| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | Permission of instructor |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course is currently taught as SW 540, which is a workshop-based inter-professional education course offered by UM School of Social Work in partnership with the School of Nursing and School of Education. It is the first course in a 3-course sequence in Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP). SW 541 and SW 542 are also included as electives in the WCF pathway. Completion of all 3 courses fulfills the requirement of a trauma certificate. This first course will provide basic, foundational knowledge about the cognitive, social-emotional, behavioral, and health-related outcomes of trauma in children. A key focus of the course will be on enhancing awareness of trauma in children; assessing and responding to the needs of children who encounter trauma; and changing systems to become more responsive to vulnerable children and their families. Exploration of factors known to promote resilience and well-being will be emphasized and examined throughout the course. The course will examine principles of interprofessional education, which focuses on helping students in the professions of social work, nursing, and education work collaboratively in generalist and specialty practice roles. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | Foundation Essentials Required |
| Course Description: | This course will survey the distribution, determinants, and biomedical, psychological and behavioral aspects of health inclusive of physical, mental and behavioral health and disease across the life span from pre-birth to death. Social, economic, environmental, structural and cultural variations in and determinants of health, disease, and quality of life will be addressed, including the influence of factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation, geography, ability, biological, genetic and epigenetic factors. Barriers to access and utilization, geopolitical influences, environmental justice, social injustice, oppression and racism, historical trends, and future directions will be reviewed. Health beliefs and models of health behavior (e.g. Health Belief Model, Theory of Planned Behavior,) and structural determinants of health (e.g. Minority Stress Theory) will be presented, including help-seeking and utilization of health services. Stress, allostatic load, coping and social support, adaptation to chronic illness, the influences of privilege, stigma and discrimination, quality of life, and death and dying will also be covered. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Pathway Elective For: | Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Welfare of Children & Families |
| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW506 |
| Course Description: | This course focuses on a holistic approach in promoting the development and deepening of assessment and screening skills and competencies. Conducting brief, evidence-based and evidence-informed assessments and screenings for common health, mental health, substance use and other behavioral health concerns which impact and/or compromise health and well-being will be the focus of this course. Holistic approaches which are developmentally appropriate across the life span and relevant in a variety of settings will be applied. Grounding of the assessment process in person in environment perspective (PIE), strengths-based approaches, the nature of the client/family and social support systems, cultural, spiritual and religious beliefs and other socio-economic resources that impact health and client well-being will be included. Examples of screenings and assessments addressed in this course include a focus on mental health problems; adjustment to illness; risky, harmful or dependent use of a variety of substances (e.g. alcohol, illicit drugs, prescription medications, etc.); cognitive impairment; harm to self or others; abuse, neglect, and domestic violence; and behaviors that compromise health among others. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
|---|---|
| Pathway Elective For: | Global Social Work Practice, Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective |
| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW506 & SW601 (concurrent enrollment in SW601 permitted if necessary) |
| Course Description: | The course will build on intervention therapy and practice from the foundation semester and promote more advanced intervention skill level of engagement, goal setting, use of evidence based and informed interventions, and the termination and evaluation phases of treatment. Particular focus will be on advanced clinical competency development regarding: 1. Engagement and rapport building, 2. Goal setting and problem solving, 3. Identifying and implementing appropriate intervention approaches, and 4. Termination and evaluation of treatment. This course focuses on skill building to provide a range of brief, evidence-based and/or evidence -informed interventions including prevention, treatment and recovery as well as longer-term treatment and support for clients as appropriate. Examples include: 1. Case conceptualization, 2. Behavioral activation, 3. Cognitive restructuring, 4. Exposure, 5. Managing ambivalence and resistance, 6. Emotion regulation and distress tolerance, and 7. Trauma-sensitive mindfulness. Core evidence-based/evidence-informed therapies will be the focus of this class including: 1. Motivational interviewing, 2. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and 3. emerging acceptance-based therapies such as Dialectical Behavioral therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Attention will be given to application of interventions with clients across diverse populations and needs, with a focus on common health and mental health conditions such as depression/anxiety, substance use, chronic pain, etc. Attention will also be given to application of interventions in a variety of integrated health, mental health, and substance abuse practice settings such as community mental health agencies, health care facilities and non-profit agencies. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
|---|---|
| Pathway Elective For: | Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective |
| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW506 & SW601 (concurrent enrollment in SW601 permitted if necessary) |
