Earning credits, expanding skills

For social workers in Central New York and surrounding communities, continuing education programming through Falk College offers an opportunity to fulfill New York State Education Law requirements. Effective January 2015, licensed master and clinical social workers are required to complete 36 hours of approved formal continuing education every three years. Syracuse University’s School of Social Work has been an approved New York State Department of Education provider of this training for more than four decades.

“For participants, some of who are alumni of our social work programs, it gives them a chance to reconnect with Syracuse University,” says Xenia Becher, internship placement coordinator in the School of Social Work who has also presented continuing education seminars, including “A Social Work Perspective: What’s Correct in Corrections?” in 2015.

“For those in the social work profession, learning must be a lifelong process to maintain one’s practice competence. While core learning takes place in the classroom, specialized advanced learning must be obtained through practice experience and continuing education. Today’s social work professionals face an assortment of diverse challenges due to the rate of changing science, policy, and practice, as well as changing community needs. These challenges can be lessened by the learning provided in a strong continuing education program, which allows social workers to continually update their skills,” says Bette Thoreck, director of the undergraduate program in social work.

“Professionals want to get affordable continuing education credits through a trusted provider,” says social work internship coordinator Nadaya Brantley. Thoreck adds, “These offerings are consistent with our mission to educate and help professionals embrace advanced practice.”

Topics presented through the continuing education seminars are wide-ranging, including theories and concepts of human behavior in the social environment, research, programs, or practice evaluations, management, administration or social policy, ethics, clinical interventions, evidence-based models, client communications and recordkeeping, and supervision.

In the past year, CE programs sponsored by Falk College’s School of Social Work have focused on EMDR therapy and its applications, supervision framework, mental health and the criminal justice system, and international adoption and foster care.