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Class Descriptions

Child and Family Well-Being - Macro Practice

SW623

Credits: 3
Prerequisites: SW508

Pathway Associations

Community Change
Global
Interpersonal PracticeElective
Mgmt & Leadership
Policy & PoliticalElective
Program Evaluation
Older Adults
Children & FamiliesRequirement (Host)

Course Description

This course will provide a macro lens to assess and engage with various social services, policies, and programs that provide developmental, preventive, protective, and rehabilitative services for children, youth, and families. Students will be introduced to major policies and macro-level issues within the education, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems.

The racial and economic achievement and discipline gaps will be explored within the context of schools. Students will examine historical child welfare policy development, explore strengths, limitations, and outcomes, paying particular attention to systemic gaps in service delivery, the over-representation of children of color, the differential response of family serving systems based upon social identify differences, the structural exclusion of the voice of marginalized communities, and deficits of cultural and linguistic competence. The course will develop socially just and culturally-competent policies and practices by delving into the competing tensions of child-protection/family-preservation and quality/quantity of services, and analyze evidence-based change interventions that build on strengths and resources of children and their families at all levels of intervention while considering the diversity of families including race, ethnicity, culture, class, sexual orientation, gender expression, religion, ability and other social identities. Students will learn about disproportionate minority contact and the impact of incarceration on youth as well as interconnections between the three systems.

This course will also examine efforts to engage communities in the policy and service delivery process through a variety of mechanisms including community partnerships, coalitions, and systems of care. Students will be sensitized to the roles of power and privilege of professionals, and gain insights about how similarities and differences between themselves and client communities affect mezzo and macro policy development and implementation for children, youth, and families.

Objectives

● Identify social policy at the state, and federal leval that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to social services for children, youth, and families (EPAS 5)
● Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social justice (EPAS 5)
● Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the analysis of assessment data from clients and constituencies and the evaluation of outcomes (EPAS 7)
● Select appropriate intervention strategies based on the assessment, research knowledge, and values and preferences of clients and constituencies (EPAS 7)
● Recognize the impact of discrimination based on economic, racial, ethnic, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other differences on client systems (EPAS 3)
● Recognize the impact involuntariness has on assessment, including client system relationship with the family serving system (EPAS 2)

Design

This course will use multiple approaches including lecturers, videos, vignettes, discussions, written student presentations, guest speakers, and in-class activities.

Intensive Focus on Privilege, Oppression, Diversity and Social Justice (PODS)

This course integrates PODS content and skills with a special emphasis on the identification of theories, practice and/or policies that promote social justice, illuminate injustices and are consistent with scientific and professional knowledge. Through the use of a variety of instructional methods, this course will support students developing a vision of social justice, learn to recognize and reduce mechanisms that support oppression and injustice, work toward social justice processes, apply intersectionality and intercultural frameworks and strengthen critical consciousness, self-knowledge and self-awareness to facilitate PODS learning.

Intensive Focus on Privilege, Oppression, Diversity and Social Justice (PODS): This course integrates PODS content and skills with a special emphasis on the identification of theories, practice and/or policies that promote social justice, illuminate injustices and are consistent with scientific and professional knowledge. Using a variety of instructional methods, this course will support students developing a vision of social justice, learning to recognize and reduce mechanisms that support oppression and injustice, working toward social justice processes, applying intersectionality and intercultural frameworks and strengthening critical consciousness, self-knowledge and self-awareness to facilitate PODS learning. (Course Statement Approved By Governing Faculty 11/8/06).

Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Education Description

ID/IPE content in SW623 supports students to understand and value the importance of interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration and teamwork in Social Work practice across a variety of populations, settings and roles.
Inclusion of ID/IPE content is supported by and directly relates to:
CSWE core competencies 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
University of Michigan 5 IPE Core Competencies: (Values/Ethics, Roles and Responsibilities, Interprofessional Communication, Teams/Teamwork and Intercultural Humility) https://interprofessional.umich.edu/about/ipe-competencies-at-u-m/

This pathway required-course intentionally integrates interdisciplinary or interprofessional practice content including:

CSWE Competencies addressed in this course are: 2, 3, 5, 7

IPE Core Competencies addressed in this course are: Values/ethics; roles/responsibilities; intercultural humility

ID/IPE content that will be addressed and evaluated in the following ways:
1. Interdisciplinary and/or interprofessional practice are required content areas in the course with integration of relevant required readings, class lecture and discussion including: Reflection paper 1: values/ethics; intercultural humility. Reflection paper 2: roles/responsibilities. Reflection paper 3: values/ethics; roles/responsibilities. Reflection paper 4: roles/responsibilities; intercultural humility. Final paper and presentation: values/ethics; roles/responsibilities; intercultural humility.

2. Students will be encouraged to actively contribute from their experiences, field placement practice, knowledge of readings, etc. to considerations of the impact of interdisciplinary and interprofessional care related to diverse populations and settings.

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