Alternative Practicum Opportunities

• Ethics and Boundary Issues – Continuing Education for Social Workers, free. [3 hours]

• Self-care
  • Dangerous Cortisol Levels: How to Reduce Them
  • General Stress Management
  • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program, which includes body scans and other relaxation techniques
  • Body Scan Meditation
  • Reduce Tension with Progressive Muscle Relaxation
  • How to Reduce Stress with Breathing Exercises
  • Physical Symptoms of Panic Disorder and Anxiety

Once you’ve completed the articles and videos, craft a 2-3 page reflection that addresses the central concepts that were most meaningful to your professional growth and continued self-care. [6 hours]­­

• Suicide Attempt Survivor collection of stories – Craft a 2 page reflection speaking to perseverance and the influence of survival on individual’s lives. [3 hours]
  
• Select a standard in the NASW Code of Ethics and contrast with a separate one.  Reflect on differences or points of tension between the Standards in the Code, 2-3 pages.[4 hours]

• Social Work Webinars – free in March [3 hours each]
  
• Reflect in 2-3 pages how personal experiences, beliefs and identities impact your relationships in field [2 hours]

• Review and rewrite your personal statement related to an ethical dilemma that you submitted as part of your application to the MSW program.  What have you learned since then? [3 hours]

• Review an ethical decision making model (sample) and use this to analyze an ethical dilemma from your agency

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to demonstrating professional social work behavior. [2 hours]

• Secondary Trauma and Stress (2 hours) Read the article and use and visuals to communicate what needs to be learned from the article.  Also use t captions under your visuals.

• Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine and Isolation During Infectious Disease Outbreak (2 hours) Read the article and write a paper on how marginalized individuals might experience obstacles implementing some of the suggestions in the article. 

• Review the article, Managing Stress and Worries Related to COV19 (2 hours) Describe in writing, or in a graphic narration how you would communication the article to staff at your placement.

• Technology Safety-Exploring Technology in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence (2 hours) While reading the article, think about ways suggested in the article that a clinician could use to work with a domestic violence victim. Create an outline that highlights (4) major points of the article.   

• Technology Safety – Best Practices When Using Mobile Devices for Advocacy ( 2 hours) Read the article, and create a PowerPoint that teaches other social workers Important aspects of the suggested protocol.  

• Parents and the Power of Privilege in Schools – Jessica Calarco podcast. Identify how your own parents used privilege in your educational processes, 1-2 pages. [3 hours]

• Unconscious Bias training – free, Grovo. [3 hours]

• Gender Equality and Sexual Diversity training – free, Udemy. [5.5 hours]

• Public Transportation – for those living in communities with public transportation, plan a trip to the grocery store using public transportation from your home to the store. Identify the route, the number of buses and time in comparison to you driving yourself there. [2 hours]

• Utilize self-reflection to think about how your personal identities and biases impact practice, 2-3 pages. [3 hours]

• Create an edible menu for a month based on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) average of $1.39 per day. Then virtually “shop” for your foods, including a total for each meal.  [3 hours]

• Identify the unique cultural composition of the client population served by the agency.  Identify ways in which the agency meets the needs of the client population and identify how this could be improved. [5 hours]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to engaging diversity and difference in practice. [2 hours]
  
• Out South Oral History Project. Choose 3 Oral Histories from the list, and listen to them in the presentation.  After listening to the oral histories, design a persuasion PowerPoint that uses quotes, key phrases, images, and other visual elements that support and enhance what you want to communicate. 

• LGBTQ Health Education Center Online Training Webinars  – free, 50 different trainings. [1 hour each, up to 50]

• Feminism and Social Justice – free training. [10 hours]

• Complete 3 page writing assignment about strategies that promote social justice and human rights considering agency mission and practice. [4 hours]
• Create list of ways your field agency advocates for social, economic, environmental justice and human rights [3 hours]

• Identify an agency comparable to yours but in another state. How is that agency’s mission related to human rights and justice similar to your own agency? How does it differ? [3 hours]

• Translate agency materials – if you’re fluent in another language, consider translating agency information to provide better access to all clients. [TBD]

• Transcribe media for your agency’s clients, again providing better access to all clients. [TBD]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to advancing human rights and social, economic and environmental justice. [2 hours]

• Domestic Abuse Could Spike as the Coronavirus Traps People Indoors (3 hours). Read the article and create a Infographic presentation that communicates important messages of the article.

• Can Health Care Make Suicide a Non-Event – Podcast (3 hour) Complete a 2 page paper describing your perception of the presenting problem in the podcast, your professional opinion about the information given, and how you think it relates to advancing human rights of individuals.

• About Child Trauma – Article – (3 hours) Complete a video outlining the aspects of child trauma and discuss implications for social work practice.

• Multilingual Resources for Schools – article (3 hours) Read about multilingual resources for schools and prepare a visual metaphor that will communicate important points to individuals, families and groups.

