University of Arkansas Child Welfare Grant Celebrates 20 Years

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas celebrated 20 consecutive years of funding for the Arkansas Academic Partnership in Public Welfare with a reception on Monday, Nov. 28.

Faculty and staff from the grant’s nine academic partners and the Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services came from as far as Magnolia, Jonesboro and Monticello to mark the grant’s two decades of success.

“This group’s 20-year commitment to Arkansas children and families exemplifies the importance of collaboration and shows that many organizations can work together for a common good,” said Cecile Blucker, director of the Division of Children and Family Services.

The program was founded in 1991 in response to the need for system-wide reform within the state’s child welfare programs. It was conceived as a partnership among the University of Arkansas, the Division of Children and Family Services, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

The University of Arkansas was chosen to administer the grant, which seeks to ensure that children and families have access to social workers and related human service professionals and that these professionals have the necessary education and training to increase the safety and well-being of those they serve. This includes managing the partnership, developing curricula, evaluating training and providing administrative support.

 “I’m glad to have the opportunity to celebrate the longest continually funded grant of its size at the U of A,” said Robin Roberts, dean of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. “But it’s the people in the field working with these children day in and day out who are the real heroes and heroines.”

The partnership grew in subsequent years, adding Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech University, Harding University, Philander Smith College, Southern Arkansas University and the University of Arkansas at Monticello by 1997. This growth has brought training and support to workers in the Division of Children and Family Services and services to children and families in all 75 counties.

 “There is one thing that makes this partnership work,” said Debra Hurd, the grant’s principle investigator. “We never stop asking ourselves, ‘How can we improve child welfare practice in Arkansas?’”

The grant that supports the program comes through Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The partnership consists of theoretical and applied components. Each of the academic partners has an interdisciplinary child welfare committee that participates in the partnership’s focus and innovation. The School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock provides classroom-based training to Division of Children and Family Services staff statewide through its MidSouth Training Academy. Family service workers and supervisors for the division also receive training in the field.

“We are so proud of the statewide team we’ve built,” said Yvette Murphy-Erby, director of the School of Social Work in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. “It takes every component to make this program a success.”