| Course Description: | This course will build on intervention approaches introduced in the essential courses and will promote more advanced engagement, assessment, intervention and evaluation skills in work with children, youth, transitional age youth, and families. Special attention will be given to issues of diversity as it relates to building therapeutic relationships and intervening with children, youth, transitional age youth, and their families. This course focuses on advanced skill building regarding core practice interventions (e.g. engagement, contracting, problem-solving, emotional regulation, behavioral activation, cognitive restructuring, etc.) using specific brief, evidence-based and/or evidence-informed interventions including prevention, treatment and recovery as well as longer-term treatment and support for these children and youth as appropriate. Examples of practice interventions may include: behavioral/cognitive interventions, motivational interventions; resiliency based interventions, brief treatments for mental health and substance use problems, crisis intervention, parent management interventions, and group interventions. Intervention strategies will be analyzed in the context of delivering trauma-informed culturally responsive interventions. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Pathway Elective For: | Welfare of Children & Families |
| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW506 & SW601 (concurrent enrollment in SW601 permitted if necessary) |
| Course Description: | This advanced practice course builds on content from the previous foundational course(s) and focuses on family functioning within diverse client populations. The focus of this course is on the development and utilization of family-focused skills and interventions with diverse families in the context of a variety of practice settings such as healthcare, mental health, and other community-based settings. To inform practice interventions, this course will be grounded in the integration of various current family theories (i.e. attachment theory, general systems theory, communication theory, social construction theory and developmental theory, etc) as well as an overarching neurological perspective. Broad definitions of "family" will be used, including extended families, unmarried couples, single parent families, couples across gender identity and sexual orientation spectrums, adult siblings, "fictive kin," and other inclusive definitions. The development of clinical skills for engaging, assessing, and intervening with families will be the primary focus of this course. Focused attention on primary models of family theory and practice will inform intervention techniques and skills taught in the course (i.e. Bowen Family Systems Theory, Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy and addition approach(s) informed by identified theories). This course will address stages of the helping process with families (i.e. engagement, assessment, planning, evaluation, intervention, and termination). During these stages, client-worker differences will be taken into account including a range of diversity dimensions such as ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, immigration status, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality and sexual orientation. Various theoretical approaches will be presented in order to help students understand family structure, communication patterns, and behavioral and coping repertoires. The family will also be studied as part of larger social systems, as having its own life cycles, and as influencing multiple generations. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
|---|---|
| Pathway Elective For: | Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Welfare of Children & Families |
| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW506 & SW601 (concurrent enrollment in SW601 permitted if necessary) |
| Course Description: | This advanced practice course builds on content from previous foundational courses and focuses on the processes of group interventions with diverse client populations, across various client concerns and in a variety of practice settings such as healthcare, mental health, and other community-based settings. The focus of this course is on the development and utilization of group skills and interventions. Particular attention will be given to the recruitment and composition of group members, leadership structure of groups, phases of group development, and group processes such as decision-making, tension reduction, conflict resolution, goal setting, contracting, and evaluation. Students will learn how to assess and intervene with group problems such as scapegoating, member resistance, low morale, over-active participation, etc. They will learn to employ a variety of intra-group strategies and techniques such as programs, structured activities, exercises, etc. Interventions consistent with the achievement of social justice through group work practice will be emphasized. The course will also consider how gender, ethnicity, race, social class, sexual orientation, and different abilities will impact various aspects of group functioning such as purpose, composition, leadership, selection of intervention strategies, and group development. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course is open to student learners in the health science areas including social work, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry. This course will present state-of-the-art knowledge and research of mental disorders of adults across the lifespan, as well as factors that promote mental health, and prevent mental disorders and substance related problems. Using a clinical case discussion format, this class will highlight mental health diagnoses, comorbidity, and team collaboration across health professions. Social determinants of health/mental health will be used as an organizing framework for discussing the impact of factors associated with health and mental health across diverse cultures, groups and populations. Classification systems of adult mental functioning and mental disorders will be presented, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9/10). Ethical considerations regarding the development and application of classifications will be explored in addition to critically analyzing both the strengths and limitations of these classification systems with diverse populations. Competencies related to teamwork and collaboration, values and ethics, and communication will be addressed. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course targets students who elect to learn more about chemical dependency and other addictive behaviors. Course content and instructional methodologies that are used to enable students to develop knowledge and practice skills in areas of prevention and client intervention of chemical abuse and other addictive behaviors. The course uses a framework for student understanding that addresses chemical abuse and other addictive behaviors based on both theoretical and science-based prevention and intervention approaches. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant social issue in the U.S., which has persisted despite extensive efforts to eradicate it through numerous policy and practice interventions. In this course, learners will be introduced to key concepts, definitions, and theories of IPV. Learners will also receive applied opportunities to implement best practices for identifying, screening, and responding to IPV in health, mental health and substance abuse practice settings. Issues related to those who experience and witness IPV as well as those who use violence will be discussed, including social and cultural factors (e.g., age, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation) associated with IPV exposure. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Distrust based on a history of unsatisfactory experiences with human service professionals and low retention in, and premature termination of services can reduce successful outcomes for members of African American communities. Participants in this course will examine racial microaggressions in practice as a source of these outcomes. Participants will define and identify racial microaggressions and their impact on clients and on the professional relationship. Attention will be given to the cultural context in the way racial microaggressions are experienced and dilemmas about how to respond. The effect of power differentials on the interpretation of racial microaggressions will be examined. Using an African-centered perspective, the course will be knowledge-, skills-, and values-based and will include assigned readings, powerpoint presentations, video-clips, case studies, and small-group presence of problem-solving. Participants will practice alternative methods of intervening when in the racial microaggressions |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course will apply African-centered values and principles in historical and contemporary context to the implementation of traditional methods in practice with African American individuals, families and communities. The course is bounded by a strengths and resilience framework in which students will 1) obtain an overview of the African worldview and the history, culture, and contributions to world civilization of African-descended people; 2) become familiar with literature that exemplifies the integration of the Afrocentric perspective in practice with African American families; and 3) utilize the case study method to apply knowledge gained. The course will be offered in a seminar format in which students have an active role in structuring their own learning, building on content delivered by guest lecturers and utilizing relevant reading materials, experiential activities and electronic media. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Global Social Work Practice, Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course is open to student learners in the health science areas including social work, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry. This course will present state-of-the-art knowledge and research of mental disorders of children and youth, as well as factors that promote mental health, and prevent mental disorders and substance related problems. Using a clinical case discussion format, this class will highlight mental health diagnoses, comorbidity, and team collaboration across health professions. Social determinants of health/mental health will be used as an organizing framework for discussing the impact of factors associated with health and mental health across diverse cultures, groups and populations. Classification systems of child and youth functioning and disorders will be presented, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5), Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood: DC: 0-5, and the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA). Students will be taught to critically understand both the strengths and limitations of these classification systems and how to use these systems in practice. Competencies related to teamwork and collaboration, values and ethics, and communication will be addressed. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course will introduce a variety issues facing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) clients and communities at the micro, meso, and macro levels. This course will build on basic skills and knowledge of interpersonal practice, policy advocacy, and community organizing to focus on how to best serve LGBTQIA2S+. Issues which are of greater concern, or for which services and in some cases, knowledge, are lacking for these populations will be covered, including: history of the LGB/T movement, identity versus behavior, the process of coming out, social stigma, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, experiences of discrimination and victimization (both interpersonal and systemic), healthcare (including mental health), sexuality and relationships, family development and parenting, lack of inclusion in research and evidence based practice, community organizing, impact of policies, and ways to work towards resistance and resilience. This course will closely focus on different skills needed for working with these specific issues, in addition to basic knowledge of these individuals across the life span and communities. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course will focus on experiential and adventure practice (theories, models, tools and techniques) that social workers may use in their work with individuals, groups, families, organizations and communities. Some particular focus will be given to their use in social work with groups. Students will be introduced to experiential and adventure practice through readings, discussions, guest speakers and experiences. This course is designed to provide the student with a theoretical, philosophical and experiential understanding of experiential/adventure practice (E/A Practice) approach and its application to Social Work Practice. Theoretical models of practice arising out of the adventure and experiential fields will be offered and discussed in tandem with current social work theories and models of practice. Evidence-based literature will be reviewed to promote experiential interventions that build on strengths and resources of individuals and their families, and that integrate components of other evidence-based practices into the experiential methodologies. Ethical, Inclusive and accessible practices will be discussed and demonstrated, especially due to the outdoor and natural setting involved and the physicality of many of the tools used in the approach. This course will address how adventure/experiential practice attends to critical diversity dimensions (including ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, sex, and sexual orientation) as it relates to individuals and their families. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course provides a framework of knowledge, values, skills, and experiences for culturally competent, ethical, and spiritually-sensitive social work practice. This course is focused on providing specialized understanding of spiritual diversity in social work practice along with application of that understanding to people of diverse religious and nonreligious spiritual perspectives and traditions and its relevance to practice, policy and research. This course will promote exploration of values, knowledge and skills to ethically and effectively provide services to clients that take into account diverse expressions of spirituality. The roles of religion and spirituality in supporting or impeding individual strengths and social justice will be considered. The relationship between spirituality concepts pertaining to gender, ethnicity, culture, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religious and spiritual beliefs, ability, social class, and age as well as spirituality across the life cycle will be addressed. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course will address the theoretical framework of human loss and grief from a culturally and philosophically diverse perspective. Students will be provided with information about why and how humans grieve and how grieving is affected by type of loss, socioeconomic and cultural factors, individual personality and family functioning. Attention will be focused on life span development and the meaning of death and loss at different ages. Various types of loss will be discussed from an individual, family, and socio/cultural/ecological perspective. The importance of understanding trauma and its relationship to grief and loss will also be addressed. Coping and resiliency in loss will be explored, emphasizing the diversity of human response and focusing on the significance of social groups in integrating loss. The formation and practice of rituals, and diversity in religious and spiritual experience as a component of coping with loss will be discussed. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Substance abuse represents a major public health concern facing American’s youth. Although all adolescents are directly or indirectly impacted by substance abuse, racial and ethnic minority youth are disproportionately impacted. Social workers play a key role in health promotion and disease prevention, including prevention, intervention and rehabilitation of substance abuse among racial and ethnic minority adolescents in urban settings. This course will draw from multiple disciplines, including social work, epidemiology, public health, psychology, policy and couple and family therapy, to introduce students to theory and knowledge on substance abuse to inform social work practice with racial and ethnic minority adolescents in urban settings. This course will be guided by models, and the theoretical frameworks which inform them, that have been shown to be efficacious or effective in prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation of substance abuse in adolescents. Therefore, students will be introduced to research-informed substance abuse practices among racial and ethnic minority urban adolescents. For the purposes of this course, substance abuse will include both licit and illicit substances. Students will be asked to demonstrate the ways in which to apply research-informed theory and knowledge in practice settings with racial and ethnic minority urban adolescents. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW506 |
| Course Description: | This course is intended to develop knowledge and skills for practice with children, youth and families, with special attention to assessment. Students learn about varying approaches to assessment, the various contexts in which assessment takes place, and the assessment skills used with children, youth, and families. Students will be familiar with both strengths and limitations of assessments, and how assessments are used (e.g., in school, juvenile justice, and child welfare forensic assessment) including assessments for intervention recommendations. Students will learn how to evaluate overall functioning, conduct developmental assessments, and make a determination about child, youth and family service needs. Students will learn different models of assessment and the role of interdisciplinary assessments (e.g., medical examinations and psychological testing) in the overall assessment process. Students will also become acquainted with widely used assessment practices with children, youth and families in terms of initial screening, risk assessment, and structured decision making. Existing evidence for their utility will be explored. Students will also be sensitized to their personal reaction to child and youth demonstrations of trauma and crises. They will be appraised of professional expectations, such as mandatory reporting of child maltreatment, and will learn about the general structure of service delivery to child and youth clients. Sensitization to the roles of power and privilege of professionals as they relate to both children and their parents is an integral part of the course. In addition, the course will address the sometimes conflicting needs of children and families and child-serving systems (e.g., legal system; school) impacting assessment outcomes and recommendations. The diversity of children, youth and families, in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, class, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and other social identities will be explored. Of particular focus is the over-representation of children of color and the differential response of various child and youth serving systems based upon social identity differences. Students will gain insights about how differences between themselves and client systems affect assessment process including outcomes and recommendations. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
|---|---|
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse |
| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW506 and SW601 or SW621 (concurrent enrollment in SW601 or SW621 permitted if necessary) |
