Grant Funded Community Services
As part of the Radford University School of Social Work
(SSW), the Institute for Children and Families (ICF) is
passionate about the need for social and economic justice
and committed to working with families, agencies, and
communities in southwestern Virginia. The ICF, formerly the
Child Welfare Institute, was developed under the skilled
leadership of Dr. Jane Denton and is now directed by Dr.
Jenny Burroughs Alexander.
The purpose of the ICF is to promote evidence-based
practice and inform curriculum enhancement through
collaboration among local and state Departments of Social
Services, community health and human services agencies,
students, and faculty on issues pertaining to children and
families. The programs within the ICF are undertaking
activities to protect and support families, children, and
elders in Southwest Virginia, and to increase their quality
of life.
The ICF offers opportunities for faculty, students, and
community partners to be involved in innovative research
and the development and demonstration of “best practice”
models. This research and these models are then feed into
the BSW and MSW curriculums, in the core and elective
course content. The research conducted and models developed
and tested through the ICF programs offer wonderful
opportunities for faculty and students to publish and
present their findings at conferences, workshops, etc.
Due to the reputation Waldron College programs and
specifically the SSW ICF programs have earned through our
work in the communities in Southwestern Virginia we are
often invited to assist in developing new programs or
enhancing existing programs by offering new resources and
creative ideas. The programs and learning opportunities
offered through ICF are summarized below.
The Children’s Advocacy Center of the New River Valley
(CAC-NRV) was established through a University-Community
Partnership and is governed by a Task Force made up of
representatives from law enforcement, commonwealth’s
attorneys, DSS, RU, and advocates for child victims of
violence. The CAC is a community-based program that serves
alleged child abuse victims and non-offending family
members with the goals of reducing trauma to alleged
victims and more effectively prosecuting perpetrators of
abuse and violence against children. The Center provides a
non-threatening, child friendly environment where trained
neutral forensic interviewers perform developmentally
appropriate interviews with alleged child victims. The CAC
model endorses a multi-disciplinary approach to child abuse
investigations.
The Community Resource Adoptive and Foster Family Training
(CRAFFT) initiative is a statewide program whose primary
focus is training and supporting resource, foster, kinship,
and adoptive families throughout Virginia. The state is
divided into six service areas and each area has a
designated CRAFFT coordinator who works at a state
University within/bordering the service area. The two
coordinators, serving the Western and Piedmont areas of
Virginia, work at RU SSW with the ICF. The goals of the
CRAFFT program are directly related to state program
improvement goals that focus on better outcomes for
children in our foster care system.
The Certificate Program in Eligibility Practice program is
a partnership between the City of Roanoke DSS and RU SSW.
The Certificate Program offers twelve (12) credit hours
with content delivered in four course modules. Course
educational outcomes and core competencies are based on
“best practice”. Educational outcomes are focused on
effective benefit determination and re-determination for
individuals seeking financial, medical, and emergency
assistance and food stamps. Educational outcomes include
the preparation of Eligibility Workers who will
demonstrate: 1) “best practice” models, and competencies,
in keeping with agency policy and procedures; 2) respect
and acceptance of the unique characteristics of diverse
customers; 3) knowledge of the history of eligibility work
and its current role in the delivery of social services;
and 4) “conscious use of self” as an eligibility
professional.
Virginia Healthcare Foundation funds the RU FAMIS Outreach
Program. The goal of the program is to increase enrollment
of eligible children in the FAMIS, FAMIS plus, and FAMIS
moms programs. Families and children throughout the New
River Valley, Wythe, Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Patrick
counties and the city of Galax are assisted with enrollment
in the FAMIS programs by project staff and student interns.
FAMIS Outreach staff along with local partner agencies have
been part of very effective statewide policy and procedural
changes that have helped improve overall health care access
in Virginia.
The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program is a
psycho-educational support group for grandparents (and
other relatives) who are currently raising their
grandchildren. The group meets monthly in Pulaski County.
The goal of this group is to assist, strengthen, and
support the families in their endeavor to provide a stable
environment for their grandchildren.
The Celebrating Children and Families Conference recognized
as a showcase for programs and projects that can be used as
models for best-practice, a forum for policy discussion
and advocacy, and a prime source of information on new
research findings in work with children and families.
Practitioners, administrators, educators, advocates,
researchers, and students are encouraged to share their
expertise with others at this multidisciplinary conference.
During this conference we celebrate Children and Families
by recognizing the struggles that today’s families face in
parenting children and supporting elder adults. We honor
and affirm the commitment of the thousands of people who
have dedicated their lives to the caring professions and we
call younger generations to join this valued work. Finally,
we encourage organizations to transform themselves to
respond to the opportunities and challenges of the future.