Overview
The SWPF educational model employs learning theory and other effective educational approaches. Proven effective, the program calls for face-to-face 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.
OVERVIEW
Continuing Education for Social Work Supervisors
Social Work Practice Fellows is a sophisticated continuing education program for social work supervisors that capitalizes on a distinct conceptual framework for confronting the problems of population-focused and setting-specific silos of social work practice. With a curriculum based on supervisory best practices, the SWPF program is delivered through face-to-face training 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’ local practice communities.
OVERVIEW
The Context of Social Work Supervision
There is little information or training on supervision offered to social work students, yet early-career social workers are often promoted to supervisory roles in the organizations in which they practice. Supervision-focused continuing education programs are sparse, illustrating the clear need for supervision-focused education, professional development, and networking. Successful supervisory leadership is crucial to skillful service delivery, staff retention and the success of our health, mental health, and social service organizations-especially those which are not-for-profit human service agencies.
OVERVIEW
Innovative Responses
Between 2009 and 2014 62 MSW supervisors in aging participated in the GSWPF program New York City in three separate cohorts. Free tuition was able to be granted to these supervisors with the help of the Florence V. Burden Foundation and the Helen Rehr Center for Social Work Practice. Thanks to support granted by the John A. Heart Foundation, the program expanded geographically and participatorily between 2015 and 2017 when the Supervisory Leaders in Aging program was delivered through NASW chapters in Florida, Maryland and Illinois together with New York City in eight cohorts reaching a total of 139 MSW supervisors in aging. Utilizing the former two program frameworks, Social Work Practice Fellows, a continuing education for all MSW social work supervisors was created and delivered to seven cohorts in New York City in 2018, having currently reached 135 MSW supervisors. There are more to come thanks to grant funding awarded from the Florence V. Burden Foundation and the Health Foundation of Western and Central New York.
OVERVIEW
Creating Partnerships
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. Social Work Practice Fellows is a model professional training program for social work supervisors from a broad range of local community organizations. The program 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 who are provided additional centralized support from the Social Work Practice Fellows team.
OVERVIEW
The Workshops
Advancing Skills in Individual and Group Supervision
This workshop teaches new supervisors and updates those who are experienced about the range of skills involved in individual and group supervision in an array of service contexts. Supervisors are guided in structuring regularly scheduled supervisory sessions in accordance with the learning styles of supervisees and the appropriate use of individual versus group meetings. Emphasis is placed on supporting staff in self-assessment with careful attention to diversity, inclusion, and equity issues within the service context.
Teaching Assessment and Planning Skills in Work with Individuals and Families
This workshop offers the supervisor a multi-dimensional framework for teaching the practice skills required in work with individuals and families of all ages through the assessment and planning phases. Included are a review of the core content areas that need to be addressed in assessing the client/family situation including both strengths and challenges; the critical thinking required in collecting client data; and the ability to organize, interpret, and summarize these data. Supervisors will be encouraged to use interactive training techniques to teach the interviewing and communication skills that engage the client and family in assessment and planning. The special skills involved in working with the family as a social system will be discussed, as will the influence of the worker’s own cultural background on assessment and planning.
Trauma-informed Supervision through a Social Justice Lens
This workshop focuses on trauma-informed supervision through a social justice lens, an approach to supervision that begins with the personal and extends to the professional. Personal histories, identities, characteristics and psychological experiences of supervisors, as well as structural and environmental conditions of the organization, are considered in supervision. This perspective promotes the role of the supervisor as a leader in establishing a culture within their team that is responsive to and inclusive of the positionalities and unique experiences of clients and colleagues. Supervisors are encouraged to remain vigilant in their commitment to social justice by leading their teams and organizations in achieving truly inclusive diversity.
Supervision to Advance the Knowledge of Health Challenges Impacting Individuals and Families Across the Life Course
This workshop helps supervisors to support social service staff in using evidence-informed approaches to common illness-related challenges that confront individuals and families across the life course. Included are supervisory considerations for supporting social service workers in helping clients with care transitions, acute health crises, management of chronic conditions, navigating health and long-term care systems, and the intersections of these issues with cultural diversity. Supervisors explore techniques for supporting teams in service planning, health education, and health advocacy.
Supervision to Advance the Knowledge of Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges Impacting Individuals and Families Across the Life Course
This workshop teaches supervisors how to support staff in planning to meet the needs of clients with mental illnesses and substance use across the life course. Included are supervisory considerations for supporting social service workers in the ongoing assessment of mental disorder symptoms and their potential impacts on clients and their families, building understanding of effective practice models as supported by research evidence, appreciating the complex nature of self-determination, and the intersections of these issues with cultural diversity.
Furthering Supervisors’ Capacity to Address Performance and Organizational Challenges
This workshop highlights challenges supervisors may face including supervisees’ performance problems, organizational challenges, and ethical dilemmas in practice. Supervisors will collaborate in exploring strategies for addressing these challenges and promoting worker self-care to strengthen worker wellness and retention. Participants will seek to integrate lessons learned throughout the program.