This document summarizes Dr. Mary Baginsky's experiences examining approaches to social work training in the United States and Canada as part of a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship. It describes her visits to social work programs, organizations, and institutions in Washington, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Montreal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany. Some of the topics discussed include accreditation of social work programs, licensing requirements, professional doctorate degrees, evidence-based practice, field placements, and preparing social workers to deal with clients' complex issues and media criticism. The document also reflects on the complex and changing nature of social work's roles over time.

1. EXAMINING APPROACHES TO SOCIAL
WORK TRAINING IN USA AND CANADA
WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST FELLOWSHIP
DR MARY BAGINSKY
Social Care Workforce Research Unit
Facuof Social Science and Public Policy

2. What some of you may prefer to be doing…..

3. Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship 2013

4. Social Work: training for the profession or task?
“At best they are seen as well-meaning do-gooders and
at worst inept meddlers”.
“Social work is a contested concept and subject to
competing definitions. Its language is confusing and
contributes to the lack of clarity about what it is that
social workers do”.

5. 2000 - 2013
• Goodbye CCETSW, hello GSCC
• Goodbye GSCC, hello HCPC
• Goodbye diploma, hello degree
• Children’s services move to DCSF (and then DfE)
• Hello CWDC, goodbye CWDC
• Goodbye Topss, hello Skills for Care
• Social Work Task Force
• Chief Social Worker roles
• The College of Social Work
• NQSW programme and then ASYE
• Step Up to Social Work, Frontline and Think Ahead
• Introduction of ACFSW etc…

6. Where I went
USA: Washington, New York, San Francisco, Seattle
Canada: Toronto and Montreal
Denmark
Netherlands
Sweden
Germany

7. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
Accreditation
Licencing
Professional Doctorate
The Science of Social Work
www.cswe.org/CentersInitiatives/CurriculumResources/TeachingEvidence-°©‐
BasedPractice.aspx

8. National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
• The largest membership organisation of professional social workers in the
world, with 140,000 members
• BSWs and MSWs
• Placements
• How to prepare social workers to deal with clients’ complex lives?
• How to deal with media criticism?
• Campaigns

9. New York
• Fostering Change for Children – Children’s Corp
• University of Columbia and University of Albany
• Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College

10. And I could not resist this…..

11. West Coast Experiences
• University of California at Berkeley
• University of Washington
• Casey Family Programs
• Parent- Child Assistance Program

12. And so to Canada (1)
Toronto
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
University of Toronto
Ontario Association of Social Work

13. And so to Canada (2)
Montreal
• Hospital settings
• The Batshaw Youth and Family Centres
• McGill University

14. And then home with too many thoughts – here
are just two
Social work’s complex, sometimes contradictory roles
and tasks, mean that change is always work in progress,
never a task achieved. (Dickens, 2010)
Have we got the right model?

15. Where to find the report:
Social Work: training for the profession or task?
http://www.wcmt.org.uk/users/marybaginsky2013

16. DR MARY BAGINSKY
MARY.BAGINSKY@KCL.AC.UK