Shifting social worker attitudes toward homelessness: an MSW training program evaluation

ABSTRACT

Homeless agencies rely on social workers to fulfill a critical role in housing first service delivery yet social worker recruitment and retention for high-demand fields are challenging. A consortium of five Masters of Social Work (MSW) programs located in Southern California participated in a student training program to enhance field placements in the homeless sector. The Homeless Social Work Education Program (“the Program”) provides a homeless sector-specific curriculum designed to reverse misunderstood causes of homelessness and improve comfort affiliating with homeless. This article presents the Program’s evaluation findings at the end of Year 2. Over the two-year period, 28 students completed a pre- and post-evaluation which included the Attitudes Toward Homelessness Inventory (ATHI). The results showed a significant student improvement in the outlook towards the homeless population. The Homeless Social Work Education Program may offer a model that will address workforce deficits in the homeless social service sector by improving attitudes towards working with this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• attitudes
• social work
• education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Donna Gallup

Donna Gallup, Ed.D., LSW, is currently an Assistant Professor at Azusa Pacific University and Founder/CEO of DG Consulting.

Benjamin F. Henwood

Benjamin F. Henwood, Ph.D., LCSW, is a professor at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the Director of the Center for Homelessness, Housing, and Health Equity Research.

Elizabeth Devaney

Elizabeth Devaney currently serves as Chief Executive Officer for Students Rising Above. Elizabeth earned a Master of Public Administration degree and a Certificate of Public Policy from the University of Southern California in 2019.

Dominique Samario

Dominique Samario is the public information officer for the City of Murrieta in Southern California. She received her Master of Public Administration with a professional certificate in city/county management from the University of Southern California.

Jason Giang

Jason Giang completed his Master of Social Work (MSW) at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) with an emphasis on community mental health and currently works at Mental Health America in Southern California.