SP2 Dean and Associate Professor to Serve on CSWE Guide Committee and Task Force

Sara S. Bachman, PhD, dean of Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) and Allison Werner-Lin, PhD, associate professor and faculty director of the Social Work in Healthcare Specialization at SP2, have been invited to serve on a national committee and task force that will develop competencies and curricular resources on health for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

The Specialized Practice Curricular Guide for Health Social Work, part of the 2015 EPAS Curricular Guide Resource Series, will serve as a national resource for social work programs and will be disseminated to all CSWE accredited programs. The guide is a sustainability product of Social Work Healthcare Education and Leadership Scholars (Social Work HEALS), in partnership with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Foundation, a six-year project that aims to advance the education and training of health social workers in order to strengthen the delivery of health services and supports in the United States.

To help formulate the health curricular guide, CSWE recruited social work education faculty and practice experts as a part of a national effort to increase health competence and expertise in schools of social work. Dean Bachman will serve on the curricular guide’s steering committee, and will chair the committee on Policy Competencies, while Dr. Werner-Lin will serve as a task force member.

“Many social workers practice in health settings,” said Dean Bachman. “I am honored to be a part of this national effort to develop and disseminate resources to promote excellence in health policy practice and other social work competency areas. I am thrilled that my colleague Dr. Allison Werner-Lin also represents SP2 on the task force, further demonstrating the significant national impact our faculty have on social policy and practice.”

Committee members will be central to developing and enhancing the nine social work competencies that will be included in the guide. Task force participants will share expertise with their colleagues, garnering new insights to help enrich program curricula and help faculty members conceptualize specialized practice in social work health.

“This project brings together senior scholars with early and mid-career researchers, clinicians, and post-doctoral fellows to align the goals of social work education in healthcare with the evolving needs of the clients, communities, and constituencies we serve,” said Werner-Lin, who will be working on the Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice competency.

“This critical work is informed by the fundamental belief that all individuals have a basic right to health, healthcare, and wellbeing.”

As the national association representing social work education in the United States, CSWE’s membership comprises over 800 graduate and undergraduate social work programs, as well as individual social work educators, practitioners, and agencies. The curricular guide project is supported in part by funding from the New York Community Trust.