Social Work With Children and Families

MSW Degree Completion Options

Choose from three degree completion options that match your goals and schedule, as well as four start dates throughout the year.

• The Standard option helps you balance your online master’s in social work program with other life commitments by limiting your workload to one or two courses per term.
• The Accelerated option is an ideal choice if you can dedicate yourself to full-time studies. This option requires a strong time commitment, as you’ll take three courses in most terms.
• The Advanced Standing option is for students who already hold a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from a CSWE-accredited program and graduated with a minimum GPA of 3.0. If eligible, you can reduce your completion time by skipping intro-level classes and starting your degree with advanced-level courses.

Standard Option

Curriculum

Completion Requirements

• 92 quarter credits
  • Core courses (78 cr.)
  • Field Experience (12 cr.)
• TWO 6 week hybrid class - 2 cr (3 weeks online, 4 days on ground in face to face experience , 2 weeks online)

Note: Students in this program must have a webcam for their first course as well as for various assignments throughout the program. Please refer to our technology requirements.

The courses sequence below represents the minimum time to completion. Time to completion will vary by student, depending on individual progress and credits transferred, if applicable. For a personalized estimate of the number of your transfer credits that Walden would accept, call an Enrollment Specialist at 855-646-5286.

Courses

Show Course Descriptions

Course Code	Title	Credits
SOCW 6002	Changing Lives, Changing Society: Introduction to Social Work Show This is a foundation course designed to introduce students to the social work profession. Students explore the history of the profession, the characteristics of generalist practice, social work practice settings, and professional values and ethics. Students also develop knowledge of current issues and directions for the profession, and the requirements and challenges of being a professional social worker.	(3 cr.)
SOCW 6101	Essential Skills for Social Work Practice Show This course is designed for students to gain foundation-level social work skills on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work practice. Students in the course explore how to set professional boundaries and exhibit professional demeanor conducive to social work practice. They further examine appropriate ethical conduct, client engagement, active listening, empathetic responses, and interviewing skills. Students also apply the Generalist Intervention Model in a culturally competent manner through engagement, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, termination, and follow-up with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6200	Human Behavior and the Social Environment I Show Students in this foundation course are provided with an understanding of the intersection between the social environment and the healthy lifespan development of individuals, families, groups, and communities. Throughout this course, students increase their comprehension of how the environment and social context serve to mediate or intersect with the healthy development of each individual, family, group, or community. They examine the ways gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and disability impact human development. Students explore human behavior through the lens of human development, environment, and social context.	(5 cr.)
SWLB 0651	Skills Lab I Show The Social Work Skills Lab is a 1-credit, 6-week hybrid class that includes 3 weeks of online content, followed by a 4-day synchronous residential component, and then closes with 2 weeks of online content. Students in the Social Work Skills Lab I reinforce the content covered in the Second Year MSW courses with an emphasis on clinical skills development and advanced topics in diversity and inclusion, evidence-based practice, ethics, and development of the professional self. Material covered includes practice labs focused on clinically informed individual engagement and assessment, group development and leadership, and an understanding of how to advocate within organizations and communities. A key component of the skills lab is to prepare and assess students for their readiness to enter the field. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6002.)	(1 cr.)
SOCW 6051	Diversity, Human Rights, and Social Justice Show This is a foundation course in which students broadly address race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status and class, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ability and disability, and environment in an effort to better understand social identity. Throughout this course, students benefit from course assignments, discussions, and course materials to understand the role of power and privilege and oppression and marginalization on the social development of clients. Students specifically focus on activities that help them recognize systems that support or foster power inequities, oppression, and underutilization of human talent and skills. In addition, students engage in activities to foster self-awareness of their own role in the hierarchy of power and privilege. At the completion of this course, students will understand the importance of social workers developing competence in providing evidence-based contextually and culturally relevant assessments and interventions for individuals, families, groups, and communities.	