In response to urgent student mental health needs across Virginia's college campuses, the 2022 Virginia General Assembly appropriated funds to support a two-year mental health workforce pilot program at public institutions of higher education. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with the Virginia Health Care…

The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare has defined 12 challenges for the social work profession, one of which is Close the Health Gap, addressing health inequities in the United States. The Close the Health Gap challenge is appropriate for the profession from historical, theoretical, ethical, and professional perspectives.…

With more children and young adults experiencing mental health emergencies over the last 10 years, state and federal leaders made millions of dollars available to school districts for developing school-based mental health services and hiring and training school counselors, psychologists, and social workers. Yet schools still face considerable…

Social work is embracing scientific inquiry as a guiding principle; however, scientific advancement has often outpaced modifications in the academic arena necessitating reenvisioning the curriculum. This article describes how a large western School of Social Work addressed the need to create a practice curriculum rooted in empirical evidence by…

Infants are born primed to develop attachment relationships. However, when infants are hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit at birth, the stress and trauma associated with the highly specialized medical environment can threaten the development of a nurturing and secure caregiving relationship. Infant mental health is an evidence-based…

Rapid changes in health care services and delivery suggest an upcoming paradigm shift in the field of mental health. Recent national reports, health care policy changes, and growing evidence support a shift toward prevention-focused mental health care. The social work profession is uniquely positioned to act as leaders in this shift as the…

This case study describes 1 international student's treatment experience with an integrated health program on a college campus. This program uses a multidisciplinary, mind-body approach, which incorporates individual counseling, primary care, psychiatric consultation, a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy class, and a meditation group.

The Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) was developed for use by school-based mental health professionals for any student with symptoms of distress following exposure to trauma. The Supporting Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) was adapted from CBITS for use by any school personnel with the time and interest to work with…

As an approach to serving adults with mental illness, the Clubhouse Model, developed during the 1950s and 1960s, is particularly suitable for social workers. Clubhouse communities provide support for a full range of daily needs and a participatory environment designed to promote recovery from social isolation and deprivation. Social workers'…

Faculty from 5 disciplines (health administration, nursing, psychology, social work, and special education) collaborated to develop and teach a distance-learning course designed to encourage undergraduate and graduate students to seek mental health services employment in rural areas and to provide the skills, experience, and knowledge necessary…

Family services and intervention for persons with mental illness is crucial in mental health services. In this paper, the writer attempts to describe family intervention and services for persons with mental illness in the People's Republic of China. Family intervention and services like home-based care, guardianship network, family counseling, and…

A pilot project in education for mental health administration at Wayne State University is described and evaluated. The one-year curriculum was continuously refined, based on studies conducted by the project staff and project evaluation data. Project goals and processes to meet them are outlined. (MSE)

Empowerment as a philosophy, approach, or method of practice provides a way to rethink social work practice and to achieve needed social change, personally and politically, in ways that meet human needs. Part One, "An Introduction to Empowerment Practice," written by the editors, describes the elements and process of the model in the first…

Emerging undergraduate and graduate human services programs, called mental health, social services, community development, and applied social sciences, are not widely known or understood. While there are some common purposes with social work education, the potential for competition or conflict exists. Their significance for social work programs…

A National Council on Social Work Education project to develop, test, and evaluate models for continuing education in five social work education programs is described. Its aim is to demonstrate how the education and practice systems can work together, and to focus on mental health care delivery system issues as a whole. Five pilot projects in…