Center for the Study of Social Work Practice

A partnership between the largest voluntary social service organization and the oldest school of social work in the United States has resulted in a unique research center, the Center for the Study of Social Work Practice. The Center is the only endowed research organization in the United States focused solely on the development and dissemination of social work practice knowledge. Its endowment of $3,000,000 is supplemented by gifts and grants from public and voluntary sources.

The Center's human resources flow from the unique partnerships and collaborations between the faculty and staff of the two sponsoring institutions. The Center is a joint program of the Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW) and the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services (JBFCS). With a full-time CUSSW faculty of over 40 and a professional JBFCS staff of over 1,000, a wide array of social work practice research interests are ever present. Through this "town and gown" partnership, practice research conducted through the Center is grounded firmly in the realities of practice while at the same time focused on significant contributions to practice theory. While the Center's identity emanates from its CUSSW and JBFCS partnership, the Center also builds upon other collaborative relationships.

Hand in hand with its knowledge development mission, the Center also promotes knowledge dissemination and utilization. Its research findings are disseminated through publications by Center affiliates as well as its journal, Practice & Research, which is available at the Center's web site. Periodic conferences, forums, and symposia bring together experts in specialized areas of practice research in order to exchange ideas, discuss research programs, and disseminate findings.

The Center for the Study of Social Work Practice can be contacted at:

Columbia University School of Social Work,
622 W 113th Street, New York, NY, USA

Phone 01-212-854-7615
Fax 01-212-854-2975

Web site: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csswp
E-mail: ejm3@columbia.edu

Director: Edward J Mullen, DSW
Assistant Director: Gretchen Borges, B.A.,M.S.