Creating Child Welfare Professionals

Creating Child Welfare Professionals is an initiative to increase the number of master’s level social workers at the SC Department of Social Services. Students in the program receive stipends and specialized training in child welfare in return for a commitment to work with DSS for a specified period of time.

In addition to developing skilled child welfare professionals, the program hopes to build a new academic focus on public child welfare. We also expect to develop a model for cost-effective agency-university collaboration in professional training.

The four-year program, funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, is coming to an end. It was built on the experience of 10 years of similar collaborations among SCDSS, the College of Social Work, and The Center. We are currently working with DSS and other universities in South Carolina to develop the next phase of Creating Child Welfare Professionals.

Contact Teresa Butkus at 803-777-1365 or t.butkus@sc.edu for more information about the program. To learn more about the evaluation of this program, contact Cynthia Flynn at 777-1378 or Cynthia.Flynn@sc.edu.