As a child welfare social worker, you would investigate reports of child maltreatment
and conduct assessments of risk and safety. You would also address issues of family
support, family preservation, foster care, kinship care, independent living, adoption
and guardianship.
The Child Welfare Track prepares clinical practice concentration year students for
work with children and families served in public and private child welfare agencies.
Most of these families have experienced child maltreatment, and many are also experiencing
poverty, domestic violence, mental illness and substance abuse. Therefore, you'll
learn interventions focused on promoting the safety, permanence and well-being of
children who have suffered (or are at risk of) maltreatment, building individual and
family strengths, and preventing and alleviating the consequences of child maltreatment.
If you select this track, you'll take:
- an overview course focused on the causes and developmental consequences of child maltreatment
- two required courses that will help you develop the knowledge and skills to serve children and families at intake, in their own homes, and (for children in foster care) during the adoption and guardianship process
- a policy course
- 4 elective courses
- 2 practice evaluation research courses
Your field internships will take place in a county department of human services or in a private agency working in partnership with a county department.
