Social Work News
The Passion and Power of Social Work in a Changing World
A Syracuse University story by Eileen Korey originally published on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
As communities face a new kind of collective trauma due to the spread of COVID-19, the need for social distancing and economic hardships unforeseen by many, there remains inestimable value in what social workers offer to individuals and society. Social work is one of the fastest-growing professions in the United States, with the number of people employed in social work positions projected to grow by 11 percent over the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When Ona pursued her graduate degree in the 1950s, she did so to become more independent. “In those days, a young woman had to live with her parents or you were considered “loose”—unless you were in graduate school,” Ona recalls. “At first, I thought I would study philosophy, but the department had no scholarships available. So, I opted for social work.”
She ended up drawn to the theoretical side of social work, understanding how systems function, from family systems to societal systems. The retired Syracuse University associate professor of social work contributed to and co-edited the book “Bringing Systems Thinking to Life: Expanding the Horizons for Bowen Family Systems Theory” (Routledge, 2010).
“The social work profession is about understanding the way systems work, either inside of a person or a family or a community,” Ona explains. “It’s about understanding how none of us stands alone. It’s about understanding how we interact. Like a mobile moving through space, each part of the mobile is responsive to how the other parts move. And if you are working with one person in a family, it can have an impact on the whole family.”
Ona says she grew up believing that it was imperative to “leave the world a better place”—influenced by her own service-oriented parents and her Jewish background (the concept of the Hebrew phrase “tikkun olam” is to help repair the world through acts of social responsibility). “I picked a profession that would let me do that,” she says. “For example, I approached teaching as a way to help people think and take responsibility for their choices and actions, much more than learning a set of facts.”
Daughter Randi recalls the civil rights marches that Ona took her to as a child as part of a larger influence on her social work career choice. “For me, social work is about social justice on both micro and macro levels. You can help individuals and change the world….one person at a time.” She recalls learning the concept of “private problem, public issue” in one of her first classes at Syracuse University. “You look at an individual who comes before you with a private problem—maybe they can’t pay their rent—and when you start to help that individual, you recognize a social justice need, a systemic problem that needs to be addressed.”
Randi graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S.W. degree in 1990 and began working at Vera House, a not-for-profit agency that provides services for those experiencing domestic and sexual violence. Today, she is the agency’s executive director.
She developed a three-credit, a master-level course in family violence that is still being taught in the Falk College School of Social Work, and she is a member of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence.
Though she must devote herself mostly to administrative and leadership work, she still picks up the 24-hour support line at Vera House to stay connected directly to the people her agency serves. “I still learn things from them. Vera House is a calling. This is the work I was put on this earth to do. It’s who I was born to be.”
Randi’s daughter Sonja says she was similarly “called,” but in a different way. She remembers volunteering at Vera House when she was in high school, watching her mother excel at handling crisis calls, and deciding that stress just wasn’t for her. Her own path was more influenced by helping to care for her great-grandmother after a debilitating fall. “I love the elderly, so I got a certificate in gerontology and ended up doing hospice, palliative care and end-of-life work.”
After receiving both her B.S.W. (2009) and M.S.W. (2010) degrees at Syracuse University, she realized how broad her options were with an advanced social work degree. She began working at Catholic Charities of Onondaga County, where she was at first focused primarily on homeless services but is now chief performance officer, supporting agency programs to better serve the most vulnerable in the Syracuse community.
“I’m blessed to be in a job that I love,” says Sonja, the mother of two young children, ages 4 and 6. “If we won the lottery, I would still come to work every day. I know that I’m contributing and making a difference.”
Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Ona, Randi and Sonja would get together every weekend, with family, to continue to strengthen the generational bonds. A tradition they plan to continue once the social distancing protocols are no more. “It’s important to us to be intentional about that,” says Sonja. “Especially for my kids.”
From weekend dinners together to changing the world in their own separate ways, the Bregman women remain Generations Strong. “Generations are essentially building blocks for the vision of the world I would like to see,” says Randi. “With each generation standing on the shoulders of those who came before.”
