl, Professor,
Department of Social Work, St. Cloud State University , 320/308-3011,
mlphohl@stcloudstate.edu or to the Social Work Departments of the other
consortium schools.
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