Dear friends,

After months of reports about problems in Florida’s child-welfare system, lawmakers this year approved a sweeping reform bill that included establishing an institute to guide state leaders, in part, by evaluating the success of their policies.

Now, as the Florida Institute for Child Welfare at Florida State University prepares its first report to Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature, people responsible for improving the lot of the state’s children hope the institute will provide important perspective.

Beginning in 2015, the FSU College of Social Work will partner with the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving to offer the program Operation Family Caregiver (OFC)to military caregivers. Offering free, confidential support to family and friends of service members and veterans, the OFC program aids caregivers in managing difficult transitions and obstacles.

Kenisha Anthony entered the foster care system when she was 5 years old.

After she aged out at 18, she didn’t know where to go or what to do.

“When I aged out, I didn’t feel like my social worker had my best interest,” she said. “I wasn’t able to get independent living or any benefits. I didn’t know my rights. I got no help.”

Anthony wanted to keep that from happening to other foster children. She joined Florida Children’s First, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting foster children and other at-risk youth, in 2013.

The Florida State University College of Social Work was well represented at the 2015 Society for Social Work and Research annual conference in January in New Orleans, Louisiana. The College hosted a reception at the Galvez Restaurant on Friday, January 16^th for alumni and friends in the French Quarter and had a booth in the conference exhibit hall. Some of the highlights of the SSWR conference for the College included the recognition of Drs. Tomi Gomory and Jeffrey Lacasse along with Ph.D. candidate Jane McPherson.

A new report from the Florida Institute for Child Welfare — created last year as part of a wide-ranging reform law — calls for state leaders to go well beyond their previous efforts to fix the state’s troubled child-protection system.

The 50-page report, submitted Friday to Gov. Rick Scott, Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, focused on “the need for a statewide, system-wide child welfare strategic plan” that pulls together the disparate parts of Florida’s response to the abuse and neglect of children.

My Dream Career
A poem about social work

When I grow up, I’ll make a change
Developing a career seemed easy to arrange
At the age of five I told my mom that I wanted to be a lawyer
Unknowingly, I had reflected what my parents thought would be a dream employer
It wasn’t until college that I found out
What real world problems and issues are all about
That’s when I met my first social worker and with great amaze
I discovered that social work was for me, not in the future, but that day!

In 2015, three faculty members will take on new leadership roles within the College of Social Work.

A group of researchers from Florida State University received a $250,000 grant from the Vandermark Foundation to create an online toolkit designed to foster healthy co-parenting in families of divorce.

This year, Dean Nick Mazza will be retiring after 34 years with FSU and 7 years as Dean of the College of Social Work. The Dean Search Committee is pleased to announce that two final candidates for the deanship at the FSU College of Social Work will visit FSU’s campus next week. The candidates are Dr. James Clark and Dr. Cynthia Lietz.