• Talking to Children About COVID-19 (Coronavirus): A Parent Resource (3 hours) Read the article and develop a professional and informational PowerPoint that communicates important aspects of talking to children about COVID-19 to client populations who may experience literacy challenges, as well as those who do not.
  

• Inequality for All: Student-Focused #MacroSW Twitter Chat on 3/26/2020 at 9pm EST and 6pm PST  (2 hours) Read the chat and develop a PowerPoint outlining important aspects of the chat, and implications for social workers.

• Coronavirus: What Child Welfare Systems Need to Think About (2 hours) Read the article and create images that communicate important aspects of the commentary. 

• A Brooklyn Family Tale and Why Can’t We Be A Family Again? (3 hours) View both recordings, and create a collage that describes important aspects of the video.

• Frontline Podcast (24 hours total with assignment, 2 hours per film)
  View each 1 hour film.  Reflect on how it connects to your community.  Produce a PowerPoint using graphics to summarize the content.
  
• Girls incarcerated – juvenile incarceration – Netflix; Hate: Charlottesville; Separated Child at the Border; Sex Trafficking in America; Flint Deadly Water; Targeting El Paso; Trafficked in America; Poor Kids ;The Way We Get By—; The Abortion Divide; Right to Fail—Mental Health, Left Behind America-Economic Struggle

• Research in Action podcast. Watch podcast then provide a one page summary of impact on your future practice. [2 hours]

• The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools – evidence informed decision making in social work practice with certificates, webinars and tutorials. [unlimited]

• Intervention paper – select one method of intervention at your agency then identify three research articles that support the intervention as evidence informed. Develop a 2-3 page summary of the articles along with an example of intervention with an anonymized client. [4 hours]

• Identify a survey with psychometric properties from the literature that can be used with the client population at your field agency. How can the survey inform the agency? One page response. [3 hours]

• Infographic- work with your agency to determine what makes a difference for your clients then create an infographic for your agency to help inform others, templates at https://doitgenially.com. [3 hours]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to research informed practice and practice informed research. [2 hours]
  

• Proposed Information Collection Activity; National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OMB #0970-0424) (4 hours) Develop a PowerPoint that highlights the key components of the article, and describe how you would implement strategies to protect children.
  
• [Webinar] Mentorship in the Context of COVID-19: Why Relationships Matter More Than Ever; A Case Study with EMU (3 hours) Develop a PowerPoint that highlights the key components of the webinar and its implications for students.

• Institute for Research on Poverty Center – includes brief essays summarizing current poverty and policy research for non-researchers. Explore local, state and federal policies that impact organization and/or the affected community, write a one page summary. [3 hours]
• Write a letter to the editor about a policy issue impacting the population your agency serves [2 hours]

• Complete an analysis of a political candidate’s plans for policy change related to social welfare (e.g. healthcare, Green Deal, etc). [6 hours]

• Social work voting toolkit and develop a plan for implementation within the agency

• Identify the primary funding sources for your agency and provide a synopsis of the policy that provides the funding. [2 hours]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to engaging in policy practice. [2 hours]

• Creating Trauma Informed Systems (2 hours) Read the article and write a 2 page paper, or prepare a PowerPoint presentation that describes implications for policy in your child welfare agency.  If you are not in a child welfare agency, describe how aspects of the article might apply in another service setting.

• Center for Deployment Psychology webinars – free. [varied hours]

• MACRO SOCIAL WORK CHAT or listen to a #MacroSW Podcast – articulate what you did/why you chose this/how it relates to your current field placement and one of your learning goals.  [2 hours]

• Telebehavioral Health Training – four modules including cultural considerations. [3 hours]

• Aging in Place Toolkit, seven moduleson evidence base models to support aging in place. [4 hours]

• Jonathan Singer’s social work podcast, covers multiple areas. Choose a podcast to listen to then write a one page reflection on how the content will be incorporated into your social work practice.  [2 hours]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to engaging individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. [2 hours]
  
• Volunteer at: A Caring Place, a non-denominational church based non-profit intended to reduce social isolation for older adults.  Given the CoVid pandemic, they are in need of volunteers to make phone calls to seniors in Lexington and surrounding areas to check in on them, offer companionship, and connect with resources (if needed).
  • A-Caring-Place-Handbook-for-Volunteers Download
  • Volunteer-Agreement
  • Quiz-at-completion-of-orientation
  • Volunteer-Application-10-7-2019
  • Volunteer-Documentation-Sheet

• Human trafficking and how nurses can intervene (3 hours) Read the article and create an Instructional Presentation about the subject matter, and its implications for social work practice.
  
• Coronavirus and the HCH Community (3 hours) Review the ninety minute video, and prepare an Infographic presentation highlighting the most aspects for the community.   

