• Practice Methods
• The Fields of Practice

Practice Methods

Second-year students select one of the following four social work practice methods as their approach to social work.

Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice

With an emphasis on assessment, intervention, and evaluation, this methods uses individual, family, group, and case management strategies; clinical application of risk and resiliency theories and research to at-risk populations; and clinical issues with specific client populations.

Advanced Generalist Practice and Programming

AGPP ensures the balance and flexibility that successful social workers in the 21st century require. It emphasizes direct practice, community practice, movement from case to cause, and development of innovative and responsive social programs and program resources, including staffing and funding.

Policy Practice

This practice method is focused on policy analysis and advocacy, including the knowledge, values, and skills to define policy issues from a social work perspective. Students learn to collect and analyze relevant data, develop policy options, prepare testimony, and present recommendations.

Social Enterprise Administration

Building knowledge, skills, and values in administering social service programs is the program goal, including program planning, program evaluation, financial management, staff development and training, human resource management, and management information systems.

The Fields of Practice

Each student applies the selected practice method in the context of a chosen field of practice. One field of practice course is required; additional electives are available. The seven field of practice options are:

Aging

The role, status, and social problems of the elderly; sociology of the family; age stratification; policies providing financial support, health, and social care for the elderly; and social service provisions for the aged.

Contemporary Social Issues (CSI)

Emerging social problems, their etiology, epidemiology, and interconnections; relevant policies, programs, and practices; and coordination or lack thereof among service systems that seek to address these problems. Contemporary social issues, via advocacy and a forensic approach, addresses the impact of issues and problems in the criminal justice system, homelessness, domestic violence/violence, and substance abuse and their impact on individuals, groups, couples, families, communities, and society.

Family, Youth, and Children’s Services

The economic and social status and service needs of families, youth, and children; laws, funding, and service organizations; family support and child care services; preventive and protective services; school-related and/or school-based services; adolescent issues.

Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities

Identification of health factors and social stressors that affect clients; program development and evaluation; fiscal, legal, and organizational sanctions and influences, including managed care; assessment of system entry points for client care and advocacy.

International Social Welfare and Services to Immigrants and Refugees

Global social problems, international trends in social policies and programs including response to disasters, humanitarian work, needs of immigrants, refugees and internally displaced persons, community development, social enterprise projects, activities of major international organizations and voluntary agencies working internationally and within the United States. There are prerequisites necessary to pursue this field of practice.

School-Based and School-Linked Services

Practice issues in public education; problems of school failure; design, administration, financing, delivery, and evaluation of school-based or school-linked child and family services; interdisciplinary collaboration.

World of Work

The composition, status, and needs of the labor force; conditions interfering with work roles; services for clients as workers and for their dependents; collective bargaining; discrimination, and unequal opportunity; interdisciplinary initiatives; and legislation related to work and social welfare.

• For more information see CUSSW Bulletin