Web Activities

Activity 1: Video Interview

Watch this video interview, where Jacquelyn McCroskey, John Milner Professor of Child Welfare with the USC School of Social Work, answers the following questions (Parts I and II):

  1. What is your advice for beginning social workers as they enter the policy advocacy arena, especially in child welfare?
  2. You have been a major player in the policy advocacy arena in juvenile justice. Can you describe what specifically you are doing to change how the larger system is working with juveniles who are incarcerated?

After watching these videos:

  • Consider Professor McCroskey’s discussion of the different aspects of the child welfare system. Why is it important to be aware of all these different aspects as a policy maker or advocate?
  • Think about Professor McCroskey’s discussion of “pendulum swings” from one extreme to another in the juvenile justice system. Can you think of an example of how the pendulum swings in another practice area (e.g., child welfare, mental health, addictions)? Why is it important to be aware of public perception of the population you’re advocating for?

Activity 2: Crossover Youth

When youth are involved in the child welfare system, and later in the juvenile justice system, they are known as crossover, joint cases, dual-system served, or multisystem involved youth.

  • Select one of the examples and describe how that program is supporting crossover youth.
  • Select Child Abuse and Neglect, then Risk Factors. What are some factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect?
  • Select Topics, then Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect, then National Child Abuse Prevention Month, then Get Involved. What are some ways of getting involved to strengthen your community and the families in your community?

Activity 3: Survivors of Human Trafficking

Girls Education and Mentoring Services empowers young women, ages 12–24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.

  • Select Services, then What We Do. What are some of the services provided?
  • Select Get Trained. What kind of trainings are provided and for whom might they be helpful?