Message from Catharine Ralph, Acting Project Coordinator of Title IVE Child Welfare Training The School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley has participated in the Title IVE Child Welfare Training Program since its inception. May 1993 witnessed the first graduating class of Title IVE Masters in Social Work graduates. The program, which draws candidates from the School's Children and Families concentration prepares students for positions in public child welfare. The Berkeley program strives to offer a strong foundation for potential leaders in the field.

The program consists of academic course work and internships that emphasize working with children and families who have had incidents of abuse and neglect. Special seminar sections and course work address the unique challenges that families in this system present. World-renowned professors/researchers expose students to the most current research being conducted in public child welfare.

Clinical instructors who have significant employment experience in public child welfare provide practice courses and coordinate the students' internships. Each student is required to do their second year internship within a county public child welfare program, the California Department of Social Services, or for those students who qualify, a tribal or reservation program.

Catharine Ralph is the newly appointed Acting Project Coordinator. It has been her pleasure to work for the past 15 years at UC Berkeley with students, faculty, agencies and colleagues to prepare new professionals for careers in public child welfare. The majority of our graduates have found employment in the surrounding Bay Area counties. A survey completed in 2000 indicated that eighty percent (80%) of our graduates continue in public child welfare positions after completion of their required two-year post-master's employment obligations.

The mission of our School is to prepare our graduates for leadership positions in public social services. The Title IVE program reflects this commitment. If you are interested in a career in public child welfare services, please consider our program.