Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Maggie Lear (212) 266-2255 (ACS)
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today announced a new $2 million scholarship program to provide graduate social work education for ACS staff. The scholarship program will enable approximately 125 ACS employees to earn Master of Social Work degrees (MSW) from one of seven social work schools in the New York City area.
Joining the Mayor and Commissioner Scoppetta were State Assemblyman Roger Green from Brooklyn and Peter Miraglia, Assistant Director of the New York State Office of Human Resource Development, as well as the Deans from the seven area accredited Schools of Social Work that will participate in the MSW scholarship program.
ACS, through the James Satterwhite Academy, will offer scholarships to selected caseworkers, supervisors and managers for an educational program leading to an MSW degree. ACS staff members with at least two years of satisfactory job performance as of January 1, 1997, who are in direct service delivery or administrative assignments, and who are permanent civil service employees are eligible to apply. The program is scheduled to begin with the 1997 summer semester.
Mayor Giuliani said, “The scholarship program provides a wonderful opportunity for many ACS staff members to increase their professional knowledge and earn graduate degrees in social work. I would like to thank Assemblyman Green for his leadership in securing the funds to support this program and Governor Pataki for including it in the State Budget.
I would also like to commend the seven Deans from the participating social work schools including Hunter, NYU, Fordham, Columbia, Stonybrook, Yeshiva and Adelphi for recognizing the importance of this initiative.
“The ACS Reform Plan released in December emphasizes the critical need for a well-trained child welfare workforce. This scholarship program will assist in achieving this goal. Further training will ensure the very highest standards of performance in the service of this City’s children,” added Mayor Giuliani.
Commissioner Scoppetta said, “Many committed and dedicated staff members at ACS will be able to further their education and increase their social work skills through the MSW scholarship program. This marks another step toward the professionalization of this agency. A key element of the ACS reform plan is to ensure high quality casework and enhanced training.”
Assemblyman Green said, “The $2 million that the City of New York will receive from the State Legislature to enhance the professionalism of caseworkers in our child welfare system represents an endorsement of the reforms that have been encouraged by Mayor Giuliani and Commissioner Scoppetta. I feel confident that if we are committed to maintaining this level of cooperation the children of New York will be well served. It is my intention to secure additional funding in this year’s State Budget to continue to support the reforms of the Child Welfare System led by the Mayor and Commissioner Scoppetta.”
The Caseworker Education Program has been authorized in the 1996-97 State Budget and authorizes a total of $2.3 million for professional social work education for child welfare staff working in urban areas of the state. There are five social services jurisdictions which meet the criteria including New York City, Erie, Monroe, Onondaga and Westchester. The largest allocation of funds has been granted to New York City.
The James Satterwhite Training Academy will select applicants deemed best qualified to participate in this program using the following criteria:
The program will be administered by the James Satterwhite Training Academy’s Professional Development Program under the guidance of the Academy’s Director, Paula Fendall. The Professional Development Program provides a range of services including coordination of work schedules to allow for class time and arranging certified field placements and qualified field training instructors.
The Deans present at today’s press conference were: