Full course description
Post-Master’s Certificate Program in Equity-Minded Practice
for DCF Supervisors and Managers
Salem State University School of Social Work
Introduction
We draw from the paradigm of equity-minded practice in social work education to conceptualize this certificate program, which will support DCF managers’ development of knowledge and skills integral to critically culturally competent, intersectional, and anti-oppressive practice (Johnson, Slayter and Simmons, 2021). Equity-mindedness is the perspective or mode of thinking and practice exhibited by practitioners who call attention to patterns of inequity in client processes and outcomes (Council on Social Work Education, 2020). These practitioners take personal as well as institutional responsibility for the success of their clients, and critically reassess their own practices through engaging in reflectivity and reflexivity (Schön, 1983; 1987). Practitioners in this mode are intersectionality-conscious and aware of the social and historical context of oppressive practices in child welfare and ancillary systems.
Our certificate program honors the need for social workers to be aware of a range of social identities, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, gender identity and expression, socioeconomic status (SES), and immigration status.
Outline
Learning Objectives
At the completion of the certificate program, participants will be able to:
1. Explain how their social identities inform their child welfare practice
2. Use data to identify inequitable processes and outcomes by social identity statuses
3. Discuss influences of various child welfare practices on processes and outcomes related to social identities
4. Exercise agency to contribute to equitable processes and outcomes for clients and colleagues of all social identities
5. View practice contexts and relationships as influenced by dynamics of privilege and oppression
6. Self-monitor interactions with clients and colleagues of different social identities
Program Description, Schedule, Content Delivery
The program will address three areas within the larger framework of equity-minded practice in child welfare.