This course provides students with an overview of the field of child advocacy. The role of the child advocate is explored in a myriad of professional settings. Ethical, legal and professional responsibilities are discussed.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 100 or WRIT 105 or HONP 100. This course will provide students with an understanding of major issues in normal development from infancy through adolescence, with a particular focus on areas that are most germane to current child advocacy efforts in child protection, education, juvenile justice and custody determinations.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 100 may be taken as prerequisite or corequisite. This course provides students will a fundamental and comprehensive understanding of the critical reading and writing skills necessary to successfully advocate for children. Through news stories, peer-review journal articles, policy briefs, law review articles, clinical case studies, and class discussion, students will improve their ability to read professional papers in topics relevant to child advocacy and will develop the capabilities necessary for writing clear, precise, and well-constructed essays.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 100 or WRIT 105 or HONP 100. This course will identify the three components of cultural competency that have been identified in the child welfare field: value base, knowledge, and skills. The course will focus on enabling students to examine the values that are necessary for a culturally competent understanding and response to child welfare, specifically accepting the existence of biases and developing a commitment to a strengths-based model that relies on respect and working toward empowerment as a goal for intervention. Culture is defined broadly, and the course will expose students to a range of belief systems common in different groups concerning child rearing and child maltreatment.
Prerequisite(s): WRIT 105 or HONP 100 or CHAD 100. This course will provide students with an understanding of the concepts of child abuse and neglect, utilizing social science theory and research. Causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect will be explored, and multidisciplinary approaches to intervention and prevention will be addressed. Meets Gen Ed - Social Science Perspectives.
Prerequisite(s): WRIT 105 or HONP 100 or CHAD 100. This course provides a multi-systemic view of child welfare issues. It reviews and discusses children's rights from a systems perspective. Societal issues of poverty, violence and isolation within a historical context are explored. The course explores and discusses advocacy protocols and practice.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 200 or CHAD 202 or CHAD 210 or CHAD 212. This course provides an investigation and analysis of the process and nature of different forms of interviewing techniques. It explores intra-personal and inter-personal aspects of the communication process. A framework for interviewing individuals of diverse backgrounds is examined.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 200 or CHAD 202 or CHAD 210 or CHAD 212. This course will provide an examination of the field of Public Child Welfare, its historical roots and the contemporary systems that have evolved to serve the needs of children at risk. This course will provide an in depth study of provisions made to respond to the needs of children, youth, and families for whom protection and advocacy are required to ensure their survival and quality of life.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 200 or CHAD 202 or CHAD 210 or CHAD 212. This course will provide students with an overview of research processes and methods, focusing on program evaluation within the child welfare system. Students will develop skills on how to appropriately interpret empirical research as well as how to apply research to best practices in child welfare.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 100; CHAD 200 or CHAD 202 or CHAD 210 or CHAD 212 or departmental approval. This course focuses on changing role of fathers. While fathering was traditionally considered a secondary activity for men and men seen as ancillary in children's lives, this view is not only outdated, but fading in contemporary society. This course will focus on the importance of a father role in child advocacy and how men's family roles has taken on different dimensions, and how these roles are reflected in contemporary society, movies, media, and in the legal arenas. From a multidisciplinary perspective, students will analyze the dynamics of the "father" role in a child's life and explore strategies for advocacy on the importance of a father role is a child's life.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 100; CHAD 200 or CHAD 202 or CHAD 210 or CHAD 212 or departmental approval. Students will examine legal and policy concepts regarding the status and rights of children and society's obligation to them throughout the American Legal System. Students will gain a deeper and broader understanding of constitutional law concepts, juvenile court, criminal procedure, family courts and contract law. Students will analyze legal principles and court decisions and how they impact, change and shape public policy. In addition, strategies for advocacy and for policy changes will be described.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 100; CHAD 200 or CHAD 202 or CHAD 210 or CHAD 212 or departmental approval. Students will gain an understanding of learning disabilities and emotional and behavioral disorders of childhood and adolescence. Emphasis will be placed on both risk and protective factors that influence children's development. Advocacy and intervention strategies to address problems of childhood will be emphasized.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 200 or CHAD 202 or CHAD 210 or CHAD 212. This course reviews and discusses selected problems of social disorganization. It takes a multi-disciplinary approach in examining family problems related to poverty, drug abuse and violence. Causation of delinquency and the fragmentation of the family system are examined.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 300 or CHAD 302 or CHAD 310 or CHAD 340. This course will provide students with a supervised field placement in an agency engaged in child advocacy. The seminar will provide classroom instruction and discussion about issues related to the students' placements. Site supervisors will provide guidance and supervision regarding the tasks assigned. May be repeated once for a maximum of 6 credits.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 310. This course is designed to meet the needs of undergraduate students who are exploring the field of child advocacy and its relationship to other disciplines that serve the needs of children and families. This course will rely on specialists in the field to present research, knowledge of their field, opportunities, and entry level requirements involved in becoming a professional in the student's area of interest. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits.
