Welcome to Radford University School of Social Work’s Child Welfare Program website. Our website has been designed to give you information about the School of Social Work’s Child Welfare programs. We are passionate about the need for social justice and committed to working with the families, agencies, and communities in Southwest Virginia. There are many activities we are undertaking to protect and support children in Southwest Virginia, and to increase their quality of life.

One offering of interest to students is the Child Welfare Stipend. Many students who could not otherwise attend school have been able to get a degree in Social Work through this innovative, state-administered, federal Title IV-E grant. The grant’s purpose is to provide education and training to potential and current DSS employees, so they may better serve the children and families in their care.

The School of Social Work offers 20 stipends of $8,000 each to Social Work Students each year. Five stipends are awarded to BSW students and 15 stipends are awarded to MSW students. Students may receive up to 3 stipends (one per year) while enrolled in our BSW and MSW programs. Students who accept the stipend must agree to work, after they graduate, at the Virginia Department of Social Services for 9 months for each stipend that they accept. For more details, and/or to download an application, click on the stipend link on our website.

The Institute for Children & Families, formerly the Child Welfare Institute, was developed under the skilled leadership of Dr. Jane Denton.  It is now directed by Jenny Burroughs and comprises several programs. Our newest venture is the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) of the New River Valley. This is an interdisciplinary community-wide endeavor. The purpose of the CAC is to create a safe place for children who may have been abused to meet with social work professionals, law enforcement, and medical practitioners at the same time, so they won’t be traumatized by having to retell their experience over and over again. Martha Raby is doing a great job of coordinating the CAC.

In addition, the School of Social Work provides training for child welfare practitioners. The Institute for Children & Families (ICF) provides an annual conference, "Celebrating Child Welfare" where nationally known speakers can share their knowledge with social workers and other health professionals. Practitioners, administrators, educators, researchers, and students are encouraged to share their expertise with others at this multidisciplinary forum. The conference showcases programs and projects that can be used as models for best-practice.

Another program of the Child Welfare Institute is the CRAFFT initiative. This grant provides funding to train community resource, adoptive, and foster families and their social workers throughout southwest Virginia. In the spring of 2003 RU School of Social Work hosted a special event for resource families and their children. The families had a wonderful time learning, playing, and socializing with each other. We also have a faculty member, Rhonda Seltz, who coordinates the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS) program. Ms. Seltz has worked tirelessly to sign up uninsured children for healthcare through the FAMIS program. FAMIS falls under the auspices of the Child Welfare Institute. Click here for an update on the FAMIS program.

All of our Child Welfare programs provide an avenue of renewal for our curriculum. What we learn about best-practice will be fed back into the School of Social Work curriculum. In this way community involvement enhances our teaching effectiveness and our curriculum and continuing education offerings lead to best practice in the community!

We hope you will feel free to call, email, or stop by the offices of our Child Welfare faculty. Jenny Burroughs is our Title IV-E Coordinator. Raleigh Campbell, Barbie Honaker,  and Michael Sinclair are also IV-E faculty members. We look forward to meeting you and to talking with you about opportunities in Child Welfare.

To learn more about the opportunities and programs described here, please explore our website. Our child welfare program has so much to offer!