School of Social Work centers
Our centers generate leading research, provide technical help and training, and create new educational content for the University and community.
Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW)
Director: Traci LaLiberte, PhD
CASCW is the premiere source of child welfare information and training in Minnesota. With the MN Department of Human Services and other public child welfare agencies, we identify, assess, and distribute effective practice information. Through our Title IV-E program and Area Training Centers, we coordinate child welfare training for MSW and PhD students, current child welfare workers, and supervisors statewide. Our extensive network allows us to capture up-to-date child welfare practice information and integrate it into graduate program curriculum. CASCW staff conduct and publish research on a broad range of child welfare topics.
Center for Practice Transformation
Gamble-Skogmo Land Grant Chair in Child Welfare and Youth Policy
Chair: Professor Wendy Haight, PhD
The mission of the Gamble-Skogmo chair in child welfare and youth policy is to serve the children and families of Minnesota by understanding community needs, conducting nationally significant research responsive to these needs, providing technical assistance and consultation locally and nationally, and educating and training service providers, administrators, and policy makers in the field of child welfare and youth policy.
Additional Resources
Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community (IDVAAC)
The institute on domestic violence in the African American Community (IDVAAC) was formed in 1993, when a group of scholars, including Professor Oliver Williams, and practitioners agreed that the “one-size-fits-all” approach to domestic violence services being provided in mainstream communities would not suffice for African Americans. IDVAAC closed in September 2016, but is maintaining a website of the information and resources that the organization developed.