Creating a Trustworthy Environment for Students to Learn Empathy
In a world where embracing differences and understanding diversity is more important than ever before, Professor Xiafei Wang wants students to embrace others’ differences and take a stance on social justice. But her first goal for students is to gain a deeper understanding of their individual self and presumptions they hold so they can have an open conversation. That’s her focus in “Human Diversity in Social Contexts” (SWK 328), a course she teaches in the School of Social Work at Syracuse University’s Falk College. “I hope students can spend some time to think about how their own personal experience influences their values and how they interact with others,” Wang says. “The second goal is that I hope my students can be curious or have sympathy for people who are different who do not have privileges, privileges that they have or have totally different or disadvantaged living experiences.”
Megeno Adbi, a sophomore Social Work major, took SWK 328 to explore the depth of diversity. Adbi feels Professor Wang allows students space to grow.
“Professor Wang is amazing, she doesn’t hold anything back when speaking on such topics, she will emphasize to us in any aspect,” Adbi explains. “She understands that people have different upbringings, but in her class she wants people to be at the same level of understanding.”
Professor Wang’s decorated background provides her students with a unique look at diversity. Wang served as a research assistant “Evaluation of Chinese National Working Committee on Children and Women & the United Nations Children’s Fund Joint Child-Friendly Spaces Project in China,” funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund. Working with refugees who were persecuted in their own country for their different religious practices, Professor Wang shares this experience with her students to encourage them to embrace differences.
Adbi believes the benefits of taking a diversity course with Professor Wang who Adbi described as “humble, gentle and understanding person” allows her to enhance his understanding of how important diversity is not only to the field of social work but to all aspects of daily life.
Professor Wang was raised and went to college in China and experienced an authoritarian-style way of teaching that she felt was isolating and unapproachable. In the courses she teaches, she strives to create a safe, trustworthy space for students to discuss aspects of diversity, including white privilege and systematic structural barriers that marginalized populations face, encouraging her students to be agents of change.
“As social work instructors, we need to think about how we approach students if we want to truly value diversity,” Wang says. “It’s not just how we teach a course, but how we value it in our daily life and how we meet our students’ needs.”
Graduates of Falk College’s School of Social Work promote the wellbeing of communities and social justice through careers in gerontology, mental health and medicine, social services agencies, advocacy organizations, schools, court systems, and many others. For more information about the School of Social Work, visit the Falk College website.
2020 Falk College Scholars Announced
Falk College Scholars from the Class of 2020 represent undergraduate students in the College who display academic excellence, exceptional campus and community engagement, independent research and creative work, evidence of intellectual growth and/or innovation in their disciplinary field, and personal integrity.
“Congratulations to our students named Falk College Scholars. Their outstanding accomplishments exemplify academic excellence, creativity, personal achievement and commitment to the campus and local communities, and they are exceptional role models for their peers,” says senior associate dean of academic affairs, Eileen Lantier.
The Falk Scholars from the Class of 2020 include:
April M Hill, Nutrition
Alizee Mclorg, Public Health
Bijal Patel, Public Health
Connor David Monzo, Sport Management
Brandon M Pollack, Sport Management
Nicholas Richard Riccardi, Sport Analytics
Alexandra Tulowiecki, Social Work
“The combination of their outstanding academic accomplishments and dedication to sharing knowledge and experiences outside of the classroom to engage the world represents what Falk College is all about: social responsibility, social justice and service to others,” adds Falk Dean, Diane Lyden Murphy.
Darlene Medley, Maarten Jacobs Receive 2020 Rubenstein Social Justice Awards
By Emma Henzes ’20
In commemoration of National Professional Social Work Month during March, the School of Social Work in Falk College awarded its annual Dan and Mary Lou Rubenstein Social Justice Awards to Darlene Medley from Families for Lead Freedom Now and Maarten Jacobs, MSW from the Allyn Family Foundation.
Darlene Medley, Families for Lead Freedom Now
Following the devastating news that two of her children had been permanently impacted by deadly lead paint, which is present in numerous low-income Southside of Syracuse communities, Darlene Medley became one of the organizing members of Families for Lead Freedom Now. The organization aims to increase awareness about the persistence of lead poisoning in poor communities, to respond to the needs of families impacted and to eradicate the problem for future generations.
Darlene’s actions to fight for her children and her neighbor’s children to bring about a more socially just response to this issue reflect the spirit of the Dan and Mary Lou Rubenstein Social Justice Award and are deserving of recognition.
Maarten Jacobs, MSW, Allyn Family Foundation
At the Allyn Family Foundation, Maarten Jacobs is co-developing a Community Prosperity Initiative, which focuses on disrupting concentrated poverty in targeted Syracuse neighborhoods by empowering residents to fulfill their full potential and contributing to the wellbeing of their families and the revitalization of their neighborhoods.
