School of Social Work at UT Arlington
Centers of Excellence
Another method of giving is a gift to one of the School’s four Centers and Programs of Excellence. A contribution of this sort assists with internship stipends, research costs and program enhancements.
Centers and Programs of Excellence
Community Services Center
The Community Services Center (CSC) is composed of the Community Service Clinic and the Development Center. CSC serves as an instructional facility operated by the School of Social Work and fosters a university and community partnership to address community issues. The partnership enables university students, faculty, and local organizations to work together on complex social issues facing the community, such as: poverty, domestic violence, homelessness, and community revitalization. Interns are supervised by PhD faculty.
Community Clinic interns provide affordable counseling for children, adolescents, families, and adults. Counseling services offered by the clinic are based on the tenants of Solution Focused Therapy and include individual counseling, marriage counseling, premarital counseling, family therapy, anger control therapy, behavior therapy, and social skills training.
Community Development Center interns work to conduct needs assessments, write grant proposals, design new community programs, conduct evaluations, perform research, and organize community action groups.
Judith G. Birmingham Center for Child Welfare
The Judith Granger Birmingham Center for Child Welfare serves as a research and resource center for Texas, the Southwest, and the nation in the advancement and dissemination of knowledge to improve the conditions of vulnerable children and their families. Research, education, and dissemination efforts address the basic rights of children to be nurtured and protected by their families with the support of their communities.
The overarching goal of the Center is to help equip child welfare practitioners with current, detailed, and scientific knowledge about effective practice models, ways to support the adequate development of children and families, and strategies to preserve families.
The University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, through the Judith Granger Birmingham Center for Child Welfare, has become an important part of the national child welfare reform effort. No other such center exists in the Southwest, and few others exist in the country. The School is uniquely qualified as the site of the Center because of the combination of a nationally recognized faculty with expertise in child welfare practice innovations, technology development, and a long-standing partnership with child welfare practitioners at the local, state, and national level.
New Connections Programs
New Connections Programs is a training and research center with the goal “To build healthy and nurturing families by teaching the skills to support recovery, improve parenting, strengthen knowledge of child development and address difficult parent and child issues.”
The specific services that make up the comprehensive intervention strategies employed by the New Connections Programs include developmental, psychosocial and substance abuse screenings and assessments; center-based and home-based parent education; parent/child playgroups and interactive labs; recovery support groups; counseling; health and life skills education; short-term and long-term case management; problem identification and referral; goal setting; transportation; and participant follow-up.
The programs provide research opportunities for interns and faculty in areas including:
- Child welfare practice and child abuse prevention
- Substance abuse prevention
- Parenting and family function
- Bonding and attachment
- Child development & school readiness
- Intervention strategies, curriculum development
- Long term program evaluation
New Connections Programs is located in Dallas County, extending the geographic reach of the UT Arlington School of Social Work.
Legislative Internship Program
The Legislative Internship program is an advanced field placement option for UT Arlington Social Work graduate students. Students complete their required 500 hours working in the local district office of a Texas state senator or house representative. Students specializing in either Direct Practice or Community and Administrative Practice (CAP) will satisfy their learning requirements in this unique field opportunity.
Because Texas Legislative sessions are held bi-annually, student intern duties may vary depending on which year the placement falls. Those interested in policy and advocacy work may have a slight advantage during the year that the law-making body meets, but much research and planning is done on the alternating years in the district offices.
