• OCFS Graduate Student Training Program
• Education Initiative
• Training Initiative
• Curriculum Initiative
• Design and Improvement Teams

OCFS Graduate Student Training Program

The OCFS Graduate Student Training Program provides Social Welfare, Public Administration, Criminal Justice and Education Masters and Ph.D. students with a stipend as well as mentoring and coaching, communication, problem solving, teambuilding, leadership, diversity, computer and technical and performance measurement skills in all sections of OCFS. In 2004, 12 social work students interested in child welfare as a career completed field placements in public child welfare agencies.

Education Initiative

Tuition Support
A priority for the Consortium has been the development of pathways for employment between schools of social work and public child welfare agencies. This has been accomplished primarily through the provision of tuition support for current child welfare employees who wish to pursue a graduate or undergraduate social work degree. In 2004 the Consortium paid tuition for 294 social work courses across three semesters. The majority of child welfare employees using these resources are matriculated in graduate programs. We had 5 workers graduate with their MSW degree in 2004.

Distance Education
In addition to traditional classroom education, the consortium has funded distance education courses offered through Learn Linc, an interactive computer based education software product that is available in all the local social services departments. Employees access the course from their office workstation. Web-based are also available where employees view video lectures and post reactions and question in on-line bulletins. The web-based platform is accessed at any convenient time for the employee.

Social Work Intern Stipends
Some regions offer stipends for MSW and BSW students interested in considering a career in child welfare. Students complete their social work field internship in a county child welfare agency. For some agencies that do not have a Master's level social worker on staff, the Consortium funds a field supervisor.

Training Initiative

The strength of the Consortium has been enhanced by the flexibility to develop a range of activities over a number of years which are responsive to local workforce needs. The OCFS Program Improvement Plan has guided this flexibility for New York State and the individual counties and includes the establishment of; research partnerships with local districts around critical questions for workforce development, professional education opportunities for local staff, social work field instruction, and new or revised curriculum in schools of social work with a focus on child welfare. A key benefit of attention to the workforce will be the enhanced capacity of local districts and New York State to accomplish the goals established in the Program Improvement Plan.

Curriculum Initiative

Faculty from several New York City Schools of Social Work are writing a child welfare curriculum case guide to be included in all the first year generalists MSW courses. The purpose is for students to gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for social practice in child welfare.

Design and Improvement Teams

Design Team Intervention researchers and group facilitators from the Social Work Education Consortium are working collaboratively with five county departments of social services, one New York City borough, and one tribal nation on an intervention aimed at decreasing turnover and ameliorating unsatisfactory working climates for child welfare workers. The intervention is being implemented in the following sites: Queens County, Rensselaer County, Schoharie County, Franklin County, Otsego County, the Mohawk Tribe, and Tioga County.