Before working for the Allyn Family Foundation, Maarten was the executive director of the Near Westside Initiative (NWSI). In that position, Maarten worked to ensure that the community’s best interests were represented and that the neighborhood residents of the Westside were actively engaged in the revitalization taking place in their neighborhood.
Maarten’s efforts in community empowerment and fostering community members to live their best potential by disrupting the fetters of concentrated poverty reflect the spirit of the Dan and Mary Lou Rubenstein Social Justice Award and are deserving of recognition.
Presented for more than 30 years, the Rubenstein Social Justice Award is given in honor of the late professor Dan Rubenstein, a former faculty member in the School of Social Work and his late wife, Mary Lou, a former school social worker. Recipients of this award are role models whose courage and strength inspire others to stand up—and step up—to advocate and be a voice in the Syracuse community. The values of social justice are integral to their daily lives. The work of honorees each year, by their individual and collective examples, exemplify the true spirit of the Rubenstein Social Justice Award.
Faculty, staff, alumni partnership exemplifies how the Orange community is supporting others
By Emma Henzes ’20
In the time of need, the Syracuse University community comes together. SU staff, faculty, alumni and students are doing their part in the fight against COVID-19.
Ken Marfilius, a faculty member in the School of Social Work, is doing his in part in what he calls a “grassroots movement” to help the battle with Coronavirus.
Around two weeks ago, Budmen Industries in Liverpool, N.Y., owned by Issac Budmen ’12 and Stephanie Keefe ‘12, made the decision to open-source the files for creating a 3D Face Shield that provides protection to health-care workers dealing with COVID-19 cases. They offered the design for free to the public to help healthcare organizations and front-line workers immediately. Lynn Greenky, an assistant teaching professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ (VPA) saw a local news story about the Budmen Design and reached out to her colleagues, asking if Syracuse University’s 3D-printing facilities could help produce the shields. VPA School of Design director James Fathers sent an email to Chris Prior, the director of fabrication shops for VPA, who works with the 3D printers. The word of the project traveled around campus gathering university partners from all corners.
Marfilius volunteered to run Budmen Industries’ communications operation. He has been helping with the influx of emails, social media interactions (@budmenind), media inquiries and continuously connecting registered 3D face shield producers with healthcare organizations in their geographic region. “We are running this grassroots operation 24/7. As you can imagine, things are changing by the minute,” Marfilius said.
The entire CNY operation is funded by donations and Marfilius mentioned Budmen Industries is not profiting. Their GoFundMe account goal initially started at $10,000 but has been surpassed at over $24,932. You can donate to the GoFundMe here.
The 3D face shield files have been downloaded over 20,000 times and climbing, according to Marfilius. “We have folks reaching out from all parts of the world and we have been inspired by the capacity of the human spirit to join us in this fight against COVID-19,” Mafilius said.
Tracy Walker, Director of Field Relations in the School of Social Work, and a colleague of Marfilius, serves on the Board of Directors at Huntington Family Centers and worked with Marfilius to get face shields for their pantry staff who are still ensuring our most vulnerable have food.
Marfilius said as of Wednesday, April 1, the Budmen Design has undergone review in a clinical setting and is recommended when fabricated as instructed by the US Department of Health and Human Services – – National Institutes of Health. Marfilius reported greater than 271,954 3D face shields being requested, and they have registered 2,316 3D face shield producers.
Alumna connects social work and law for her career change to child welfare
Social worker and attorney Deborah Gardiner ’10 MSW, ’10 JD says she was impressed by the Syracuse University social work students she supervised for family defense field placements at the Frank H. Hiscock Legal Aid Society in Syracuse. “I have seen my students sit patiently with clients while they are experiencing the worst crises of their lives. These moments are fraught with emotion, and the empathy and support provided by the students was invaluable,” says Gardiner. At Hiscock Legal Aid, students learn about systems as they work with individual clients, families, and caseworkers, as well as the court system and the Department of Social Services. “Without social work support, it is often difficult for clients to succeed on their own,” she adds.
