ALEXANDRIA, VA— The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has been awarded a $150,000 grant from The New York Community Trust (NYCT), supporting third-cycle efforts in a Policy Practice in Field Education initiative to improve the capacity of social workers to address policy issues. Grant funds for cycles 1 and 2 of this initiative were awarded to CSWE in 2015.
The purpose of CSWE’s Policy Practice in Field Education initiative is to improve student knowledge and application of policy-related skills and to expand their ability to understand and analyze the intersections of race, ethnicity, and poverty through field education and community engagement projects. CSWE will provide two types of grants to social work programs that expand opportunities for all social work students working to see policy in action. Further, these programs will teach students fundamental policy practice skills, engage schools of social work in strengthening the field experience of social work students pursuing careers in policy, and increase the social work presence in policy, labor, and advocacy organizations.
“Continuing the momentum of CSWE’s Policy Practice in Field Education initiative is imperative now more than ever,” said CSWE President and CEO Darla Spence Coffey. “Programs must prepare students for the workforce in a way that includes equipping them with the tools to effectively integrate policy skills in practice. It is thanks to NYCT that we can continue these efforts.”
This third cycle will build on the first two years of the Policy Practice in Field Education Initiative. CSWE will be going out with a request for proposals in January 10, 2018.
ABOUT CSWE
Founded in 1952, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the national association for social work education in the United States. Its members include more than 750 accredited baccalaureate and master’s degree social work programs, as well as individual social work educators, practitioners, and agencies dedicated to advancing quality social work education. Through its many initiatives, activities, and centers, CSWE supports quality social work education and provides opportunities for leadership and professional development, so that social workers play a central role in achieving the profession’s goals of social and economic justice. CSWE’s Commission on Accreditation is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in the United States and its territories. Learn more at www.cswe.org.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Julie Ackerman Montross, 703-519-2057
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