For over 100 years, the National Catholic School of Social Service (NCSSS) has answered the call to serve by meeting people where they are and as they are. Our social workers are committed to providing care with respect, dignity, and justice. Field education is the cornerstone of social work education providing students with a supervised and supportive learning opportunity where they can master and synthesize social work knowledge, values, and skills. Social work field internships provide invaluable support for what our students learn in the classroom and invaluable service to our community. Field internships also help students determine what kind of social work they are interested in doing following graduation and often choose to work at the same organization where they completed their internship.
Homelessness is a pervasive issue that plagues communities across the country, and its impact is felt deeply in urban areas like Washington, DC. As of January 2020, 580,466 Americans were experiencing homelessness according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH). Social workers are committed to working with homelessness, and the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) has identified the challenge to end homelessness as one of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work set forth in 2015. Social work students can support those at risk for or experiencing homelessness through their field placements by providing counseling, housing, rent assistance, health care services, and employment search assistance to a variety of clients, including those facing eviction or job loss.
With a generous philanthropic investment of $1.76 million from the Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation, NCSSS would like to create and support a cohort of students deeply engaged in the work to reduce homelessness. These students would undertake fieldwork with community service organizations focusing on populations experiencing homelessness particularly in service to residents of Wards 5, 7 and 8 in the District. Examples of these organizations include:
- Pathways to Housing DC
- District Healthcare Services
- Food & Friends
- Friendship Place
- Georgetown University Pivot Program
- National Community Church
- Transitional Housing Corporation
- VIDA SENIOR CENTERS
- Wellness Healthcare Clinics LLC
- Covenant House Greater Washington
The grant from the Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation would also support a clinical field faculty member who would be responsible for ensuring that the fieldwork program delivers customized service to participating clients and communities and provides students with optimal training and hands-on experiences as well. The number of partner organizations with which NCSSS works in the field and the complexity of the services that our social workers provide in today’s world necessitate thoughtful, careful, and accurate coordination. Our clinical field faculty member will ensure that students are well-matched with their community field placements and provide ongoing instruction and advice to students working in the field.
Scholarship support will enable NCSSS to encourage more students to enter the field of social work with a passion for serving those experiencing homelessness. During their course of studies, students in our Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) program work 16-20 hours per week in the field, delivering counseling and wrap-around services to their clients. Having one of the leading M.S.W. programs in the country, NCSSS recruits the highest level of candidates regardless of their ability to pay. Funding for scholarships for eight M.S.W. candidates would allow NCSSS to bolster its impact on a vulnerable population and on the city we serve. In addition, it will increase the likelihood that more of our graduates remain in the Washington, D.C. area to serve our local unhoused community. NCSSS would like to thank the Alice and Eugene Ford Foundation for their generous donation!