Field placements are a critically important part of social work students’ professional development. As they take theories from the classroom and apply them in real-life scenarios, students transform from apprentice to professional. “I have found that at first that students are a bit hesitant to jump in, but they are fascinated with the complexity of the work,” says Gardiner. “Later on, as they begin to engage with clients and get to know cases, they gain confidence and lay the foundation for professional relationships that will influence the rest of their careers.” At Syracuse University, graduate students Falk College’s School of Social Work are required to take two separate internships, each a minimum of 500 hours.
Gardiner herself is a Syracuse University alumna of the dual M.S.W. and J.D. program. Her career in child welfare ties together law and social work, each profession taking its own unique approach. “My social work training allows me to admire and cultivate [my clients’] tremendous resiliency and strength,” she says. When she was a graduate student, she completed two social work field experiences in the area of child welfare, through which she gained insights and discovered new passions. In her placement at the Salvation Army, “I learned to respect my clients and showcase their strengths,” she says. At the Department of Social Services, “I became passionate about alternative and preventative approaches to child welfare.”
Gardiner grew up in a small logging village in New Brunswick, Canada, spending her time in church, in nature, playing hockey, and “always challenging the status quo,” she says. After completing her undergraduate degree and pre-med program, she taught high school sciences in New Jersey until she, her husband, and their seven children moved to Upstate New York.
Gardiner’s life changed dramatically when she had to help her children through a serious family crisis. “I did not know what to do,” she says, recalling the process of navigating Family and Criminal Court systems and the Department of Social Services. “It was a confusing and distressing time, but also a time of tremendous personal growth and empowerment for us all.” She was now responsible for raising her children on her own, working long hours at two medical lab jobs to support them. Today, her children all have professional careers and are serving the public interest.
As her parenting responsibilities decreased, she decided to pursue a new life passion utilizing her experiences to help others in similar circumstances. “I felt my input and words would have much more authority coming from a place of professional education, not just of personal knowledge,” she notes.
She enrolled in Syracuse University’s graduate programs in law and social work in 2007 and continued to work in a medical lab throughout her time as J.D. student and M.S.W. “While I was a bit afraid of making a career change so late in my life—I was in my mid-forties—I was also motivated by the desire to gain insight and knowledge into the systems with which I had interacted during our family’s crisis.”
Gardiner’s determination to better herself through education instilled in her children the value of life-long learning. “Most of my children were able to attend my graduation—that meant the world to me!” She remembers her law professor placing the doctoral hood over her head. Since then, she has been present at several hooding ceremonies for her children. “There is no better feeling than to know that your hard work and passion and values are passed onto your children. They have since picked up the torch and carried it farther than I ever could have.”
“I believe there is more out there for me to do, and I want to continue to help people who are underrepresented or in oppressive situations to find their voices.” Gardiner says she continues to utilize her Syracuse University education, which “helped mold my vision and instill confidence in myself,” throughout her career in child welfare.
For more information about Syracuse University dual-degree programs in Falk College’s School of Social Work and the College of Law, visit the Falk College website.
Mother of four finds her place in Social Work
When 29-year-old Syracuse University student Chevon Janczuk does her homework, she frequently has a few helpers. Her daughter Faith, 9, showed so much interest in her mother’s statistics calculations that Janczuk started teaching her the formulas. “It motivated me to do it the right way because I wanted to be sure I was teaching it to her correctly,” Janczuk says. When she has to give a speech or presentation, she assembles an audience of her four children and practices her delivery in front of them. “My kids are my world,” she says, “and my hope is that one day all of them will go to college. I think I’m setting a good example for them.”
Janczuk is enrolled as a dual major—social work at Falk College and psychology through the College of Arts and Sciences.
Janczuk’s road to college has had a few detours. She dropped out of high school during her sophomore year and had her first child at 19. “I thought for sure I could make it on my own, but I had it all wrong,” she admits. “I got my GED but I didn’t have the education I needed to enter the careers I wanted. I woke up one day and said, ‘Something has to change,’ and started scrolling the internet for social work programs.” She noticed that Syracuse University came up again and again, so she called and explained her circumstances, thinking she’d probably have to take out loans to pay for her education. “I was directed to University College, the home of part-time studies at Syracuse University, and the HEOP program. I had no idea the HEOP program existed.”