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6351	Social Policy, Welfare, and Change Show Students in this foundation course are provided with an overview of the professional social worker’s role in the development, delivery, and implementation of social welfare policies, programs, and services in the U.S. The students explore the history of social welfare and current policies and programs, including those addressing poverty, healthcare (including mental health), child welfare, and disabilities. Students develop policy knowledge and skills to assist them in influencing policy development.	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6210	Human Behavior and the Social Environment II Show This advanced course is designed to prepare students for clinical social work practice that reflects an advanced understanding of lifespan development and sociopsychological identity development in individuals, families, groups, and communities. Throughout this course, students will use their learning on lifespan development and sociopsychological identity development to understand human behavior and, particularly, individual and family functioning within the environmental context. With an emphasis on ethical practice in social work, students have the opportunity to use this information to inform their assessments, evaluations, interventions, and advocacy for their clients. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6200.)	(5 cr.)
	COMPLETION OF SOCIAL WORK SKILLS LAB I REQUIRED BEFORE PROCEEDING
SOCW 6500	Social Work Field Education I Show This is the first foundation course in the four-part field practicum sequence. Students are required to complete 200 hours in an approved social services agency under the supervision of a professional social worker. Through the practicum experience, students are introduced to the role of a professional social worker. Students demonstrate skills in maintaining boundaries and ethics while interacting in a professional manner with clients. Through their participation in a weekly hour-long seminar with their instructor and peers, students demonstrate their integration of classroom knowledge with professional practice skills. (Prerequisite(s): Skills Lab I, SOCW 6002, SOCW 6101, SOCW 6200, SOCW 6051, SOCW  6351, and SOCW 6210.)	(3 cr.)
SOCW 6301	Social Work Practice Research I Show The goal of this foundation course is to develop students' understanding of the importance of research in relation to social work practice. Students are introduced to various research methods: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research. Students examine ethical standards as they relate to research, basic principles of scientific method, and research that addresses diverse populations. This basic course is the first of two courses designed to prepare students as scholar-practitioners who use research to inform their ethical social work practice. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6002.)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6510	Social Work Field Education II Show This is the second foundation course in the four-part field practicum sequence. As in SOCW 6500, students are again required to complete 200 hours in an approved social services agency under the supervision of a professional social worker. Students have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate skills in engaging clients, developing mutually agreed-upon goals, identifying clients' strengths and needs, completing assessments, and providing professional documentation during the field practicum experience. Students also identify policies at the organizational, local, state, or national level, which impact the client system. Through their participation in a weekly hour-long seminar with their instructor and peers, students demonstrate their integration of classroom knowledge with professional practice skills. (Prerequisite(s): Skills Lab I, SOCW 6301, and SOCW 6500.)	(3 cr.)
SOCW 6060	Social Work Theory and Practice Show This course is designed to provide students with an overview of theories, models, and intervention methods for clinically informed advanced generalist social work practice. Students explore the theories and models for application to working with clients. The emphasis of the course is to understand the assumptions of theories and models and how they guide social work assessment, intervention, and practice evaluation. In addition, students evaluate the strengths and limitations of the various theories, with specific consideration to compatibility of a theory with a client's diverse background and to social work values. Students integrate multiple sources of knowledge to critically evaluate a theory or model's applicability to social work practice. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6500.)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6111	Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice I Show This is an advanced course designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to apply clinical social work services. Students in this course focus on the application of evidence-based theories and other intervention methods with individuals and families. There is a particular focus on individuals and families from diverse cultural backgrounds and marginalized or oppressed populations in this course. Students demonstrate therapeutic skills to engage clients, to define and prioritize issues, to set mutually developed goals, and to commit to the change process. Students select, implement, monitor, and evaluate interventions. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6500.)	(5 cr.)
