Special Issue on Advancing Social Work Education to Meet the Grand Challenge of Ending Homelessness
Guest Editors: Amanda Aykanian (University at Albany) and Benjamin F. Henwood (University of Southern California)
The Journal of Social Work Education invites submissions for a special issue titled “Advancing Social Work Education to Meet the Grand Challenge of Ending Homelessness” to be published in 2019.
The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare’s Grand Challenges Initiative calls on the social work profession to tackle some of our nation’s toughest social issues, including homelessness. The Grand Challenge to End Homelessness (GC2EH) aims to expand the use of successful intervention models, develop service and technological innovations, and promote policies that increase affordable housing and income security. The GC2EH’s success hinges on schools’ abilities to produce graduates with the knowledge, preparation, and skills needed to accomplish these goals. Schools of social work can support the GC2EH by using course content to teach students about evidence-based models for preventing and ending homelessness, offering field placements in homeless services to expose students to how such models are implemented in community-based settings, and providing opportunities for students to build the skills needed to effectively work with homeless clients. Further, faculty experts in homelessness can support students interested in homelessness through mentorship and creating opportunities for students to engage in homelessness-related service, research, and policy advocacy.
This special issue will illustrate how schools of social work can strengthen curriculum, enhance field placements, and train future practitioners, scholars, advocates, and policy makers to address one of the country’s most significant and persistent social problems. Although there is clear potential for schools of social work to align with the GC2EH, there is a dearth of empirical studies and conceptual models that address educational strategies, outcomes, and approaches for teaching about homelessness. Thus, the primary goal of the special issue is to provide a roadmap for social work programs, educators, and researchers to carry out curriculum, training, and mentoring activities necessary to accomplish the grand challenge of ending homelessness.
Article Topics
Contributors are asked to submit empirical and conceptual pieces aimed at advancing social work education at the bachelor’s, master’s, and/or doctoral level to meet the goals of the GC2EH.
Themes of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Curriculum integration strategies for teaching about homelessness
- Educational strategies, outcomes, and approaches for teaching about homelessness
- Mentoring models for students interested in becoming leaders in homelessness research, advocacy, or practice
- Service learning examples with homeless service agencies
- University–community partnerships for education, homelessness research, strengthening homeless services, or supporting homeless service users
- Student-engaged and student-led homelessness research projects, including community-based and participatory action research studies
- Innovations in field education to expand homelessness-related internship opportunities and training
- Student experiences and lessons learned from engaging in homelessness service provision, research, service, or policy advocacy activities
Submissions and Timeline
Manuscripts submitted for the special issue will be peer reviewed and must strictly follow the guidelines of JSWE. See JSWE’s Author Instructions for complete information. Final decisions on acceptance of the articles will be made by the guest editors.
Manuscripts are due via electronic submission by December 3, 2018. Please direct questions to Amanda Aykanian at amanda.aykanian@gmail.com or Benjamin Henwood at bhenwood@usc.edu.