She’s referring to the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program, which provides economically and educationally disadvantaged New York state residents with a broad range of services and funding to help them obtain a college degree. University College has the only HEOP program for part-time students in New York state, so she was able to limit her classes to two or three each semester, minimizing the impact on her family’s schedule. “University College has the most supportive staff I have ever encountered,” she says. “The academic advisors, financial aid advisors, administrative assistants, directors—they walked me through the application process and have explained every step of the way ever since. I owe special thanks to my University College advisor, Jason Scharf, for believing in me even when I doubted myself.
Memorable Moments
In just over two years at Syracuse University, Janczuk has earned an impressive 3.9 GPA and been inducted into Alpha Sigma Lambda, an honor society for post-traditional students. This led to a memorable moment at the HEOP Awards Ceremony last spring, where she received an Academic Excellence Award. She was invited to give the student address, and before her speech, she was introduced to Michael Frasciello, the dean of University College. “Following my speech, Dean Frasciello came up to my family and said to my kids, ‘Your mom’s a rock star!’ That moment will forever be imprinted in my mind,” she says. “It’s amazing how one little comment can impact your life.”
“My dream job involves working within the prison system,” she says. “I want to work with people who have reached the lowest point in their lives and give them a helping hand. People often view those who have been incarcerated as ‘lost causes,’ and that’s what inspires me most. Social workers are taught to look for the strength in each individual and have empathy in even the worst scenarios. I hope to help them lead fulfilling lives as they make their way back into society.”
Karin Ruhlandt, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, says, “Chevon exemplifies the best of the liberal arts, including her empathetic perspective and commitment to social justice. Her story illustrates how the passion and drive of one student—no matter their path here—can strengthen the entire College and the greater community.”
Mentors and Research Opportunities
Janczuk has found exceptional mentors among the Syracuse University faculty—Michele Vinciquerra, a part-time instructor in social work, in particular. “She is passionate about the material and makes sure her students have a deep understanding of what it means to be in the social work field,” Janczuk says. “I feel social work may have chosen me, but she’s made me love the idea of my future field even more.”
Psychology professor Shannon Sweeney has also been a positive influence. “I took a child psychology course with her and there was a lot of information to learn, but she seemed to make it easy,” Janczuk says. “She involved my children in her course, and my kids had a blast. The other students seemed to really like having them there, too.”
Doctoral student Abby Caselli was Janczuk’s instructor for an introductory course in psychology and later offered her a research assistant position in the social psychology research lab. “Abby has taught me more about psychology than I ever could have imagined, and being in the lab as her assistant has given me a deeper understanding of the inner workings of research,” Janczuk says. “Her guidance, support and the skills she’s taught me will be critical throughout graduate school and my career.”
Sharing Orange Pride
Juggling the needs and schedules of four young children, two stepchildren and a husband who works a demanding job as a correctional officer can be difficult, but the entire family is invested in her success. “Whenever they see the Syracuse ‘S’ they say, ‘That’s mommy’s school!’” she says. That pride goes both ways. “To me, being Orange means every slice of the orange is different, but somehow we are all able to come together and be part of something bigger. It means taking people from all walks of life, with diverse perspectives and goals, and squeezing them into one giant community where everyone is welcomed and accepted.”
Janczuk knows the road to a degree will take a while but insists it will be worth it. “If you want something enough, you find a way to make it work,” she says. “I realize it’s not possible for everyone, and I am grateful that my husband is so supportive of my education. Some days are exhausting and some days I overbook my schedule, but on those days I just try to recognize how far I’ve come and where I’m heading. Then I take a deep breath—and keep on going.”
– from an original story by Mary Beth Horsington
First published as a Syracuse University Story on February 19, 2020 and and updated again on March 11, 2020.
Syracuse University, CNY Care Collaborative, Inc. Launch Care Coordination Certificate Program
An enhanced training program, funded by the Central New York Care Collaborative (CNYCC) and developed by Falk College’s School of Social Work in partnership with the CNY Regional Planning Consortium (RPC), and other state and local stakeholders, will benefit frontline workers who play a critical role in the state’s efforts to integrate patient care services. Proposed by the CNY RPC in late 2018 and launched in January 2020, the Care Coordination Certificate Program (CCCP) will help workers operate effectively in an increasingly complex service landscape. It is anticipated to have positive statewide and national implications for Medicaid reform.
“The Regional Planning Consortium is where regional collaboration, problem-solving, and systematic improvements for the integration of mental health, addiction treatment services, and physical healthcare occur as it relates to Medicaid Reform,” says Katie Molanare, CNY RPC coordinator and statewide lead for the RPC Workforce Committee.
