Graduateprograms.com Announces Top 25 Social Work Grad Programs

Students seeking degrees in social work can find advice about where to go to grad school this fall from the website, Graduateprograms.com. Graduate Programs, an online guide to graduate schools for prospective graduate students, today released its rankings of the Top 25 Social Work Grad Programs according to student ratings and reviews posted on Graduateprograms.com. The rankings are based solely on surveys submitted by 1,500 students from more than 130 accredited social work programs across the United States.

The Best Social Work Programs in the United States, according to graduateprograms.com ratings and reviews are:

1.) New York University (Silver School of Social Work) (8.9 stars)

2.) Case Western Reserve University (Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences) (8.8 stars)

3.) University of Louisville (Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work) (8.67 stars)

4.) University of Wisconsin-Madison (The School of Social Work) (8.66 stars)

5.) University of California-Berkeley (School of Social Welfare) (8.633 stars)

6.) University of Southern California (School of Social Work) (8.63 stars)

7.) Boston University (School of Social Work) (8.52 stars)

8.) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (School of Social Work) (8.216 stars)

9.) University of Maryland (School of Social Work) (8.196 stars)

10.) Michigan State University (The School of Social Work) (8.133 stars)

11.) Loyola University Chicago (School of Social Work) (8.091stars)

12.) Boston College (The Graduate School of Social Work) (8.067 stars)

13.) University of Pennsylvania (School of Social Policy and Practice) (7.97) stars)

14.) Fordham University (The Graduate School of Social Service) (7.955 stars)

15.) Virginia Commonwealth University (School of Social Work) (7.932 stars)

16.) University of Washington Tacoma (Social Work Program) (7.833 stars)

17.) University of Albany (SUNY) (School of Social Welfare) (7.8 stars)

18.) Columbia University (School of Social Work) (7.607 stars)

19.) University of California-Los Angeles (Luskin School of Public Affairs) (7.467 stars)

20.) University of Kansas (School of Social Welfare) (7.35 stars)

21.) The University of Chicago (School of Social Service Administration) (7.217 stars)

22.) University of Denver (School of Social Work) (7.2 stars)

23.) Washington University in Saint Louis (George Warren Brown School of Social Work) (7.163 stars)

24.) University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (School of Social Work) (7.167 stars)

25.) University of Washington Seattle (School of Social Work) (7.102 stars)

Students often left comments with their reviews about social work programs. One Case Western Reserve Class of 2015 students wrote: “Pros: The Case Western Reserve University Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS) is one of the top programs in the country. Over 200 agencies provide field placement opportunities for its students. The field placement opportunities are paid, the only school of its kind offering this. The program is successful because of the commitment of the faculty. MSASS was ranked #7 in 2007 in Faculty Scholarly Productivity. It is also #1 in Endowed Professorships. Cons: The ethnic diversity of MSASS needs balance. Also, MSASS only offers two degree programs. Cost is always a con. At $37,120, MSASS is one of the more costly programs in the country.”

A Class of 2014 University of Southern California student wrote: “The program is very demanding but that comes with being a top 10 accredited school. I would recommend the school to anyone who does not have many student loans from undergrad because the program is very expensive. Though, again, it is a very good, private school. Overall, I do not regret my decision and I believe I am getting a great education to prepare me to be the best Social Worker I can be.”

Based on the many ratings and reviews left on the site, Graduateprograms.com identified those aspects of their social work programs students’ value most: present and helpful professors; a student body that reflects the diversity of the clients in the field; and finally, accessible public transportation. Next week, Graduateprograms.com will be releasing the Best Social Work Programs for faculty accessibility and support, diversity, and transportation.

Students may continue to review their programs at www.graduateprograms.com and qualify to win a $1,000 scholarship, awarded once per semester. Reviews will be incorporated into upcoming program rankings.

METHODOLOGY

Graduateprograms.com reaches current and recent graduate students through scholarship entries as well as social media platforms. All social work school rankings cover a period from September 1, 2012 to February 25, 2013. Graduateprograms.com assigns 15 ranking categories to each graduate program at each graduate school. Rankings cover a variety of student topics, such as academic competitiveness, career support, financial aid, and quality of network.

New Book on Hospice Social Work

Columbia University Press is pleased to announce the publication of Hospice Social Work by Dona J. Reese.

- Addresses psychological and spiritual care in hospice work along with the role of social workers with individuals, groups, and families

- A comprehensive teaching text for graduate students, policy makers, medical professionals, spiritual advisors and administrators in social work and end of life care

- Covers cultural competence, unlike others works in the field.