SWLB 0652	Skills Lab II Show The Social Work Skills Lab II is a 1-credit, 6-week hybrid class that includes 3 weeks of online content, followed by a 4-day synchronous residential component, and then closes with 2 weeks of online content. Students in the Social Work Skills Lab II reinforce the content covered in the Second Year MSW courses with an emphasis on clinical skills development and advanced topics in diversity and inclusion, evidence-based practice, ethics, and development of the professional self. Material covered includes practice labs focused on clinically informed individual engagement and assessment, group development and leadership, and an understanding of how to advocate within organizations and communities. A key component of the skills lab is to prepare and assess students for their readiness to enter the field. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6002, SOCW 6510, and Advanced Standing.)	(1 cr.)
SOCW 6446	Social Work Practice With Children and Adolescents Show In this course, students examine empirically supported theories and techniques for working with children and adolescents in the counseling process. Students work toward enhancing their theoretical and practical understanding of the systemic interplay among children, adolescents, families, and the stakeholders in their lives. They engage in coursework and readings focused on a family-systems view of intervention, and they devote special attention to developmental, cognitive, behavioral, educational, multicultural, and environmental issues. Students assess a distinct group of empirically supported interventions aimed at improving individual and family functioning. They also explore legal and ethical issues related to counseling children and adolescents. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6090 and SOCW 6111.)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6090	Psychopathology and Diagnosis for Social Work Practice Show Students in this course are prepared to identify mental disorders and to understand the necessary professional evaluations needed to formulate a DSM-5 diagnosis in a culturally sensitive and ethical manner. Students are sensitized to the risks and benefits of using diagnosis, with an emphasis on minimizing stigma.Throughout this course, students learn about the most common DSM-5 diagnoses and integrate that knowledge with the use of established diagnostic procedures. In developing a "working diagnosis," students learn to consider differential diagnosis, individualize and capture missing dimensions of an illness (mental status, severity, cultural idioms, and other details) as well as adapting interventions to various ages, races, genders, and cultures. Students learn how to incorporate DSM-5 requirements into a holistic biopsychosocial approach that includes the use of evidence-based assessments to systematically resolve ambiguities in diagnosis and strengthen diagnostic accuracy. Students also practice communicating and coding DSM-5 diagnoses and their supporting evidence to peers. The course uses case materials for direct skill-building. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6111.)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6361	Social Policy: Analysis and Advocacy Show Students are provided with the knowledge to analyze, formulate, and advocate for social policies that advance individual and social well-being in this course. Students explore various methods of policy analysis and develop advocacy plans that involve collaboration with colleagues and communities to address policy issues. There is a special emphasis on policies that impact human rights and advance social and economic justice. Students develop skills in the policy analysis process, including the values that influence policy, the legislative process, and the roles of advocacy and lobbying organizations. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6351 and SOCW 6002.)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6215	Advanced Social Work Practice With Children and Family Services Show This is an advanced practice course designed to provide students with opportunities to examine social work practice with diverse child and family systems, using an ecological-developmental framework. Through case studies, videos, and interactive media, students learn to apply social work skills of collaboration, assessment, child and family therapy, and multilevel interventions designed to build on strengths that exist within individuals and in the social contexts (e.g., family, school, work, neighborhoods, and communities) where children and families live. Students learn how to foster child and family success in their social environments, especially those challenged by stress, poverty, violence, disorganization, and/or oppression. Additionally, students critically evaluate legal and ethical issues related to working in this specialization. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6090 and SOCW 6111.)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6456	Social Work Practice With Couples and Family Systems Show The focus of this course is on gaining an advanced understanding of theories and techniques for working with couples, married individuals, and families, as well as to acquire skills for theory integration and theory-based treatment. Through video demonstrations and other topical materials, students witness and examine empirically supported treatments and techniques in prevention, intervention, development, and promoting the well-being of marriages, couples, and families. They explore systemic implications for conceptualization, assessment, treatment planning, and interventions. Students also learn how to assess procedures for critically evaluating relevant research and how to apply these findings to their counseling practices. Additionally, they explore methods of adapting models to meet the needs of a diverse society and the legal and ethical issues related to working in this specialty area. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6090 and SOCW 6111.)	(5 cr.)
