The course explores services, practices, and laws in place to ensure child and adolescent well-being, safety, and permanency. It provides important context regarding recent changes in approach to child protective services, kinship/foster care, adoption, group/residential care, reunification, prevention, church/community engagement, and will address special populations related to mental health, and immigration. Emphasis is placed on practical application through case analyses and advocacy efforts.

Over 50% of BSSW graduates entering the field of social work have their first job in the area of child welfare. In addition, when polled, BSSW students, as well over half of the students polled often indicated that their career goals relate to working with children and families. This cognate will equip the student for the marketplace and also is expected to attract new students to LU who are interested in this field. This specific course will provide knowledge of child welfare policy and services necessary for entry-level child welfare practitioners to excel.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussion: Mandated Reporting

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will complete one Discussion in this course. For this Discussion, the student will post one thread of at least 300 words and then post 2 replies of at least 150 words. For each thread, the student must support his/her assertions with at least 2 sources in APA format. Each reply must incorporate at least 1 source in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include the textbook, the Bible, and other scholarly sources.

Risk Assessment Reflection Assignment

For this assignment, the student will review the Virginia Department of Social Services SDM Family Risk Assessment tool. After reviewing this tool, the students will reflect on the information provided and his/her thoughts on these assessments through a 2—4-page reflection paper. The paper must include a minimum of 3 scholarly sources and adhere to current APA format.

Family Service Plan or Transitional Living Plan Assignment

The student will complete either the Family Service Plan or Transitional Living Plan for this assignment. The student must only complete one of these, not both, and can choose which one they would like to do. The student must use the provided template for the chosen assignment to complete the assignment. The student must also incorporate SMART goals into his/her chosen assignment. Both assignments require APA citations and a reference to the course textbook.

Policy Research Assignment

The student will write a 4—5-page (not including cover and reference pages) paper on a policy that the student identifies through an interview with a professional in the field of child welfare. The paper must include a thorough analysis of the policy, a minimum of 5 scholarly resources, and adhere to current APA format.

Reflection Assignment

The student will write a 3—4-page (not including cover or reference pages) paper that reflects on the provided questions regarding future child welfare cases. The paper must adhere to current APA format.

Quiz: Critically Thinking of Social Welfare Cases

This quiz will cover the student’s response to material from the case studies from the assigned Modules: Weeks. The quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 4 short-answer questions, and have no time limit.

Quizzes (2)

Both of these quizzes will cover the Learn material for the assigned Modules: Weeks. Both quizzes will be open-book/open-notes, contain 50 multiple-choice and true/false questions, and have no time limit.