Social Work Community Outreach Service

SWCOS is a 20-year old, endowed, nationally-recognized program within the UM SSW. SWCOS trains students to be community practitioners (overseeing about 60 students in field placements each year), operates five community schools, runs AmeriCorps programs (e.g., Public Allies), helps organize communities; directs organizational capacity building efforts, and leads efforts at community-university engagement. SWCOS has a staff of approximately 20 grant-funded faculty supported by foundations; local, state, and federal agencies; and other partners.

The UM SSW is located on an urban health and human services campus in Baltimore and ranks among the top 20 schools of social work in the U.S. The school has an enrollment of over 900 MSW students, with over 700 of those students placed in agency-based field instruction sites each year. The Director of Community Services fulfills an important role in supporting the central leadership role in the provision of services to individuals and families in the community, and in the training of MSW interns as a part of the operation of the School’s field education program.