This course will examine the maltreatment of children from both a historical and contemporary perspective. It will discuss the three major reform movements of the Progressive Era that shaped the field of child advocacy. Students will also explore recent trends in legislation that affect abused and neglected children. Emphasis will be on the historical and current role of the child advocate. Empirical and applied research will be reviewed.
This course will take a comprehensive look at the social and psychological development of children caught in the child welfare system. It will compare normal and pathological models of child rearing. Special consideration will be given to the impact of family and social systems on the development and behavior of abused and neglected children.
This course will focus on current social issues in the field of child advocacy. Poverty, drug abuse, illnesses and violence will be explored. Strategies for social change will be highlighted and discussed.
This course will provide students will a multisystems view of children's rights and the justice system. Advocacy protocols and practice will be examined. Confidentiality, expert-testimony, and child abuse reporting laws will be studied.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522 or SOWK 602. This course will provide students with an understanding of various theoretical and applied models for interviewing children who may have been abused. Recent research on the communication process and the significance of integrating age-appropriate interviewing strategies and child development will be explored. Appropriate models for interviewing children of diverse backgrounds will be presented.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. This course will explore the three major components of cultural competency necessary for effective child advocacy: value base, knowledge, and skills. The course will focus on enabling students to examine the values that are necessary for a culturally competent understanding and response to children and families, specifically accepting the existence of biases and developing a commitment to strengths-based models that rely on respect for diversity and working toward empowerment as a goal for intervention. Culture is defined broadly, and the course will expose students to a range of belief systems common in different groups concerning child rearing, child maltreatment, and health and mental health. Students will work on issues in interviewing and engaging children and families from different cultural groups.
Students will analyze contemporary research and theory on the role of the child advocate in preventing and intervening in children's bullying. Readings will increase students understanding of the social-ecological theory of bullying, which includes influences of the individual, family, peer group, school and community. This will enable students to critically evaluate research-based approaches to anti-bullying advocacy in the areas of law, education, counseling, and child welfare services delivery.
Through the text and journal articles, student will analyze issues of advocacy and autonomy for adolescents, focusing on those adolescents who interact with Child Protective System (CPS). This broad, introductory course will consider the need for advocacy in order to empower adolescents to gain autonomy, and will apply these insights to adolescent development, adolescents in the family, adolescents amongst their peers, as well as in the fields of basic needs, abuse and neglect, crime and violence, education, CPS and aging out, work, physical health care, mental health care and family dissolution. This will enable students to use their new, more sophisticated understanding of the struggles of adolescence in practical aspects of advocacy, both within and without of CPS.
Through the text, journal articles, class lecture and class discussion, students will gain an understanding of the various forms of trauma affecting adolescents. Particular focus will be placed on familial (e.g., incest, physical abuse), non-familial (e.g., gang related violence, sexual and non-sexual assault), as well as other forms of trauma, such as those that may emanate from the service delivery system, interpersonal losses associated with termination of parental rights and removal from the home, among others.
