MASTERS IN SOCIAL WELFARE welcome. LEADERSHIP FOR SERVICE LEADERSHIP FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SOCIAL CHANGE LEADERSHIP FOR EVIDENCE- INFORMED AND COMPETENCY- BASED PRACTICE welcome. table of contents 4 BERKELEY SOCIAL WELFARE HISTORY 14 MSW STUDENTS & ALUMNI AT A GLANCE 5 UC BERKELEY HISTORY 16 STUDENT PROGRAMS 6 THE MSW CURRICULUM 18 IN THE FIELD 8 SPECIALIZATIONS ADVANCING HEALTH & WELLBEING 20 ADMISSIONS ACROSS THE ADULT LIFESPAN 22 STUDENT SUPPORT 10 STRENGTHENING CHILDREN, YOUTH 24 AND FAMILIES STUDENT LIFE 12 STRENGTHENING ORGANIZATIONS 26 FAQS AND COMMUNITIES Berkeley Social Welfare history The first graduate-level social work curriculum at Berkeley was established in 1918 in the Department of Economics by Berkeley’s first woman faculty member, Jessica Blanche Peixotto. The graduate Certificate in Social Service was established in 1927 and was accredited by the American Association of Schools and Social Work the next year. Berkeley Social Welfare with its MSW degree was established in 1944. Since then we have prepared over 11,000 social work professionals for leadership positions in public and nonprofit human service sectors. Our students are trained and equipped with the knowledge of professional practices, policies and programs required to address a wide range of contemporary societal problems. They use empirical evidence to inform practice and transform lives. Through our field education program, our 200 master’s students contribute over 130,000 hours of vital support to over 150 human service agencies and their disenfranchised clients through the San Francisco Bay Area each year. The steps of Haviland Hall, home of the School of Social Welfare, in 1964 and 2014. 4 Graduate Study at berkeley Founded in the wake of the Gold Rush by leaders of the newly established 31st state, the University of California’s flagship campus at Berkeley has become one of the preeminent universities in the world. Its early guiding lights, charged with providing education (both “practical” and “classical”) for the state’s people, gradually established a distinguished faculty (with 22 Nobel laureates to-date), a stellar research library and more than 350 academic programs. Berkeley became a catalyst of economic growth and social innovation — the place where vitamin E was discovered, a lost Scarletti opera found, the flu virus identified and the nation’s first no-fault divorce law drafted. Scholars at Berkeley have conducted groundbreaking research on poverty and on basic human nutritional requirements, identified why wartime supply ships were failing at sea, invented technologies to build faster and cheaper computer chips and imaged the infant universe. It also spawned the Free Speech Movement in 1964 that was a model for other social movements that have fundamentally changed our society. The University of California is widely considered the nation’s premier public university system and Berkeley ranks consistently as the nation’s and world’s leading public university. The goal of graduate study at Berkeley is to inspire independence and originality in the pursuit of knowledge. “Berkeley has an institutional influence that makes you unique when you go out in the world.” Thabani Nyoni (MSW ’16) STUDENT SPOTLIGHT the Berkeley MSW The Master of Social Welfare (MSW) trains students for a range of social work leadership and practice roles. Students are prepared to practice with specialized skills at specific intervention levels and are thoroughly grounded in knowledge of social and psychological issues, social policies and social service organizations. Berkeley Social Welfare’s MSW program mission is to develop future leaders of the profession who are deeply prepared for multi-level social work in specific areas of practice. We achieve this through an education built on the strongest available evidence, oriented to advancing social justice and responsive to changing needs of local and global communities. Social work is a growth profession in the United States. Social worker employment is continuing to increase across all categories, and social work occupations are projected to exceed the national job growth rate much faster than the average for all occupations. