Sara S. Bachman, dean of Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) and Allison Werner-Lin, associate professor and faculty director of the Social Work in Healthcare Specialization at SP2, have been invited to serve on a national committee and task force that will develop competencies and curricular resources on health for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

To help formulate the health curricular guide, CSWE recruited social work education faculty and practice experts as a part of a national effort to increase health competence and expertise in schools of social work. Dean Bachman will serve on the curricular guide’s steering committee, and will chair the committee on Policy Competencies, while Dr. Werner-Lin will serve as a task force member.

“Many social workers practice in health settings,” said Dean Bachman. “I am honored to be a part of this national effort to develop and disseminate resources to promote excellence in health policy practice and other social work competency areas. I am thrilled that my colleague Dr. Allison Werner-Lin also represents SP2 on the task force, further demonstrating the significant national impact our faculty have on social policy and practice.”

Committee members will be central to developing and enhancing the nine social work competencies that will be included in the guide. Task force participants will share expertise with their colleagues, garnering new insights to help enrich program curricula and help faculty members conceptualize specialized practice in social work health.

As the national association representing social work education in the United States, CSWE’s membership comprises over 800 graduate and undergraduate social work programs, as well as individual social work educators, practitioners, and agencies. The curricular guide project is supported in part by funding from the New York Community Trust.