| Course Description: | CSWE Competencies ● Intervention: Social workers a) Initiate actions to achieve organizational goals; b) Help clients resolve problems; c) Negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients; and d) Facilitate transitions and endings. ● Evaluation: Social workers a) critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions This course will present prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation practice theories and techniques emphasizing culturally responsive and evidence-informed interventions that address diverse groups of infants, children, and youth within their social contexts.(e.g., peer group, school, family, neighborhood, and communities). A variety of evidence-based interventions for engaging children, youth, and families (or other caretaking adults such as foster parents) will be presented. Particular attention will be paid to cultural, social, and economic factors that influence client functioning or the worker’s ability to accurately implement interventions that enhance client capacities. A range of evidence-based intervention approaches will be presented such as cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoeducation, behavioral therapy, parent management training and multi-tiered school based interventions. Promising practices for children and adolescents across child serving settings will also be reviewed. The use of play therapy in working with young children and children who have been traumatized will be explored. Content will focus on the early phases of intervention, including barriers to engagement that may result from client-worker differences, involuntary participation on the part of the child, youth, or family, and factors external to the client-worker relationship, such as policy or institutional decisions that may influence or shape intervention. Since work with children and youth almost always requires multiple intervention modalities, attention will be given to creating effective intervention plans through the integration of different modalities. Those intervention methods that have been empirically demonstrated to be effective will be given particular emphasis. Methods for monitoring and evaluating interventions are discussed and demonstrated in this course. Intervention strategies taught in this course rely significantly on the social worker as a critical component of the change process, thus attention will be paid to the understanding of self as an instrument in the change process. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
|---|---|
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse |
| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | SW508 |
| 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. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
|---|---|
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Policy & Political Social Work |
| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This is a methods course intended to develop skills for child welfare practice, with special attention to child maltreatment. Students learn about the various contexts in which child welfare practice takes place and the skills and modalities that are used with children, youth, and families who are the focus of child welfare intervention. This course will prepare students to work with diverse client populations and will help them appreciate the imbalance of power between client and professional. Understanding the needs and responses of involuntary clients is an integral part of the course. Relevant evidence-based practices are taught and child welfare policies and practices are subjected to critical review. The first term will focus on assessment and the second on treatment. This course will cover the following areas: 1) personal, professional, and societal responses to children at risk for maltreatment, 2) diversity in the child welfare population and skills for working with diverse client populations, 3) client issues and responses to child welfare intervention, including power differentials and involuntariness, 4) theories that explain child maltreatment and their social construction, 5) assessment strategies to be used with children and adults with child welfare issues, 6) interventions employed in the child welfare system and the evidence or lack thereof to support them, and 7) evidence-based treatment strategies used with traumatized children. This course will focus upon practice issues, especially poverty and parental problems in families in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Students will be sensitized to their personal reaction to child maltreatment. They will be apprised of professional expectations, such as mandatory reporting of child maltreatment, and will learn about the general structure of service delivery to child welfare clients, which constitutes the context within which they will provide services to clients. Sensitization to the roles of power and privilege of professionals as they relate to both children and their parents is an integral part of the course. In addition, the course will address the sometimes conflicting needs of children and families and legal system impact on child welfare practice, as assessment and the various methods of treatment are taught. The diversity of child welfare populations, in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, class, and sexual orientation will be covered. Of particular focus is the over-representation of children of color and the differential response of the child welfare system based upon class. Students will be made aware of how differences between themselves and clients of child welfare services affect service delivery. These differences will include race, developmental status, economic status, education, gender, and physical well-being. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course will examine practice theories and techniques for working directly with children ages eighteen months to nine years, and their caregivers, via play therapy. This course will emphasize evidence-based play therapies that address diverse groups of young children. Special attention will be given to the meaning of play across cultures, as well as the role of play in the healthy development of children. The interaction between environmental risk factors, protective factors, promotive and developmental factors as they contribute to coping, resiliency, and disorder will also be covered. Primary emphasis will be given to Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) and Child Centered Play Therapy (CCPT). |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | Foundation Essentials Required |
| Course Description: | This course will examine the development of life course in stages, from conception to early childhood (0-6), middle childhood (7-12), adolescence (13-18), and emerging adulthood (18+). Students will explore how development unfolds, with a particular emphasis on how adversity shapes the experiences of children from a young age. Key theories used to understand human development and behavior include those focused on attachment, trauma, and resilience. Special attention will be given to the relationships between critical life conditions, (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic class, sexual orientation), life events (i.e., separation, loss, illness, transition to school, transition to adulthood) and psychological and physical functioning. Course material on identity will address the topics of self-esteem, self-concept, and the development of gender, race, and ethnic identity. |
| Pathway Requirement For: | Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
|---|---|
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse |
University of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 South University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106