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Omaha World-Herald Editorial Praises New Social Work Program

CPACS Building

Omaha – A recent Omaha World-Herald editorial praises a UNO program that will allow child welfare employees to work full time while earning credit toward a masters degree in social work.

UNO’s Grace Abbott School of Social Work has teamed with Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as well as nonprofits Project Harmony and Nebraska Families Collaborative to create the Child Welfare Cohort, which provides a tuition-free, partially-online master’s degree program specifically for employees working in child welfare. The cohort includes 20 employees from across the state who either work for DHHS, Project Harmony’s “Connections” program, or the Nebraska Families Collaborative. The cost for DHHS employees tuition is being covered by federal grant dollars and Project Harmony and Nebraska Families Collaborative employees are being supported by private dollars.

In Nebraska, graduate degrees in social work are uncommon among child protection workers

 OWH Editorial

The program was first reported in a UNO Press Release on September 8: New UNO Degree Program Supports NE Child Welfare Workers.

Named for the Nebraska-born social worker and advocate for child welfare and immigrant rights, the Grace Abbott School of Social Work has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best programs in the country.

The school offers five different degrees, including a Bachelor of Science in Social Work, a Master of Social Work degree and three dual master’s degree programs pairing social work with criminology and criminal justice; public administration and public health.