Child Welfare Certificate Program

 

This certificate program is designed for undergraduate and graduate social work students who wish to develop knowledge and skills in child welfare practice and children’s mental health. Students who complete the certificate program will be provided instruction based on the following areas of child welfare practice:

• Multidimensional assessment (including risk & safety assessment)
• Children’s interviewing techniques
• Intervention planning and referral processes
• Historical issues in child welfare
• Current child welfare policy
• Child psychopathology in the child welfare system
• Prevalence and etiology of children’s mental health diagnoses
• A generalists perspective in treating children’s mental health issues

The College of Social Work began this Certificate in Child Welfare Practice in 2000.  It was originally designed with the specific intent of developing and evaluating a new and innovative child-focused assessment and intervention curriculum that provides a focus on children’s mental health issues.  A project called “Putting the Child in Focus: Developing and Implementing a Curriculum combining Child Welfare and Children’s Mental Health” was a three-year federally funded grant by the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (grant number: 90CT0056/01, 1999-2002) which helped to enhance this certificate.