Put Your Values Into Action with Social Work Field Internships

Field internships are a key part of our students' social work education, providing invaluable support for what our students are learning in the classroom. Direct engagement in service activities in a wide range of agencies and organizations gives students the opportunity to personally experience how social workers can make a real difference in people's lives.

Goals of field education

At the National Catholic School of Social Service, we are committed to helping our students:

• learn to provide social services across fields of practice;
• acquire the knowledge, values and skills for intervention with individuals, groups, families, communities and other systems;
• develop a professional identity consistent with social work values;
• develop the skills necessary to evaluate their social work practice;
• gain experience with various client populations including diverse racial and ethnic groups, and at-risk populations;
• develop a professional commitment to social work practice;
• evolve a practice style consistent with the student's personal strengths;
• develop the ability to work within a social welfare agency or organization.

Field Experiences to Fit Each Student

Undergraduate Senior and Foundation year M.S.W. internships are designed to develop the knowledge and skills that comprise the professional base of social work practice. In this generalist practice internship, students are exposed to the full range of social work practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

• Micro-level activities may include: assisting clients in crisis, providing case management services to homeless individuals, visiting elderly residents in their homes, working with students in a school setting, providing services to juvenile offenders.
• Mezzo-level activities may include: co-leading support groups, psycho-educational groups, or social skills groups, participating in community development, setting up a community task force.
• Macro-level activities may include: conducting a needs assessment, writing a grant proposal, testifying at a hearing, organizing the local community around a particular issue.

Advanced year M.S.W. field education builds on the generalist practice knowledge and skills acquired in the foundation year. Each concentration furthers the integration and application of knowledge and practice in the field setting.