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program 6 Berkeley Social Welfare’s fully-accredited MSW Program provides an education built on the strongest available evidence, oriented to advancing social justice, and responsive to the changing needs of local and global communities. the MSW Degree Options 3 Two-year full-time MSW program Three-year part-time FlexMSW Extended Berkeley MSW One-year FlexMSW Advanced Standing 3 Specialized Practice Areas Advancing Health and Well-being across the Adult Lifespan Strengthening Children, Youth and Families Strengthening Organizations and Communities 3 Certificate Programs Graduate Certificate in Aging School Social Work Credentials Social Work with Latinos 2 Concurrent Degree Options Concurrent Degree in Public Health (MSW+MPH) Concurrent Degree in Public Policy (MSW+MPP) Average ratio of student to faculty support: 30:1 Instructor 15:1 Field Consultant 8:1 Faculty Advisor MSW specializations Advancing Health and Well-being Across the Adult Lifespan PROMOTING PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH FOR ALL ADULTS. Students specializing in Advancing Health and Well-being Across the Adult Lifespan (“A-WELL”) are prepared for leadership in social work practice with a broad range of vulnerable adult populations. A-WELL students are educated and trained in the assessment and intervention skills necessary to address a range of complex psychosocial, health and mental health issues affecting individuals and families throughout adulthood. Specialized training provides state-of-the-art knowledge for effective multilevel practice with adults, the elderly, and their families. 8 Advancing Health and Well-being GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN AGING The National Institute on Aging estimates the need for 70,000 Across the social workers in older adult services by 2020. Social work professionals require special knowledge about a broad range of fundamental issues experienced by older adults and their families, as well as how to address these issues. Berkeley Social Welfare offers the Berkeley Graduate Certificate in Aging, focusing on ameliorating the physical, psychosocial, familial, Adult Lifespan cultural, ethnic, racial, organizational, and societal factors which serve as barriers to physical and emotional well-being in later life. Students seeking the Certificate gain expertise in conducting holistic bio-psycho-social geriatric assessments, which attempt to untangle interconnected physical, psychological, and social factors that affect health outcomes and well-being. Students also learn strategies for prevention and crisis intervention, and other treatment modalities to strengthen coping, social support, rehabilitation, and problem-solving. Learn more! socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/Certificate_in_Aging Adrian Aguilera Associate Professor “Students will receive comprehensive theoretical and practical training from expert faculty and excellent field placements for work with adults in health and mental health settings. In particular, there is a high demand for work in behavioral health settings with diverse populations, and participants in the Advancing Health and Well- Being Across the Adult Lifespan specialization will be well poised to play leadership roles in this area.” FACULTY SPOTLIGHT MSW specializations Strengthening Children, Youth and Families PROMOTING PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL WELLNESS FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES Students specializing in Strengthening Children, Youth and Families ("SCYF") are prepared for leadership to support families in raising healthy children. SCYF students acquire a full range of individual, family, group, and community intervention strategies and practice skills used with and on behalf of children and families. Specialized training provides state-of-the-art knowledge for effective multilevel practice with vulnerable children, adolescents, and families. 10 CHILD WELFARE SCHOOL SOCIAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM WORK CREDENTIALS Become a leader in public child welfare. Change lives as a school social worker. Public child welfare social workers serve some of the School social work is one of the fastest growing areas of most vulnerable children, youth and families in need social work practice. Since 1907 school social workers in California. In service to the goals of diversifying and have been instrumental in helping schools provide a Strengthening professionalizing the workforce, the Child Welfare Fellows setting for teaching and learning that optimizes student Program prepares selected Berkeley MSW students for potential. Berkeley Social Welfare offers a fully accredited careers in public child welfare. Child Welfare Fellows School Social Work Program that educates master’s-level receive an annual training stipend of $18,500 for up to two social workers to assist public schools in achieving their years in exchange for a post-graduation work commitment educational and developmental missions. of least two years in a California county public child Children, Youth welfare service agency. Prospective Child Welfare Fellows Students who complete the curriculum and required field submit an application to the program along with their placements are eligible for a recommendation for the application for admission to the Berkeley MSW Program. Pupil Personnel Services Credential in School Social Work (“PPSC”), issued by the