·       Homelessness/Anti-Poverty

·       Policy or (State, Local Government)

·       Social Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion The Learning Center for (De)Carceral WELLBEING (LC4DW) features a fourfold focus that prepares students for Anti-Racist Social Work (ARSW), and Interprofessional practice (IPP) through engagements consisting of Practica featuring: Reflective Learning, Attending to Suffering and Community Empowerment for Living Wage Employment.  LC4DW prepares students to address the “Just Societies” practice suite of Grand Challenges for Social Work (GCSW): Researching, Teaching, and Practicing Interdisciplinary Collaboration.  Posing that every IPP occurring behind hospital walls can promote health beyond them, it is well they should be used throughout GCSW and especially on a problem as intractable as eliminating racism.  The ARSW context is a perfect next-application step since the Health Science of Social Work now has practitioners both well versed in IPP, while cross-professional engagement literally defines the best work of our DWSW.  Born therefrom, LC4DW practica penetrate the Micro-to-Macro domains at their respective sites, their curricula cast a long shadow of antiracism in response to the long-standing shadow of Caste we seek to subdue.

This practicum gives students the chance to explore the framework of (De)Carceral #WELLBEING Social Work (DWSW), within the Seattle Public Library’s social services team. For many library users, The Seattle Public Library plays a key role in meeting their basic needs. Patrons use the Library for computer and internet access, to access information resources, to connect to social and health services, or as a comfortable place to spend time. To help our library system better support patrons who are houseless or otherwise in crisis the library’s Community Resource Specialists work with staff, partners and patrons to develop and implement responsive programs and services that connect people to social service resources, navigate systems, or confront crises.

Examples of Duties
Provide information, advocacy, and referrals to library patrons, focusing most on meeting basic needs including shelter, healthcare, transportation, employment, and food insecurity. Hold drop-in social service navigation programs at high-need branches throughout the city.

Examples of Duties
Build partnerships in service to patrons’ needs. Students will have the chance to focus on articulated needs of specific interest to them.

Design and execute programs designed to provide services or information to specific populations (for example, harm reduction pop-ups which provide naloxone and overdose prevention training to the community). These programs can be responsive to the community's need as well as the students' interests and expertise.

Participate in system-wide evaluation to identify program impacts, outputs, best practices, and unmet needs. These evaluations will inform the creation of responsive strategies and programs, which the student can help shape.

Participate in tracking local, state and federal legislation related to social service funding, homelessness, crisis intervention, and other topics relevant to our impacted populations and service provision.

Develop or amend institutional policies related to social services within the Library setting (for example, policy related to reciprocal information sharing with other agencies).

- Supportive, professional environment
- Exposure to and opportunity to develop relationships with other social service agencies in the area
- Schedule flexibility

We are looking for students who:
- Demonstrate a firm commitment to providing equitable services to marginalized or underserved populations.
- Have a commitment to continuous learning. This is a practicum position, not a job or volunteer position, and as such, is intended to support an emerging social worker in both strengthening existing skills and identifying areas for growth.
- Has excellent communication and interpersonal skills. The student must be able to communicate clearly, diplomatically, and in a friendly and positive manner with staff and library patrons from diverse language, ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, as well as with neighborhood-based or special interest groups.
- Has experience with (or interest in learning to provide) direct service, especially with those experiencing crisis.
- Anti-Racist WORK— Explorations and Engagements:
DWSW contends optimal learning attends to the cubed experiential, empowerment categories of A) Ourselves, B) our Practicum site’s Ecology & Supervision, and C) our Society. While engaging these across three (or more) 10-week time-frames, Students will correspondingly engage these through the three curriculum constructions of: “Carcerality” (21st C. Racism), “(De)Carceral #WELLBEING” (Anti-Racism), and “Identifying my DWSW, IPP priorities.”
NOTE: The corresponding, Three-credit elective seminar is required: It's Micro-to-Macro Seminar readings, consults and groupwork are essential for this practicum, as negotiated with LC4DW Coordinators and FI’s. These will include learning activities involving up to—but not exceeding—the equiveillance of one credit per quarter.

Standard American English Req'd. Fluency in a second language (particularly Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Somali or Amharic) is helpful but not required

* Please email your Resume & Cover Letter of interest to Attn: Khalfani Mwamba, Assoc. Teaching Professor
* Mark the Email Priority as “High"
* Use Subject Line: "LC4DW at SPL