• Society of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology – series of trainings on mental health issues with children, including expert keynote speakers. [extensive hours]

• CALM (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means) – free training. [2 hours]

• Ted Talks [3 hrs] 
  After watching these three Ted Talks, summarize the key take away from each of these as they relate to social work practice and disaster/pandemic preparedness. Identify three key take aways from each talk. Reflect on the ways in which you think your community is doing a “good job” and the ways in which your community may be falling short during the current COVID-19 pandemic. (be sure to define “community” for the sake of the assignment!)
  • https://www.ted.com/talks/shalini_unnikrishnan_we_need_to_turn_our_response_to_crisis_inside_out (10 minutes) –  
  • https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_the_next_outbreak_we_re_not_ready (8 min)
  • https://www.ted.com/talks/raj_panjabi_no_one_should_die_because_they_live_too_far_from_a_doctor (20 min) 

After watching these three Ted Talks, summarize the key takeaway from each of these as they relate to social work practice and disaster/pandemic preparedness. Identify three key takeaways from each talk. Reflect on the ways in which you think your community is doing a “good job” and the ways in which your community may be falling short during the current COVID-19 pandemic. (be sure to define “community” for the sake of the assignment!) [3 hrs]

• Access to Care for Individuals with Disabilities in Rural Communities, provides seven modules on strategies and resources to support individuals with disabilities. [4 hours]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to assessing individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. [2 hours]

• Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Core Curriculum Webinars – 22 different modules, one hour each. [up to 22 hours]

• Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) – FREE Online Training

• Suicide Prevention in Rural Areas – 7 modules.  [4 hours]
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America podcasts Choose a podcast to listen to then write a one page reflection on how the content will be incorporated into your social work practice.  [2 hours]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to intervening with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. [2 hours]
  
• Volunteer at: A Caring Place, a non-denominational church based non-profit intended to reduce social isolation for older adults.  Given the CoVid pandemic, they are in need of volunteers to make phone calls to seniors in Lexington and surrounding areas to check in on them, offer companionship, and connect with resources (if needed).
  • A-Caring-Place-Handbook-for-Volunteers Download
  • Volunteer-Agreement
  • Quiz-at-completion-of-orientation
  • Volunteer-Application-10-7-2019
  • Volunteer-Documentation-Sheet
    
• Ways to Overcome the Emotional Effects of Social Distancing (2 hours) Read the article and choose a method, (PowerPoint, Infographics, Media presentation) to communicate the content to a targeted audience of your choice.
  
• Psychological First Aid Training – Learn to provide psychological first aid to people in an emergency by employing the RAPID model: Reflective listening, Assessment of needs, Prioritization, Intervention, and Disposition.
  
  Participants will increase their abilities to: – Discuss key concepts related to PFA – Listen reflectively – Differentiate benign, non-incapacitating psychological/ behavioral crisis reactions from more severe, potentially incapacitating, crisis reactions – Prioritize (triage) psychological/ behavioral crisis reactions – Mitigate acute distress and dysfunction, as appropriate – Recognize when to facilitate access to further mental health support – Practice self-care  ( 7 hours for completion of all modules).

• The Community Tool Box is a free, online resource for those working to build healthier communities and bring about social change, offering over numerous modules on community assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, advocacy, and other aspects of community practice. [up to 30 hours – work with your practicum instructor to determine projects and the number of hours for each]
  
• Rural Health Toolkit, provides 21 different training opportunities on evidence informed practice within rural communities. [4 hours each]

• Pandemics and Social Work Planning: Research what your agency has in place for pandemic or epidemic planning protocol. Research what your community has in place/has communicated. Spend some time looking at web pages/social media from organizations similar to your practicum site – how are organizations getting messaging out to clients and constituents around what’s open/closed/available. Reflect on how these service interruptions/changes are impacting vulnerable and oppressed clients and client groups. What are you reading in the social work social media/twitter world about what we need to do? Write a thoughtful 2-3 page reflection that pulls together these questions/answers. This can be in first person, should be professional in nature, and should follow all typical guidelines for APA formatting, etc.  [5 hours]

• Review effectiveness of evidence-based practice models and discuss ways that model could be implemented in field placement agency
• Review case study for strengths, challenges and systemic factors impacting the intervention and or implementation of the intervention

• Create a literature review that identifies theagency populationand best practices with that population, minimum of 7 sources and 5 pages. [5 hours]

• Identify three media sources other than those indicated in this document that help to inform social work practice related to evaluating practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. [2 hours]

• Proposed Information Collection Activity; National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OMB #0970-0424) (4 hours)
  
  Develop a PowerPoint that highlights the key components of the article, and describe how you would implement strategies to protect children.

• Coronavirus: What Child Welfare Systems Need to Think About (2 hours) Read the article and create images that communicate important aspects of the commentary.
  
• Editorial: Legislators made right call for foster care system (2 hours) Read the editorial and write a one page reflection that describes your view of the legislation and the possible impact on foster care.