CADD Corner: 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative

By Nancy Meyer-Adams, PhD, MSW, Associate Professor and Director of the California State University, Long Beach School of Social Work

California Schools of Social Work Get a Jumpstart on One of the National Grand Challenges of Social Work to Be Announced This Month

On January 14, 2016, the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) will announce the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative at the Society of Social Work Research (SSWR) annual conference in Washington DC.

The goal of this initiative is to seek input from practitioners and educators in our field to identify ambitious, yet achievable goals to tackle these challenges using imagination and innovation. These grand challenges have been identified as what social work professionals, educators and researchers will focus on as a profession for the next 10 years. One of these 12 challenges is ending homelessness.

Many social work programs in California have begun working on this challenge of ending homelessness by collaborating with the National Homelessness Social Work Initiative. This initiative follows and builds on previous initiatives in child welfare and aging, and aims to resolve existing curricular gaps, and empower the social work profession to lead the charge of ending homelessness nationally.

This initiative was formed after the National Center for Excellence in Homeless Services was launched in 2013 and is currently funded by the New York Community Trust with additional funding sources being explored. The Center is located at the University of Albany School of Social Welfare and partners with national social work programs, providers, and policymakers to strengthen services that transform the lives of all homeless children, adults and families.

The Center’s goals emphasize the following: increasing homelessness content within social work curriculum, expanding field placements to provide more students with experience working in homeless services on both micro and macro levels, educating policymakers on homelessness and related issues, and supporting leaders in the homelessness field. California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and the University of Southern California’s (USC) Schools of Social Work have been chosen as two of the six Regional Hubs for the Center. CSULB has partnered with social work programs around the state including: CSU: Fullerton, Fresno, San Bernardino, San Diego, East Bay, Chico, Northridge, San Marcos; as well as UCLA and Azusa Pacific.

In early December, representatives from the National Homelessness Social Work Initiative and Darla Spence Coffey, President of CSWE, traveled to Washington DC to meet with representatives from: Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Veteran’s Administration (VA), the Congressional Caucus on Homelessness and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). The goal of these preliminary meetings was to begin conversations about how social work programs and practitioners could partner with these agencies to tackle the Grand Challenge of ending homelessness. Members of this team have been invited back by HUD, SAMHSA and the VA to follow up around specific next steps for advancing national and regional partnerships. We are hopeful that increased government agency partnerships to our ability to inform policy around homelessness and further investments in social work workforce development.

For more information about joining this California initiative please email Nancy.Meyer-adams@csulb.edu.