For Immediate Release                                      CONTACT: (609) 633-8507
October 26, 2006                                                  Kate Bernyk
                                                                                   Tom Bell

DCF Partners with Rutgers University School of Social Work on
Specialized Child Welfare MSW program

TRENTON – A group of 23 caseworkers and supervisors from the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) have begun taking intensive weekend classes at Rutgers University School of Social Work, as a part of earning their Master of Social Work with a concentration in child welfare in the first specially tailored program funded by the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

The specialized master’s degree program will focus the enrolled DYFS workers on research and practice in child welfare. It was specially developed for DYFS staff through a joint effort between DCF’s New Jersey Child Welfare Training Academy and Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey. DCF is providing $800,000 in funding for the first year of the ongoing program. A total of 75 DYFS employees will be in the program this fiscal year.

“Educating our workers on the front lines is a huge part of our commitment to keeping children safe and families strong,” DCF Commissioner Kevin M. Ryan said. “This is a great program that will allow our caseworkers and supervisors to continue doing the great work they do while they study.”

The program brings together a combination of research, class instruction and field work. The students will work at their DYFS jobs four days a week and attend classes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday once a month. The program also requires doing field work one day a week in a job other than the student’s usual DYFS position. The first graduates from the program are expected to graduate in 2008. By the end of the program, the students will have earned a Master of Social Work with a concentration in child welfare.

“The School of Social Work, unlike most such schools in the country, is separately chartered by the state, and therefore has a special obligation to support the people who deal every day with the state’s social issues,” said Richard L. Edwards, dean of the Rutgers University School of Social Work.

The specialized courses are only for DYFS workers and are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. They include a combination of direct practice and management concentrations. Specific child welfare courses are integrated into Rutgers’ existing 60-credit Master of Social Work

DYFS employees in the program sign an agreement that requires them to continue employment at DYFS for two years after completion in return for the educational support provided. 

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