Striving for More: Back to School at CUCS

October 19, 2018

Education is at the forefront of our work at CUCS. From educating the social workers of tomorrow, to prioritizing staff development, we ensure professionals are given tools to succeed. This year we are excited to have 12 full time interns joining us from their Master’s programs and 22 of our own staff members going back to school and pursuing higher education.

We welcome our interns from a number of different schools, including Columbia, Fordham, NYU, Hunter, Smith and Touro. Each is pursuing their Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW). Students seeking their MSW are required to complete two years of field placements to get hands-on training and prepare them for work in the field. MSW interns at CUCS are placed in programs throughout the organization, each coming away with their own unique experiences.

During their placements, interns manage their own caseloads, run and organize client groups, and work with evidence-based practice models. We hope they leave CUCS as well-informed and well-trained social workers, with the knowledge and experience to provide excellent services to future clients.

We are also celebrating the incredible accomplishment of three of our staff members who received the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Mental Heath Scholarship!

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Mental Health Scholarship program offers 20 full-tuition MSW scholarships city-wide to the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College for staff members at agencies they fund. The program lasts for two and a half years, and participants work full-time at their organizations while attending classes.

This year all three CUCS applicants received the scholarship! Celestine Gray from The Christopher program, Tameeka Murphy from The Lenniger program and Phylisha Peters-Howard from The Schermerhorn program. Each were selected as recipients of the the scholarship out of a pool of approximately 200 applicants!

When speaking to them, it is impossible not to feel their excitement about the program. Each is looking forward to learning new things and being surrounded by a group of people who are driven by similar interests and causes. They all stress the importance of a program like this is one for people looking to further their education in social work. Graduate school is financially stressful, and this program allows people to pursue their education cost free while working in a field they are passionate about.

We are incredibly excited for all of our staff members and interns as they embark on a new year of learning. We wish them the best of luck and hope that they gain incredible new skills and insight that allow them to offer their clients the absolute best care possible.