UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital: Oakland: The Center for Child Protection

The Center for Child Protection addresses the comprehensive medical, psychosocial and mental health needs of children and adolescents impacted by childhood trauma including child abuse and/or exposure to violence. These young victims are cared for by the Center for Child Protection’s specially trained physicians, pediatric nurse practitioners, and clinical social workers.

Particular presenting issues may include: Enuresis, nightmares, anxiety or depression, acting out behaviors, school refusal, ADHD symptoms, and conflict with siblings.

This is a busy urban hospital serving a diverse population, both in the clinic and in out-based community settings.  Students will learn lifelong lessons about human frailty and resilience here at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.  This is a setting meant for a sensitive and strong individual who is willing to be challenged.

Populations served: The caseload of clients you will be assigned will be diverse in age, ethnicity, and economic status. We make every attempt to provide you with a rich array of problem sets.

Examples may include: Clients who were sexually or physically abused; Clients who were exposed to domestic violence.

If you are very eager to work with teens, or very young children, or a focus of your own, we will make an effort to provide you with a slightly higher number of those clients, while still challenging you with a range.

Potential Tasks & Projects:

Interns will be assigned to provide service delivery in both the Forensic Social Work Services and Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment Services components of the department.

Placement at the Center for Child Protection offers a rich and diverse experience for the senior year MSW Intern.  Below is a description of the two core internships offered through CCP.  The MSW intern will be provided the opportunity to provide service delivery to the identified population. The MSW intern will work with one primary supervisor who meets with the student on a weekly basis.  In addition, the MSW intern will have to opportunity to have other CCP staff serve as preceptors and/or consultants on an array of department service delivery interventions.

Interns at this placement would be collaborating both with Forensic Social Work Services and with Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention Treatment Services.

FORENSIC SOCIAL WORK SERVICES

CCP Clinical Social Workers are the ""first responders"" to emergency department and Child Abuse Management Clinic cases when there is a concern for child maltreatment. Clinical social work staff provides crisis assessment and intervention, needs assessment, mandated reporting, criminal justice support and advocacy, and information and referral. The internship will also feature similar treatment intervention at CALICO, the forensic interview center for Alameda County. At CALICO, the intervention will be provided to caregivers who accompany a child to the site for an interview.

Clinical case management is provided to identified cases. Clinical Case Management may include: case review, outpatient medical service coordination, collaboration with community –based programs, criminal justice advocacy and support, and information and referral.

CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION, INTERVENTION AND TREATMENT SERVICES

The Center for Child Protection offers comprehensive, innovative psychotherapy services for children, adolescents and families impacted by non-accidental trauma. Services include individual, siblings, family and group psychotherapy services. Psychotherapy services are provided at several off-site locations in Alameda County.

Skills & Experience Intern May Gain:

This is a setting for an experienced senior-year student interested in learning skills as a Clinical Social Worker providing psychotherapy services children impacted by childhood trauma.  Service delivery in providing clinical assessment, treatment planning, psychotherapy and case management are offered.  This setting provides an excellent foundation for students wishing to do outpatient clinical work with children and their families, with a particular emphasis on issues childhood trauma, psychotherapy and forensic social work.

Educational Supports:

Two-hour, bi-weekly training on topics relevant to clinical practice.  Examples of training topics have included:

•           Child abuse & neglect reporting;

•           Mental status exams;

•           Suicidal assessment;

•           Intimate partner violence;

•           Substance abuse; and

•           Palliative care and spiritual counseling.

The majority of training is facilitated by the hospital's staff such as medical social workers and mental health clinicians from the hospital's Department of Psychiatry, and the hospital's other community-based mental health programs such as the Center for Child Protection, and the Center for the Vulnerable Child. The Interns are exposed to many experienced social workers and clinicians who share their years of clinical expertise, serving as role models, providing inspiration. Training has also involved off-site tours of CALICO, a specialized center where children answer abuse questions among a multidisciplinary team of investigators. Interns also attend specialized training for all staff, specifically medical social workers and community-based mental health clinicians and the topics have included motivational interviewing, gang violence, and sexual health post-trauma.

Experience with trauma-informed care preferred.