Continuing Education for Social Workers at EMU

For over a decade, Professional Programs and Training (PPAT) has worked alongside the Eastern Michigan University (EMU) School of Social Work to provide some of the best available post-degree courses and professional development for social workers.

PPAT and the EMU School of Social Work are excited to continue their partnership in offering Continuing Education (CE) events that have supported the continuing professional education of over 6,000 social workers since 2008. The partnership allows the School of Social Work to develop and deliver the most applicable and useful courses, while PPAT helps find the workers that are best suited to enroll.

Continuing Education Fulfill Social Work Licensure Requirements

Social work continuing education courses help social workers meet government requirements for license renewal. In the state of Michigan, the Michigan Public Health Code and board administrative rules require [PDF] that each licensed Bachelor’s and Master’s social worker complete 45 hours of Board-approved continuing education, including five contact hours in ethics, two contact hours in pain and pain symptom management, and two contact hours in human trafficking. Additionally, licensed Bachelor's and Master's level social workers must complete 3 hours of implicit bias training.

These licensure requirements vary from state to state. If you’re a practicing social worker outside of Michigan, you can view the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Continuing Education Requirements Map, which shows the number of hours required by each state in the U.S.

Fulfilling government requirements is of the utmost importance for renewing social work licensure but CEs also help social workers maintain their competency in an ever-changing social work field, develop expertise in specialized work, and live the Social Work Code of Ethics which states every social worker should be a competent professional.

Courses Provide Social Work Training

The deadline for licensed social workers to meet their renewal requirements will be here faster than you think. With that in mind, EMU’s School of Social Work has developed a broad range of classes throughout fall and winter, including: 

• Anger and Forgiveness (Synchronous)
• Building Childhood Resilience (Synchronous)
• Ethical Consideration with Subpoenas: What Social Workers Need to Know (Synchronous)
• Gender WTF? (Synchronous)
• Grief, Loss, and Healing (Synchronous)
• Human Trafficking 101: What Social Workers Need to Know When Interacting with Survivors (Synchronous)

To better serve the busy schedules of practicing social workers, EMU is offering most of these classes online and a large number of them on Friday.

These courses can be valuable for social workers at any stage of their career. Some offer a look at specific populations, in the case of Human Trafficking: 101, enhance a student’s knowledge of specific social work practices or bring to light lesser-known training that could be valuable for social workers.

All of the above CEs will be taught by social work practitioners, with real field experience in the local community on the subject of their courses.

The Importance of Community in Social Work

CEs were constructed to carry on EMU School of Social Work’s commitment to positive social change. The program remains popular among the faculty and students as it presents an opportunity for the professors to pass down their wisdom and real-life experiences directly to the workers in their community.

As EMU’s School of Social Work program has evolved, many former graduate students have expressed interest in the classes they wished they could’ve taken. To help alleviate any regret and foster a more knowledgeable workforce, EMU is considering permitting social workers in CEUs to enroll in EMU’s Graduate Social Work electives at a discounted cost, which would create an environment that fosters the exchange of knowledge between graduate students and CE students. The possible pilot program that would allow this cross pollination of professionals is seeking feedback from any social workers interested. 

Continuing Education Coordinator and Associate Professor for the School of Social Work, Caren Putzu, wants to “make sure everyone in the profession is a lifelong learner and competent professional for the people that they’re serving in the community” and the CE program helps accomplish this mission.

If you are interested in attending the EMU School of Social Work’s Continuing Education events, you can see the entire list of classes offered and a more detailed description of their contents here.