The Center for Social Work Research and Practice

Strength-based Solutions for Families, Communities and Individuals

The Center is a departmentally based and supported effort to create an identifiable site for the dissemination of sound social work practice knowledge and to support social work practice of the highest integrity in terms of knowledge base, professional ethics, and effectiveness.  The Center seeks to create an engaging collaborative context to bring together faculty, alumni, and practitioners to consider current research and theory in social work and social service delivery.

Currently the Center is committed to the following initiatives:

• The Support of professional social work practice in the state and region with a particular focus on clinical practice. Continuing education programs with an “education for successful practice” theme will be developed in partnership with SEAHEC, the N.C. Chapter of NASW, the N.C. Clinical Social Work Association, and the N.C. Social Work Certification and Licensing Board, and other professional bodies. We are particularly focused on BSW and MSW UNCW Alumni as well as Social work practitioners in public, non-profit and for-profit organizations and those in private practice across our region.  Over time an “exemplar practitioner network” will be established that would guide us in developing a regular system of professional practice workshops, symposia, etc. in response to specific needs associated with the enhancement of social work practice.
  
• On line Continuing Education Courses, in partnership with the UNCW Division of Public Service. Currently in-development is Grant Writing and non-profit support coursework, with a broad social work and social service clientele.
• Entrepreneurial social work service development providing support for alumni and other social work practitioners working to establish viable business entities for social work service delivery within mental health and larger health services context.
•  The Strengths Collaborative, providing training and supportive consultation through Professors Bob Blundo, Chris Hall and others to practitioners and organizations wishing to enhance social work services on a Strengths Based Model. Current work involves area School projects and the regional county DSS’s.( http://www.uncw.edu/swk/strengths.htm) 

• The “Programs That Work” initiative involving both systematic dissemination of program descriptive and evaluative information about successful community based projects and contracts with social service and social development organizations for the purpose of enhancing social program effectiveness through program development, funding, and evaluation.
• General Student and Alumni Support activities that create continued identity with UNCW Social Work and provide intellectual, social networking, and professional development through seminars, symposia and other presentations.

A Brief History of the Center

The UNCW Department of Social Work has since 2003 operated the Center for Social Work Research and Practice. The Center was created, in part, to provide a context for the Community Grant Development component, originally funded through Cape Fear Memorial Foundation and developed by Prof. Frankel with assistance from Lynn Smithdeal. The project was initiated as an effort to enhance grant writing and program development capacity among community based non-profits and to incorporate recognized measures of evaluation in such projects. That activity in 2006  was transferred to the Division of Public Service and ultimately incorporated into the UNCW Quality Enhancement for Non-Profit Organizations (http://www.uncw.edu/dpscs/cse/qeno.htm)  In its initial years the Center generated over 2 mil$ of funded community based grants and some $50k in university program evaluation funding. Dr. Frankel continues grant development with Public School boards in the region and has an ongoing 21st Century school program evaluative project.

Since 2006 the Center has continued as an organizational context for occasional events sponsoring or co-sponsoring activities such as the UNCW Quality of Life Regional Conference in 2006, The Civil Society Symposium with Ford Foundation’s Michael Edwards,  the NYU/UNCW Poverty Research Symposium in 2008, and the QENO linked 2009 Future of Privatization in Human Services symposium with Jay Hein, Director of the Sagamore Institute and former White House based Director of the Faith Based Initiative.

The Center is entirely supported by the efforts of the faculty and staff of the UNCW
Department of Social Work and a small cadre of capable MSW graduate students.

The Center is directed by Professor Nelson Reid (http://www.uncw.edu/swk/faculty/nreid/index.htm) and may be contacted at reidn@uncw.edu or 910.962.7341