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<\/p>\nSupervisors play pivotal roles in the quality of services delivered by the teams they support. In their roles as teacher and manager, they are the first to whom line workers turn for guidance in their direct practice with challenging clients. Social workers are key players in the health and mental health services provided to individuals and their families. Quality delivery of the vital services they provide depends upon the support and mentoring of skilled and knowledgeable supervisors. Successful supervisory leadership is crucial to effective service delivery, staff retention and the success of our service organizations\u2014especially nonprofit health, mental health, and human service agencies.<\/p>\n
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The educational model is based on tested theories of adult learning and small group instruction and other proven educational approaches. The program calls for interactive workshops taught by academic and practice-based experts utilizing brief didactic presentations, group learning activities, discussions of cases and supervision experiences, and the provision of extensive educational materials.<\/p>\n
With a curriculum based on supervisory best practices, the SWPF program is delivered through\u00a0training workshops scheduled bi-weekly over the course of three months. The program utilizes interactive group learning tasks and expert instruction through our partnership with designated universities, accepting cohorts of 20-25 licensed social work supervisors from the sites\u2019 local practice communities. This model has previously been implemented and tested, demonstrating significant and enduring practice changes among participating supervisors.<\/p>\n
Social Work Practice Fellows (SWPF) is a premier tuition-based professional development program for MSW supervisors from community-based agencies. The educational model, which has been proven effective, calls for interactive workshops taught by academic and practice-based experts utilizing brief didactic presentations, group learning activities, discussions of cases and supervision experiences, and the provision of extensive educational materials. SWPF is delivered by the continuing education departments of participating schools of social work and its workshops are led by expert social work practitioners and faculty scholars.<\/p>\n
Cohorts of 20-25 MSW supervisors convene for scheduled learning sessions to receive 36 hours of training on supervisory best practices and are awarded 36 continuing education units to apply toward their state licensure for practice. SWPF also facilitates the creation of much-needed peer support for participating supervisors who are known to experience professional isolation and to benefit from peer networking. SWPF is offered in multiple communities and each new cohort of graduates will join a growing professional network of alumni with whom they can connect for mutual support.<\/p>\n
Social Work Practice Fellows partners with universities to deliver the program to social work supervisors to service their local communities.<\/p>\n
Social Work Practice Fellows is a model training program for social work supervisors from a broad range of local community organizations. Partnering in this approach with ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½\u2019s Center for Nonprofit Leadership are the continuing education departments of Schools of Social Work which maintain relationships with the vast communities of practice in their regions and understand the unique strengths and needs of local providers.<\/p>\n
In 2018, Social Work Practice Fellows was established adapting the educational model for supervisory training developed in previous programs. It was further adapted for virtual delivery during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and was as positively reviewed by participants as earlier in-person programs.<\/p>\n
Partner schools work to identify the best local social work supervision experts and faculty scholars to lead the program\u2019s workshops. Instructors design their workshops upon a framework of common learning objectives and are provided additional centralized support and curricular materials from the Social Work Practice Fellows team. Additional educational offerings and networking opportunities are available to the program\u2019s growing alumni network.<\/p>\n
If you are a university interested in becoming a Social Work Practice Fellow partner, please fill out the form.<\/p>\n