Colorado State’s New Center for Social Work Research Links Community Partners and School Â?? Open House Sept. 22
Colorado State University’s School of Social Work, in collaboration with community partners, has created a new research center at the university, the Social Work Research Center.
An open house for the new research center to celebrate the center’s opening will be held from 4-6:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at 222 Laurel St. on the Colorado State campus. The event is free and open to the public.
The SWRC will create formal links between human service agencies and higher education so that social welfare services for individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities are improved in Colorado.
"Social work is an applied science designed to effect societal change to enhance the well-being of people. Social justice and human rights are fundamental aspects of the social work profession," said Deborah Valentine, director of the School of Social Work and interim director of the Social Research Center at Colorado State. In addition, social workers are educated at the undergraduate and graduate levels to work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities to provide such services as advocacy, clinical interventions, mediation, community interventions and supervision at the points where individuals interact with their environments. Research that evaluates the effectiveness of social work practice is a crucial social work role. Evaluations of social work interventions will guide practice and ultimately improve the effectiveness and efficiency of services to all client systems."
U.S. News and World Report’s most recent ranking of Social Work Graduate Programs places Colorado State University as 46th in the country, or in the top 27 percent of the nation.
"This is an impressive ranking as we are the youngest program among the top programs in the nation, and it speaks volumes about the caliber and commitment of the faculty and students at Colorado State’s School of Social Work," Valentine said.
The SWRC is conducting research to evaluate the standard social work interventions and respond with innovative solutions to existing problems. The center will advance social work practice and theory, promote social welfare and social justice and enhance learning and practice through the dissemination of research to social service organizations and agencies and through professional publications and journals. The center will work to strengthen the relationship between theoretical research and actual social work practice. Colorado State faculty will develop measures that can be used in research, evaluation, policy analysis, training and program development.
The SWRC provides support in facilitating training, mentoring, and community development services to social welfare agencies, governmental departments, community groups, students and faculty.
Through applied research, the center’s work will help make strides dealing with issues in social work, such as the effectiveness of kinship care and adoption subsidies for children served by the Department of Human Services.
The county departments of Human Services are working with Colorado State in the new research initiative. Some of the current projects that SWRC is involved with are Colorado Community Partnerships and Applied Research in Child Welfare.
Sponsors of the open house for the new research center include Colorado State’s Research and Development Center, Applied Research in Child Welfare and Colorado Collaborative Partnership.
For more information about the open house, contact Valentine at (970) 491-6612 or [email protected]. For more information about the Social Work Research Center, visit the Web at www.cahs.colostate.edu.
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