The RPC is a network of 11 regional boards across New York State, comprised of stakeholders who work closely to guide behavioral health policy in the region, problem solve service delivery challenges, and recommend priorities to the State for reinvestment of Medicaid savings. Workforce development has been a focus area for the CNY RPC since 2018 when the idea for specialized training for care management staff was discussed with CNYCC and Syracuse University. The training was approved by the committees and board in 2019.
Combining data collected from the CNY RPC Workforce Development Committee, other regional care management training pilots, and aspects of the Falk College’s School of Social Work framework, the ten-week training for frontline workers includes topics on Medicaid redesign, strengths-based practice, ethics and boundaries, engagement, and documentation. It will also involve workers’ direct supervisors, who will play a crucial role in helping staff connect the skills they acquire in the CCCP to their daily practices.
“Our collective aim was to make the program sustainable and bring it to scale. As frontline workers develop new competencies, it will be important for their supervisors to understand what they are learning to help them connect their coursework to real-world practice,” says Matthew Spitzmueller, assistant professor and principal investigator of the CCCP. Co-investigators from the School of Social Work include Nancy Mudrick, professor, and Tracy Walker, director of field placement.
The 30 frontline care workers and 10 supervisors participating in the pilot program represent organizations integral to the certificate’s development. They include Children’s Consortium, Circare, Liberty Resources, The Neighborhood Center, Oswego County Opportunities and Oswego Health. All six organizations currently sit on an advisory board for the project, including the CNY RPC, which provided the advisory board with relevant regional data collected from frontline staff and supervisors.
“Improving health and wellness is essential to delivering the best possible care for patients across the community”, says Cathy Homkey, executive director at the Central New York Care Collaborative. “By investing in this type of training for frontline care workers, they will gain the skills and expertise needed to improve care and connect services in a way that is in the best interest of the patient. Offering these types of tools can increase employee satisfaction and lead to a more positive work environment which plays a key role in staff retention.”
A 2014 Medicaid waiver awarded to New York State from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services targeted a 25 percent reduction in avoidable hospitalization over a five-year period. Its triple aim targets improving population health, enhancing the quality of care, and reducing the per capita cost of health care. The waiver addresses critical issues across the state and allows for comprehensive reform through a Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program. The DSRIP program promotes community-level collaborations and focuses on system reform.
CNYCC is the lead entity for the DSRIP program in Central New York. Through the New York State DSRIP Program, CNYCC supports service integration, collaboration on patient care, quality improvement, and the shift toward value-based payment. CNYCC’s goal is to empower its partner organizations and their employees with the necessary skills to deliver integrated care management services and provide resources for effective care management principles.
“A workforce responsible for care coordination must be equipped with proper training. A certificate program that targets the complex responsibilities of this workforce will mitigate unanticipated impacts on human service organizations. Syracuse University’s School of Social Work is uniquely well-positioned to develop a certificate program that addresses the full spectrum of opportunities and challenges facing the care coordination workforce,” says Diane Lyden Murphy, dean, Falk College.
Care coordination involves a diverse workforce made up of practitioners who collectively treat the whole person, from primary care providers, mental health and substance use disorder providers, case managers and home healthcare managers to employment specialists, housing providers, residential and respite care workers, among others who often practice independently of each other. While better integration of these services benefits individuals and families receiving them, implementation has produced a number of challenges for frontline workers and the organizations that employ them.
“Behavioral health frontline staff face many challenges with the work that they do. In addition to having no clear job guidelines, frontline staff have an average of 40+ clients with high needs, they must complete multiple assessments within a tight timeframe, and they must understand community resources and government services. This puts an enormous amount of stress on this workforce, especially for those coming into the field with no prior experience,” adds Molanare. “The unique and essential role that frontline staff play is crucial to Medicaid Reform succeeding and paving the way for these high-need clients to receive the care they deserve.”
Essential to these efforts is the role of managed care organizations administering primary and behavioral health services, promoting accountability and quality improvement. While these reforms create new opportunities for cross-sector collaboration and innovation, they also produce unanticipated challenges in the workforce that is charged with executing the State’s goal of integrating care across systems that were traditionally siloed.