The first text to explore the history, characteristics, and challenges of hospice social work, this volume weaves leading research into an underlying framework for practice and care. A longtime practitioner, Dona J. Reese describes the hospice social work role in assessment and intervention with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and the community, while honestly confronting the personal and professional difficulties of such life-changing work. She introduces a well-tested model of psychosocial and spiritual variables that predict hospice client outcomes, and she advances a social work assessment tool to document their occurrence. Operating at the center of national leaders' coordinated efforts to develop and advance professional organizations and guidelines for end-of-life care, Reese reaches out with support and practice information, helping social workers understand their significance in treating the whole person, contributing to the cultural competence of hospice settings, and claiming a definitive place within the hospice team.

Dona J. Reese is an associate professor at the School of Social Work, Southern Illinois University. She is a former hospice social worker and former Social Worker Section Leader for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and she has worked with colleagues to advance the field through the National Hospice Social Work Survey and the Social Work Assessment Tool (SWAT).

Purchase Hospice Social Work from Amazon.com

Social Work World Selected as Great Social Work Site

The Social Work World Blog has been chosen to be featured on the list of 101 Greatest Sites for Social Workers that was published today on MSWOnlinePrograms.org.  

You can check out the list and the other great sites that made the cut here: http://mswonlineprograms.org/great-sites/

Many of their readers are either starting down the path of higher education in social work, or have already been in the field for some time and are looking toward a masters or doctorate in the field. MSW Online think these sites will help them form a broad view of the specialties, organizations, and career paths available to social workers.

The Social Work World blog is part of Social Work World, the website.

Mental Health and Gun Control: Anything new?

As licensed clinicians we've always had to report and/or obtain emergency hospitalization for a client who was of danger to themselves or others. So I am now hearing that this reporting regulation is a part of the "gun control package."

The law would require therapists, doctors, nurses and social workers to tell government authorities if they believe a patient is likely to harm himself or others. That could lead to revoking the patient's gun permit and seizing any guns, the Associated Press says.

It may also lead to the people that need help avoiding going to a therapist. But this is nothing new.

Of Obama's newly signed Executive Actions, numbers 17, 20, 22, and 23 deal with mental health:

• "Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities";

• "Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover";
• "Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations"; and
• "Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health."

Directive 21 also calls for finalizing regulations that clarify "essential health benefits and parity requirements" within the Affordable Care Act.

In a statement, the president added that "we are going to need to work on making access to mental health care as easy as access to a gun."

Specific plans described in the president's directive include calling for the creation of Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education) to provide "mental health first aid" training to teachers and other adults who interact with students in order to help them recognize a young person who needs help and then to ensure that the youth is referred to a mental health professional. The plan's goal is to reach 750,000 young people through this training program.

In addition, the Administration is proposing a $50 million plan to train more than 5000 social workers, psychologists, counselors, and other mental health professionals to specifically serve young adults and students.

A document in PDF format that explains all 23 actions in detail is available online from the White House.

Meanwhile different states are enacting their own gun control legislation. An example is Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's legislation that is designed to close gun control loopholes and strengthen mental health services.

With discussions of more mental health access, especially through the schools and more crisis intervention services, it appears, on first look, that the newly proposed legislation via the Federal government and the states will provide more mental health services.

I am interested in what other social workers are hearing.

Social Work Month is coming soon: Here are ideas and gifts

March is National Professional Social Work Month  

Social Work World Store with New Designs and Products

Social Work Month will be here before you know it. Along with this yearly recognition comes a great opportunity to promote and enhance the visibility of our profession.

We need to take off our clinical hats and don our marketing hats in order to understand what wonders we can accomplish.  First decide what audience you wish to reach.   Will it be the social workers in your organization, legislators, administrators or, the general public?  And what message do you want to carry to them? Will this be a time of recognition, a time to reach out into the community with a new service, or a charge to right the wrongs promulgated by the media?

Planning

Once you decide on your audience and your focus, it will be time to draw up a plan. When planning, it is important to consider those you hope will support your endeavor.   If you plan to ask your administrator for financial support to put on a recognition luncheon, go to that administrator and ask what their thoughts might be regarding how to best recognize the staff. Work together to creatively finance the effort.

If you want to have your colleagues join you, it is best to involve them from the beginning. Be open to their ideas and feedback. Encourage them to participate in a committee effort.

