Coordinator of Community Practice: Fred Newdom
During the first winter field placement (session II for plan "A" MSW students), all students except those in Advanced Standing develop a community practice project. The project builds and demonstrates knowledge and skills in organizational and community level social work practice. One-half day per week is allotted for this project.
The community practice project is designed to:
- involve students in social work activity that goes beyond direct clinical work with individuals, families and small groups;
- help students gain an understanding of the connections between indirect social work practice interventions and direct clinical practice interventions;
- sharpen the students' awareness of the interrelationship between political, economic, and social forces as they shape the delivery of human services;
- conceptualize, in a final report, the entire project;
- encourage students to appreciate and value another aspect of their professional identity as social workers.
Preparation for the project begins with first summer courses, particularly "191 Agency and Community Practice." The community practice project has a faculty adviser who oversees the project. Students select one of three national issues, chosen annually by student poll, to work on in the community where they are placed. A local sponsor (usually an employee of the organization or agency in which the project is located) must agree to provide direct supervision of the project work. A final paper describing and analyzing the experience completes the project. Working in groups is encouraged but not required.
Examples of recent community practice projects
A Guidebook to Women's Health
Adolescent Health: Everybody's Business
Aiding Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and their Families in New Hampshire
Assistance Dogs: Educating Health Care Professionals
Atlanta College of Art Alcohol Awareness Campaign
Banyan Tree: A community for Multicultural Arts and Healing
Campaign for Youth Violence: The Rising Levels of Youth Violence in the City of Springfield
Capitalizing on Community: Tenant Organizing in My Brooklyn Tenement
Club YouTHink: Helping Teens Explore Community Issues Through the Arts
Eastside Homeless Network Resource Development Project
Eating Healthy Food in School
Elder Abuse in New Canaan, Connecticut
ELDERSHINE: An Ongoing Mindfulness Meditation Program for Elderly, Low-Income, Residents of an Apartment Building in an African American Community in East Baltimore, MD.
Empowering Teen Mothers through Law Related Education: Teaching Life Skills and Creating Community Bonds
Enfield Community Partnership to Prevent Underage Drinking
Engaging Berkshire County Men in Violence Prevention
Fashion Bug: Challenging Sociocultural Ideals on the Effects of Body Image and Self-Esteem for Adolescent Girls
Growing Healthy Gardens
HIV/AIDS Psychoeducational Support Group
Improved Public Input for City and County Planning in North Carolina
Increasing Access of Emergency Contraception for Victims of Sexual Assault
Increasing College Student's Participation in the Mass Red Ribbon Ride
Leaders of Today Building Leaders of Tomorrow
Lesbian Health Online
Masks and Collages: Using Art as a Self-Expressive and Community Awareness Tool in Healing from Domestic Violence
Mobilizing the Latino Community in Western Massachusetts
Navigating Medicare D in Danbury
Painting My Future: Addressing the Needs of Cancer Patients and Survivors
Peer Based Substance Abuse Group
Prenatal Care for Pregnant Treens
Recruiting Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Donors in the Filipino Community
Refugee Narratives
School-Based Panel on Childhood Depression
Sex Education for Female Adolescents who are Labeled Emotionally Disturbed
Sexual Assault Centralized Report Form: Annual Report 2004, UMass Amherst
Shambala Meditation Program at Rhode Island's Adult Institution of Corrections
Suicide Awareness and Prevention Among College Students
Supporting Fort Myers Heights North Tenants' Right to Decent Affordable Housing
The "Awesome Kids Series" Book Project
The Healthy Youth Act
The Kick AIDS Karnival
The Louisiana Local Aid Project (LLAP): Gulf Coast Relief Efforts
The Needs of Black Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Men in Seattle: A Needs Assessment and Plan of Action
The Speak-OUT Teen Theater Troupe
Therapeutic Preschool: Finding Safe Harbor
Website and Newsletter Project with EmPOWERment, Inc.
Workshop Curriculum for Gay and Lesbian Parents of 1–3 Year Olds
Writing Our Stories: Self-expression, Homelessness and Community Growth
Young Mother's Society: A Psycho-educational Group of Teenage Mothers
Youth Task Force against Dating Violence