“For more than 60 years, Syracuse University’s School of Social Work has trained thousands of bachelor- and master-level social workers who today are direct care providers and program administrators across the systems
that contribute to population health. The School is eager to partner with nonprofit organizations, advocates, and public officials to develop, implement, and evaluate a pilot certificate program that addresses a critical need in the care coordination workforce,” adds Spitzmueller, whose research examines direct service provision to adults with severe and persistent mental illness, the strategies behavioral health workers adopt as they negotiate changing work conditions under Medicaid reform, and the impact of policy reform on socially and economically vulnerable people.
Central New York Care Collaborative is a partnership that connects more than 2,000 healthcare and community-based service providers in six counties across Central New York–Cayuga, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego. The primary goal of the collaborative is to serve the population by improving the coordination of healthcare services, enhancing the quality of performance outcomes, and creating an overall better system of care for patients. More information can be found at cnycares.org.
Dean Murphy welcomes Falk students to campus
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Dear Falk College Students,
Welcome back to campus, returning Falk students. And welcome to new and transfer students joining us this spring. We are so glad to have you join our Falk family. I hope that your winter break was filled with family, friends, and loved ones, and plenty of time for both restful and exciting activities.
As the Spring 2020 semester begins, I would like to offer you a few reminders and updates:
Falk faculty, staff, and I as your Dean, are here to support each of you on your journey here as students, as people, and as citizens. Our doors are always open to you.
In addition, you were invited to an open house with me and Falk College faculty and staff on January 14. It was great to see many of you there for the first in a series of regularly scheduled events that we will continue this semester and into future semesters. I welcome your feedback for future College activities.
As we face challenges on our campus, and as our students advocate for a better Syracuse University, you have my assurance as Dean that Falk College is fully committed to playing a critical role in these efforts, doing what we can to strengthen and build the campus community we know we can be.
Some of you are actively involved in the Falk College Dean’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, established in 2018. We are so grateful for the action and positive change resulting from the efforts of our members, which include faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students from all academic programs in Falk College. There is much work yet to do, and we strongly encourage you to be part of it. Committee meetings are held monthly throughout the academic year. Students interested in being involved in the Committee should contact Professor Chandice Haste-Jackson at cmhaste@syr.edu or the Falk College Dean’s Office at tbattist@syr.edu.
I’d like to remind all students that Falk College Student Services is your dedicated support system. Student Services counselors are here to provide you with private academic advising and help you meet your requirements and goals. In addition, they are your resource for private consultation related to student social and emotional concerns. If you have any concerns throughout your academic career, please contact Student Services or visit 330 Barclay Hall in the Falk Complex.
Particularly for new students, I encourage you review my Fall 2019 welcome message, which contains helpful information about other important resources like Falk Career Services, the Falk Student Lounge, Falk Café, and our computer labs. You’ll also find information about campus resources, such as health and counseling services in the Barnes Center at the Arch, spiritual life through Hendricks Chapel.
To those of you who will be graduating in May, I give you a special word of encouragement to make the most of this semester to maximize your academic and personal growth, and of course, enjoy it! To all our students in Falk College, I wish each of you an excellent Spring 2020 semester.
Go Orange!
Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Dean
Falk College
Falk College offers graduate program scholarships for 2020
Alumni admitted to one of Falk College eligible master’s program for 2020: All Syracuse University alumni can apply for a scholarship equivalent to 25% of tuition for one of Falk College’s eligible residential master’s degree (listed below). In addition, GRE tests and application fees waived.
Scholarship is for residential programs, only.
All students who are full or part-time Syracuse University alumni and do not qualify for the 50% Forever Orange discount are eligible for this scholarship; this includes students already admitted to a Falk master’s program for 2021.
Falk graduate programs include:
- Exercise Science M.S.
- Food Studies M.S.
- Food Studies C.A.S.
- Applied Human Development & Family Science M.A.
- Human Development & Family Science M.S.
- Marriage and Family Therapy M.A.
- Child Therapy C.A.S.
- Trauma Informed Practice C.A.S.
- Nutrition Science M.A., M.S.
- Dietetic Internship C.A.S.
- Integrative and Functional Nutrition C.A.S.
- Public Health MPH
- Addiction Studies C.A.S.
- Global Health C.A.S.
- Sport Venue & Event Management M.S.
Interested students should contact Falk Admissions, submit their application, and must formally matriculate. For more information, please contact the Falk College Office of Admissions at 315.443.5555 or email falk@syr.edu. Award is subject to change.
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