Overview
The Arkansas Academic Partnership in Public Child Welfare is a statewide collaboration among nine Arkansas universities and the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS). The goals of the partnership focus on the professional development of students and child welfare workers to improve child welfare practice.

In 1991 Arkansas formed the partnership funded by a Title IV-E federal grant. The impetus for this new and exciting endeavor was a call for reform in child welfare resulting from the settlement of a federal class action lawsuit, Angela R. vs., then governor, Bill Clinton. Since that time, this partnership has grown to include nine Arkansas colleges and universities and all DCFS areas. The university partnership includes all schools of social work in Arkansas. Members of the partnership are dedicated to child welfare reform in the State of Arkansas. The partner universities are involved in recruitment, education, training and retention activities in an effort to address the shortage of an adequately educated and trained child welfare workforce applicant pool.

The Title IV-E Child Welfare program began at ASU in 1994. ASU IV-E activities serve to enrich the child welfare workforce for Northeast Arkansas, the students at ASU, and children and families receiving services particularly in Greene, Craighead, Mississippi, Clay, Randolph, Sharp, Fulton, Izard, and Lawrence Counties.


Arkansas Title IV-E Mission
The mission of the ASU IV-E program is to provide access for Arkansas children and families to the services of social workers and related human service professionals who are equipped with the education and training necessary to provide a wide range of services. Of special concern is the preparation for professional personnel who are culturally competent and responsive to the particular geographical demands, values and needs of public sector constituents and consumers.

The mission includes enhancement and support of family-centered systems reform in both public child welfare and academic university settings. The program is guided by the principle of strengths-based collaboration between the public sector and participating universities and colleges.


Program
ASU provides leadership in child welfare through the following activities:

• Social work student stipend program
• Weekly new child welfare worker and new child welfare supervisor field training/support (mentoring)
• Infusion of competency based child welfare curriculum across academic disciplines
• Child welfare seminars and continuing education opportunities
• Field internships in public child welfare agencies
• Special workshops regarding public child welfare issues
• On line education support center
• Access to up to date, state of the art educational resources
• University child welfare inter-disciplinary committee
• Substance abuse education project
• Advanced practice education
• Weekly support and mentoring for social work students in child welfare internships
• Monthly new child welfare worker education and support groups for the first year of employment
• Recruitment of students into the child welfare workforce through volunteer/job fair support and presentations to a variety of groups of students across campus
• Sponsorship of students and DCFS workers to state and national child welfare conferences
• Participation in support of the child welfare certificate at ASU
• Participation in support of area multi-disciplinary teams sponsored by the Arkansas Commission on Rape, Domestic Violence, and Child Maltreatment
• Participation in support of the Child Advocacy Center in Northeast Arkansas