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.

ENDOWED CENTERS/PROGRAMS

Endowing the centers/programs described below will allow for critical sustainability and growth. Funding from the endowments will assist the School in attracting acclaimed faculty doing cutting-edge research that translates to effective social work practices. Students will benefit through the training they receive within the centers and through mentoring relationships as they assist with and conduct their own research.

The Judith Granger Birmingham Center for Child Welfare
The Judith Granger Birmingham Center for Child Welfare was established in 1996 and serves as a resource center to improve the safety and well-being of families and children who find themselves in the public service sector, through the advancement and dissemination of knowledge. Education and dissemination efforts of the Center address the basic rights of children to be nurtured and protected by their families with the support of their communities.

Objectives of the Center include helping equip child welfare practitioners, supervisors and administrators with current, detailed and evidenced-informed knowledge about effective practice models, ways to support adequate development of children and families, and strategies to preserve families. The Center is committed to the professional development of child welfare services, through both the Title IV-E Training contract and the Protective Services Training Institute (PSTI) contract. Each provides professional development to CPS employees throughout the State as well as other DFPS employees. The Center also provides professional development through the statewide certification program of the Certification Office at the Center and through the professional education of MSSW child welfare practitioners. In addition, the Center supports the generation of knowledge that addresses the gaps of information areas in child welfare practice. The Center communicates its knowledge and the improvement of services to children and families through publications, training, and the professionalization in child welfare practice.

Endowing the Center for Child Welfare will be an acknowledgement of the National status it has achieved and assure it continues to provide the important service it does to the State, Region and Country.

The Center for Clinical Social Work
For over two decades, the Center for Clinical Social Work (CCSW), formerly known as The Community Services Center, has played an active role in supporting the well being and mental health of children and citizens of Arlington. The CCSW provides evidence-based mental health clinical services to AISD students as well as the citizens of Arlington and surrounding communities. Another primary aim of the program is to support the growth and scholarship of master’s and doctoral students, and faculty through a strong focus on field training, data collection and research.

The CCSW is a unique program to Schools of Social Work in the United States being the only one of its kind in the State of Texas. The CCSW provides students and faculty the opportunity to develop cutting-edge knowledge setting it apart from peer institutions.

Endowing the center will provide the sustainability and stability for the infrastructure and will assist students and faculty in promoting their research and the development of new skills nationwide. In turn, the endowed center will permit visiting faculty, post-doctoral opportunities, and other professionals a chance to update their practice and research skills.

New Connections Programs
New Connections Programs is located in Dallas, Texas and has been part of the UT Arlington School of Social Work since 2007. This program targets: (1) Pregnant and post-partum women recovering from addiction and (2) Children and youth in high risk living situations. The center delivers evidenced-based, trauma-informed services to help build healthy, nurturing families. Through classroom and home-based instruction parents receive training to improve parenting skills, support addiction recovery, strengthen knowledge of child development, and address difficult parent and child issues. Through the prevention services, the children and youth are taught skills to build resiliency to resist using drugs.

This program is also a training site for social work students interested in Community and Administrative Practice and in Direct Practice with individuals and families.

New Connections is supported by state contracts that fund the administrative and direct services aspects. It is a goal of the program to increase the research capacity. This goal will be achieved by endowing the program and utilizing proceeds from the endowment for research purposes.

Innovative Community-Academic Partnership (iCAP)
The Innovative Community-Academic Partnership (iCAP) builds on the UT Arlington SSW mission by providing support for students, support for faculty research, support for community partners and by generating new knowledge that helps the community.

Priorities include:

• Community connection, outreach and collaboration to help foster innovative and sustainable research aimed at improving the well being and standard of living for children and families in Tarrant County.
• Public Education as to the specifics of iCAP’s values and what iCAP does
• Ensuring a continuum of care from services to research and data collection
• Identifying and pursuing funding sources
• Future expansion into other geographic areas.

The iCAP funds highly competitive research proposals received from university faculty and community organization collaborations. Emphasis is given to multidisciplinary projects with high community impact. Proposals are reviewed by a panel of national experts. The program also provides educational forums for faculty and community partners and engages students in service learning experiences.

The iCAP is the only program of its kind in the North Texas Region. Sustaining and further developing this unique program is dependent on endowing it. This will allow the program to stabilize and to expand the geographic outreach.

PROFESSORSHIPS/CHAIRS
Endowed faculty positions bring eminent scholars to the School of Social Work and add greatly to the academic prestige of the School. These scholars attract the best and brightest students. These faculty/student partnerships result in enhanced education, research and community service.

The areas of Social Work practice and research identified as high priority are Mental Health/Integrated Health, Women’s Issues, Child Welfare, Addictions and Aging. Developing and adding expertise in these areas will be critical as we work to meet the growing needs of community in the next decade.