MSW Foundation Competencies and Behaviors
By the end of the Foundation year, students are expected to demonstrate the following competencies and behaviors which reflect a foundation in generalist practice:
1. Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior:
- 1.1 Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics within the profession as appropriate to the context.
- 1.2 Demonstrate professional behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication.
- 1.3 Use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes
- 1.4 Use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior.
2. Advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice:
- 2.1 Advocate for human rights at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community system levels.
- 2.2 Engage in practices that advance human rights to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
3. Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Practice:
- 3.1 Demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, community, research, and policy levels.
- 3.2 Demonstrate cultural humility by applying critical reflection, self-awareness, and selfregulation to manage the influence of bias, power, privilege, and values in working with clients and constituencies, acknowledging them as experts of their own lived experiences.
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice:
- 4.1 Apply research findings to inform and improve practice, policy, and programs.
- 4.2 Identify ethical, culturally informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive strategies that address inherent biases for use in quantitative and qualitative research methods to advance the purposes of social work.
5. Engage in policy practice :
- 5.1 Use social justice, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lenses to assess how social welfare policies affect the delivery of and access to social services.
- 5.2 Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities :
- 6.1 Apply knowledge of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks, to engage with clients and constituencies.
- 6.2 Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to engage in culturally responsive practice with clients and constituencies.
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities :
- 7.1 Apply theories of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as other culturally responsive and interprofessional conceptual frameworks, when assessing clients and constituencies.
- 7.2 Demonstrate respect for client self-determination during the assessment process by collaborating with clients and constituencies in developing a mutually agreed-upon plan.
8. Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities :
- 8.1 Engage with clients and constituencies to critically choose and implement culturally responsive, evidence-informed interventions to achieve client and constituency goals.
- 8.2 Incorporate culturally responsive methods to negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of clients and constituencies.
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities :
- 9.1 Select and use culturally responsive methods for evaluation of outcomes.
- 9.2 Critically analyze outcomes and apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
Individuals and Families Concentration Competencies and Behaviors
By the end of the Concentration year students choosing the concentration of Individuals and Families are expected to demonstrate the following competencies and advanced behaviors which build upon their foundation in generalist practice:
1. Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior -
- 1.1 Identify ethical issues. Determine and implement the most appropriate response(s).
- 1.2 Conduct themselves professionally in accordance with relevant codes of ethic, laws, policies, and professional standards.
- 1.3 Establish and maintain clear professional boundaries.
2. Engage diversity and difference in practice -
- 2.1 Employ key theoretical frameworks to explore diverse perspectives and life experiences.
- 2.2 Demonstrate reverence for cultural differences and humility in learning about identities different from their own.
- 2.3 Engage in continual self-reflection to recognize and challenge implicit and explicit biases, and vocally advocate for other to do the same.
3. Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice -
- 3.1 Actively seek information on issues of social, economic, and environmental justice to inform advanced practice.
- 3.2 Engage in advocacy practices to advance social, economic, and environmental justice at individual and systems levels.
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
- 4.1 Use practice experience to inform research
- 4.2 Utilize multiple sources of knowledge, e.g. empirical/research evidence, practice wisdom, client input, and/or contextual factors, when making practice decisions with individuals, families, and groups
5. Engage in policy practice -
- 5.1:Demonstrate understanding of how policy manifests itself in the lives of clients
- 5.2 Integrate existing and emerging knowledge of relevant local, state, and federal policies in working with individuals, families, and groups
- 5.3 Advocate for community, policy, and social change with and in support of individuals, groups, and families
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities -
- 6.1 Engage with diverse clients and others in a professional, respectful, and empathic manner, taking into account their level of development and cultural context.
- 6.2 Use effective interpersonal, communication, and interviewing skills to develop collaborative working relationships with individuals, families, and groups
- 6.3 Demonstrate the ability to reflect on one’s role in facilitating or inhibiting engagement and to implement a plan to improve these skills.
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities -
- 7.1 Conduct ongoing and comprehensive assessment using appropriate assessment methods and assessment tools as a basis for effective intervention
- 7.2 Understand diagnoses in the context of comprehensive bio-psycho-social-spiritual assessment and examine implications for clients
8. Intervention with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities -
- 8.1 Utilize comprehensive ongoing assessment as the basis for determining effective interventions.
- 8.2 Collaborate with the client to develop clear and reasonable goals
- 8.3 Select, apply, and facilitate appropriate interventions across levels (individual, family, group, organizations, and communities) as needed, in a strategic and collaborative manner.
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities-
- 9.1 Evaluate practice and modify interventions to maximize the wellbeing of individuals, families, and group
- 9.2 Use results from practice evaluation to inform program and policy recommendations
Community and Organizational Practice Concentration Competencies and Behaviors
By the end of the Concentration year, students choosing the Communities and Organizational Practice concentration are expected to demonstrate the following competencies and advanced behaviors which build upon their foundation in generalist practice:
1. Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior
- 1.1 Identify ethical issues. Determine and implement the most appropriate response(s)within a cultural humility framework
- 1.2 Conduct themselves professionally in accordance with relevant codes of ethic, laws, policies, and professional standards.
- 1.3 Provide leadership in making ethical decisions with diverse stakeholders in policy, community, and organizational practice arenas.
2. Engage diversity and difference in practice -
- 2.1 Employ key theoretical frameworks to explore diverse perspectives and intersectionality within policies, organizations, and communities.
- 2.2 Take steps to ensure culturally inclusive policies, organizations, and communities.
3. Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice -
- 3.1 Apply their understanding of social, economic, and environmental justice to advocate for human rights in policy, community, and organizational practice arenas
- 3.2 Engage in advocacy practices to advance social, economic, and environmental justice.
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice -
- 4.1 Use practice experience to inform research, resource development, or intervention.
- 4.2 Utilize the best available evidence when making policy, community, and organizational practice decisions.
5. Engage in policy practice -
- 5.1 Engage and encourage stakeholders within communities and organizations to be active advocates for social, economic, and environmental justice
- 5.2 Analyze and advocate to create or improve policies at the organizational, local, state, national, or global levels that further social, economic, and environmental justice.
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities -
- 6.1 Apply knowledge of policy, community, and organizational theories and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with diverse communities and organizations
- 6.2 Use empathy, self-reflection, interpersonal skills and interprofessional collaboration with people from diverse economic, political, social, and cultural backgrounds to facilitate social, economic, and environmental justice and/or sustainable change.
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- 7.1 Apply knowledge of community and organizational theories, multidisciplinary frameworks and policy to assess diverse communities and organizations.
- 7.2 Work collaboratively with communities and organizations to identify, collect, and analyze various sources of information for comprehensive assessment.
8. Intervention with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities -
- 8.1 Identify culturally appropriate, evidence-informed and evidence-based interventions with organizations and communities.
- 8.2 Work with communities and organizations to implement interventions to achieve goals
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families groups, organizations and communities -
- 9.1 Identify and use knowledge of policy, evaluation methods, and practice experiences tow ork with stakeholders to evaluate interventions in communities and organizations.
- 9.2 Use evaluation findings to inform program and policy change.