SW 5130 - Child Welfare Policy (effective Spring 2022)

Credit Hours 3
Description: This course provides students with an overview of the child welfare system as well as the ways in which MSW professionals operate within this system. This course will examine the broad array of state and federal policies for children, youth, and their families, with a particular emphasis on understanding policies and services for populations involved with child-serving systems. The course will also examine the historical foundations of these policies and how they have evolved over time in response to unmet needs. Students will develop critical frameworks for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of these policy interventions and of the delivery of child-oriented social services based on social and behavioral science research evidence and through the lens of multi-culturalism and social justice values. Emphasis will be placed on the role of the social work practitioner in enhancing the well-being of children and youth through social policy development, implementation, evaluation, and advocacy. The course uses a children’s rights lens to examine different child policy topics.