Social Work Enters 21st Year of Promoting Public Child Welfare

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Debra Gage Hurd

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas has been awarded the Title IV-E Grant for the 21st consecutive year. The funds support the Arkansas Academic Partnership in Public Child Welfare, a joint effort founded in 1991 with a vision to create conditions in Arkansas that will allow children and families to be safe and well enough to meet the demands of the 21st century.

The partnership’s creation, which arose in response to the need for systemwide reform within the state’s child welfare programs, began with 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 program is funded through Title IV-E of the Social Security Act and consists of theoretical and applied components. 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.

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 brought training and support to workers in the Division of Children and Family Services and support for children and families in all 75 counties.

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 Department of Human Services 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.

Debra Gage Hurd, professor of social work in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, serves as the grant’s principal investigator. She joined the school in 1993 as a research assistant and was promoted to research associate professor in 2004. She was recently promoted to senior research associate and clinical full professor.    

“It is rare for someone who comes to the university as a grant administrator to turn it into a 20-year career,” said Yvette Murphy-Erby, director of the School of Social Work. “Dr. Hurd's hard work, the longevity of success in obtaining Title IV-E funding and her ability to maintain strong collaborative and interdisciplinary partnerships across the state are clear examples of why she is so deserving of this promotion.”

To learn more about the Arkansas Academic Partnership in Public Child Welfare Title IV-E Grant, please visit http://socialwork.uark.edu/ive.