NSU Social Work Program Receives Grant

Northeastern State University students pursuing bachelor of social work and master of social work degrees will benefit from a highly competitive grant recently awarded by the National Child Welfare Workforce Institutes Child Welfare Traineeship Projects to the university's social work program.

Principal investigator Dr. Virginia Whitekiller, associate professor of social work, said the program facilitates and prepares leaders through the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute.

"The institute's purpose is to build the capacity of the nations child welfare workforce and improve outcomes for children and families through activities," she said. "The activities support the development of skilled child welfare leaders in public and tribal child welfare systems, and in private agencies that are contracted by the State to provide case management services that are traditionally provided by the public child welfare system."

NSU is one of only 12 universities nationwide to receive these grants, funded through the Childrens Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Other recipients include Illinois-Chicago, Maryland, New Mexico State, Briarcliff, Montana, South Dakota, Portland State, Case Western Reserve, Clark Atlanta, Yeshiva and Salem State College.

Whitekiller said many factors helped Northeasterns social work program submit a strong proposal. NSU leads all Oklahoma universities in placement of child welfare workers since 1993 and its graduates have a reputation for academic and ethical preparedness. Oklahoma is also in need of diverse and specialized child welfare workers.

"Furthermore, a unique strength in our proposal was NSU's history of having the highest enrollment of Native American students in the nation, and the relationships that our university continues to foster with the tribes," Whitekiller said. "For example, instead of only focusing on the state agencies, our proposal stressed our plan to work with the tribes more in the capacity of preparing students to work in their tribal child welfare agencies. And of course, conversations were held in advance with the tribes to ensure their support."

The pilot project is funded through four academic years running 2009-2013 and the Northeastern program received the maximum award of $110,000 annually.

The funding provides a significant traineeship stipend for social work students pursuing a child welfare career in tribes, counties and private agencies that contract child welfare services. Participants receive $3,300 for the fall and spring semesters and $1,650 for the summer semester during their junior and senior years.

"The students will also have the opportunity to participate in nationwide peer networking in the field of child welfare, and will attend and conduct a professional presentation at one professional child welfare conference each year," Whitekiller said. "In addition to the child welfare academic specialization, prior to graduation they will gain 440 hours of training experience in tribal, county and private contracting agencies. An added curricular bonus to the program is the curriculum is designed to address such areas as leadership and systems of care in the field."

Social work students who participate in the program will graduate with a child welfare specialization.

"This will provide them with the competitive edge as not only will they have a degree in social work, which is too often not the case in hiring child welfare workers, but they will also come in with the academic foundation child welfare leadership skills and practices, along with specialized training in the field," Whitekiller said. "The students will be eligible for hire as social workers in Indian and county child welfare agencies, therapeutic foster care and group homes, as well as comprehensive home-based services for families with issues of child abuse and neglect."

For more information concerning the NSU child welfare traineeship contact Dr. Virginia Whitekiller at 918-444-3517.