Once you have others involved and have heard their ideas, develop a plan with concrete tasks and deadlines. If you are fortunate and have a group of people working with you, allow them to select tasks they wish to complete. The more involvement, the better.

Give yourself and your group plenty of time. Hurrying around at the last minute, when you have a full caseload, will not bode well for your health or your nerves. Plan ahead, develop a list of tasks, involve others, and meet frequently to update each other and look for loose ends.

Recognition

It has been a rough year. Perhaps your agency has gone through a major change, laying off staff.

You decide that the focus of National Professional Social Work Month this year should be recognition of the staff.

Here are some ideas:

• Involve the leadership of your organization in putting on a special breakfast or luncheon honoring social workers. Appoint an administrator to give a brief speech of gratitude and support.
• Develop and place posters honoring the social work staff in key places around your organization. Visibility is rewarding.
• Organize and host a "Caring for Yourself" retreat. Send the staff off-site for an afternoon of relaxation, self-care tips and even neck and shoulders massage.
• Work with your organization's public relations department to devote an issue of the organization's newsletter to social workers and their work. Encourage staff photographs and highlight their accomplishments.
• Purchase National Social Work Month buttons or design them yourself. Imagine seeing the physicians in a hospital sporting "I Love Social Workers" buttons all month!

Education

There are some unique and interesting ways you can celebrate Social Work Month with an educational focus:

• Set up a "professional resource fair" and invite vendors and agency representatives to come and provide poster sessions and hand-outs covering their products and services. If you work in a hospital, for example, you might invite some of the local DME, transportation and assisted living companies. In addition, consider a vendor from the local bookstore. Often vendors are so thrilled to participate they will offer a doorprize or two. (Hint: check your agency policy on gifts).
• Invite an inspirational speaker to make a presentation to your staff and others whom they might want to include.
• Purchase some new books for your departmental resource library and notify the staff that the titles have been added in honor of National Professional Social Work Month.

Outreach

Want to reach out to your community, share a program or promote the skill of your staff? Here are some good outreach ideas:

• Proclamation. Arrange for a proclamation to be written by your Governor's or Representative's Office. It is easy if you give the staffers enough time and information. Ask for their format way ahead of time. Include the proclamation in a news article or present it at a community meeting.
• Community Presentation. Invite local community leaders to a Social Work Month presentation. Whether it be a new program or a review of your services, this month is an excuse to promote your services.
• Community Resource Fair. Organize a fair of consumer-oriented resources. Ensure that your programs are represented, literature available to hand out and social workers staffing the tables. Ensure a good turn-out by writing letters to community groups and promoting the event in the local newspaper.Serve refreshments!
• Informational Publication. Develop an informational hand-out. (Hint: Perhaps you can obtain a small grant to cover the printing.) Your hand-out could include the services social workers provide, where to call for assistance, and the community agencies available. Mailings could target community members and groups.

Image Enhancement

National Professional Social Work Month, just by virtue of the title alone ensures that our professionalism is promoted. Social workers seem to be a mis-understood group of professionals. The media's portrayal of our work doesn't help. But we don't do enough to promote our work, either!  Some ideas promoting our professionalism are:

• Speakers Bureau. Set up a Social Work Month speaker's bureau. Let local schools, community groups and churches know of your availability. Select a range of topics that represent our profession well.
• Career Fair. Organize a career fair and invite students. Ensure that the Social Work booth has information on the education and training needed to become a social worker. (Aside: When staffing a booth at a local high school career fair, students were amazed that social workers needed to attend college. One even said, "I thought your work was done by volunteers!")
• Media.  The local print and television media can "be your friend." Engage a local reporter in an interesting story showcasing the talents of your staff.

Excuse Busters

Haven't we heard them all? The excuses for not doing anything about our professional month are many. However, an optimist can find an "excuse-buster" for each excuse!

• Excuse #1: We don't have time.
  Excuse-buster: It seems as though there is considerable time spent grumbling about the lack of recognition social workers get and about the lack of knowledge people have about what social workers do. How about putting some of this negative energy into positive action?
• Excuse #2: We don't have enough staff.
  Excuse-buster: If the idea is wonderful enough, people will adjust their workloads to help. What are you doing now that can be put aside? How about canceling a staff meeting? Consider using volunteers. One social worker I know organized a community resource fair and enlisted her husband to make and serve popcorn!
• Excuse #3: What's the use?
  Excuse-buster: If the celebration is well planned and targeted and if you use some of the proven ideas here or new exciting ideas from your staff, you can and will make an impact.

Resources

Social Work t-shirts, mugs and goodies