CSW General

As a first-generation college student, Lauren Johnson (BSW, 2006) knew what it was like to not only navigate a new environment and culture but how the assistance of others can make all the difference in an individual’s success.

“My professors that taught at the College of Social Work helped me not only academically, but as an individual, cultivating me into the person I am today,” she recalled. “I had so many questions on how everything worked and regardless of how many questions I had or what assistance I needed my professors were always willing to help.”

On November 2, 2022, Florida State University held a memorial service to remember the fourth anniversary of the 2018 shooting at a Tallahassee yoga studio that took the lives of FSU student Maura Binkley and FSU professor Dr. Nancy Van Vessem and injured five others.

The event was organized through the Maura’s Voice Research Fund, established in 2019 by Jeff and Margaret Binkley, Maura’s parents, to focus on researching and responding to the complex causes and effects of gun violence.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Felicitas Brugo Onetti always felt drawn to working with immigrant populations. She volunteered extensively with Guatemalan and Mexican migrant and refugee families while growing up in Miami, Florida and attended several mission trips while earning her social work degree at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

“It is a passion of mine, working with people who are immigrants – like me,” she said. “I always felt called to this population, using my... skills and being a native Spanish speaker to reach more individuals needing help.”

A team of Florida State University researchers has received a $150,000 grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to study the impact of client violence on child protective service workers in Florida.

This month, the FSU College of Social Work is excited to celebrate Native American Heritage Month, which occurs during the month of November, to recognize, honor and showcase Native Americans and Indigenous peoples through insightful and informational events concerning Native Americans.

Researchers, university administrators, staff and faculty from around the world converged at Florida State University, on October 25th and 26th with one word on their mind: resilience. The FSU College of Social Work hosted the Academic Resilience Consortium (ARC) conference to connect people from various settings within higher education to increase students’ resilience and secure their current and future success.  

A $1.3 million grant will fund a project in the Florida State University College of Social Work that aims to combat the opioid epidemic across eight southeastern states.

The two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will go to the Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities, Families and Children (CFC Center). It will target 168 rural counties across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

As Hurricane Ian devastated Florida last month, many Floridians were reminded of similar damage caused by Hurricanes Maria (2017) and Hurricane Michael (2018). A study by Florida State faculty members Dr. Amy L. Ai and Dr. Arthur A. Raney, along with Dr. Hoa B.

The College of Social Work at Florida State University hosted its 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award and Student Scholarship dinner on Thursday, October 13, 2022. The event honored five distinguished social work graduates and 2021-2022 student scholars.

More than $168K in scholarships were given in 2021-2022 to support undergraduate- and graduate-level social work students with interests in areas including child welfare, social policy, international social work, social work practice and military veterans.

Dr. Taylor Dowdy-Hazlett, a recent FSU College of Social Work graduate joins the faculty of the University of Kentucky College of Social Work as an assistant professor.