	Completion of Social Work Skills Lab II Required Before Proceeding
SOCW 6070	Supervision, Leadership, and Administration in Social Work Organizations Show Students in this advanced course prepare for roles as supervisors, leaders, and administrators in clinical social work. Students examine leadership theory and strategies for leadership development, ethical practice as clinical supervisors, and the roles of administrators in social work organizations. Students participate in activities that develop their skills in critical decision making to address some of the complex problems that face leaders and administrators in social work. As a result of this course, students will understand the competencies of social work supervisors, leaders, and administrators and will identify a plan for their own continued development in these areas. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6111 and SOCW 6361 or SOCW 6365C or SOCW 6363M or SOCW 6364E .)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6520	Social Work Field Education III Show This is the third course in the field practicum sequence. It is an advanced course. Students are required to complete 250 (20–24 hours per week) hours in an approved social services agency under the supervision of a professional social worker. There is a focus on agencies that serve clients from diverse populations and/or marginalized or oppressed groups. In this course, students focus on recognizing the importance of clinical social work practice and demonstrating the ability to negotiate and advocate with and on behalf of client systems to enhance client well-being and ensure social and economic justice. Students demonstrate the ability to critically examine research available on interventions, make an appropriate selection, and follow through with the implementation. A seminar is included in which students demonstrate the integration of classroom knowledge with the professional practice skills. (Prerequisite(s): Skills Lab 2, SOCW 6060, SOCW 6090, and SOCW 6510.)	(3 cr.)
SOCW 6311	Social Work Practice Research II Show This advanced course is designed to support students' development as scholar-practitioners in clinical social work. Students identify and apply research that can be used to advance their practice, including social welfare, advocacy, and policy. Throughout the course, students are provided resources and activities designed to help them become critical consumers of research for the sake of ethical, evidence-based clinical social work practice. Students in this course have the opportunity to evaluate research design, research methods, and the applicability of results to diverse populations. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6301.)	(5 cr.)
SOCW 6530	Social Work Field Education IV Show This is the final course in the four-part field practicum sequence. As in SOCW 6500, SOCW 6510, and SOCW 6520, students in this course are also required to complete 250 hours in an approved social services agency under the supervision of a professional social worker. Through the practicum experience, students are provided with the opportunity to monitor and evaluate therapeutic outcomes and engage in research-based practice. Students demonstrate the ability to provide services to a client or client system, from intake to termination or transfer. Students demonstrate skills in termination; evaluating interventions and outcomes; and disseminating these results and analysis to colleagues, peers, and other practitioners. A seminar is included in which students demonstrate the integration of classroom knowledge with the professional practice skills. (Prerequisite(s): SOCW 6520.)	(3 cr.)
VIEW ALL COURSES Less Courses

Tuition and Fees

Curriculum Component	Requirements	Cost	amount
Tuition	92 quarter credit hours	$482 per credit hour	$44,344
Skills Lab Fee	Two in program	Included (travel, lodging, and other expenses are additional	$0
Technology Fee	Per quarter	$160	$1,760
			$46,104*

*Tuition reflects the minimum time to completion. Time to completion varies by student, depending on individual progress and credits transferred, if applicable. Tuition and time to complete may be reduced if transfer credits are accepted, or if you receive grants, scholarships or other tuition reductions. Walden may accept up to 30 transfer credits. For a personalized estimate of the number of your transfer credits that Walden would accept,, call an Enrollment Specialist at 855-646-5286.

Tuition and fees are subject to change. Books and materials are not included and may cost between $2,500 to $3,500. The tuition reflects the minimum time to completion, which can vary by student, depending on individual progress.

Accelerated option

Advanced Standing option

Admission Requirements

Program Admission Considerations: A bachelor's degree or higher.

General Admission Requirements: Completed online application, transcripts, and Acknowledgement Statement. Speak to an Enrollment Specialist who will guide you through the application process. More information for international applicants.