This course will take a comprehensive approach to understanding the variety of issues and circumstances that bring adolescents to the attention of different systems, including child welfare, juvenile justice, immigration, and emotional/behavioral health, among others. Special issues related to aging out of foster care will be reviewed, as well as issues related to the educational needs of adolescents involved in these systems. A special emphasis will be placed on reviewing best practices in these different systems and collaborating among the systems.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or CHAD 502 or CHAD 503 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. This course will explore the impact of substance abuse on families involved with the child welfare system. Current research regarding the connection between substance abuse, domestic violence and child abuse will be reviewed. Residential and outpatient models of treatment will be evaluated.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or CHAD 502 or CHAD 503 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. This course will focus on techniques that will empower families in crisis. Model programs grounded in a strengths-based approach will be analyzed. Strategies to help families utilize their unique human and social capital to build community and kinship support systems will be discussed.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or CHAD 502 or CHAD 503 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. This course will examine the investigatory process set down by Title 9 and Title 30. Methods and techniques for interviewing parents and children who come to the attention of the child protective service system will be reviewed. Proceedings such as the Order to Show Cause, Fact Finding, Permanency Hearings, and Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) will be discussed.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or CHAD 502 or CHAD 503 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. This course will define and review the various meanings of permanency. Age appropriate and comprehensive plans for children in out-of-home placement will be explored. Consideration will be given to attachment and separation issues that result from broken familial bonds. Concurrent planning and adoption practices will be reviewed and critiqued.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or CHAD 502 or CHAD 503 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. The course will compare and contrast historical and contemporary trends in child welfare policy. Factors that contribute to legislative decision-making as well as the role of the media in shaping public opinion will be considered. Community perceptions of the child welfare system will be examined.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. This course will explore major issues in accessing behavioral health care of children, with particular emphasis on advocacy within the public behavioral health care system in New Jersey. Students will be introduced to the common language of behavioral health providers, and major issues in assessment and treatment. The course will provide an overview of evidence based interventions, including the use of psychotropic medication, as well as the principles and values of the current system of care. Students will explore the appropriateness of various levels of care for different kinds of difficulties.
Through the text journal articles, class lecture and class discussion, students will gain an understanding of the best methods of engaging adolescents who have or may have experienced trauma. Students will also explore appropriate methods of questioning and building rapport with adolescents in order to obtain reliable information and promote positive working relations with adolescents.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501. Students will explore concepts, history and development of major federal and state legislation relating to children. In addition students will understand how these laws are translated into local policies that influence the development of systems of service, funding authority, and patterns of service delivery for children.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503. The major aim of this course is to provide students with essential critical thinking and analytical skills in the context of scientific inquiry and in application to their work as child advocates.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 or CHAD 502 or CHAD 503 or SOWK 501 or SOWK 503 or SOWK 522. This course will focus on current and relevant issues in child advocacy. It will rely on specialists in the field to present their research or area of expertise to interested students. It will also provide students with an opportunity to research the literature within their fields of interest. May be repeated once for a maximum of 6 credits.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501, CHAD 502, CHAD 503. Restriction(s): Matriculation in MA in Child Advocacy. The course will provide students with a supervised field placement at a child advocacy agency. The seminar will provide classroom instruction on issues related to the students' experiences. Site supervisors will provide on-the-job guidance and supervision. May be repeated once for a maximum of 6 credits.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 and 502 and 503 and 504 and 505. Students will complete an applied project that addresses an area of child advocacy and makes a contribution to a local agency, program, community group, or some other relevant body. The seminar will provide classroom instruction and guidance. Students will also work with one other faculty member on the project.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 501 and CHAD 516 for students in MA in Child Advocacy; CHAD 516 and CHAD 518 for students in Post-BA in Adolescent Advocacy. This course is designed to meet the needs of the post-BA students who see an in depth, integrative understanding of the field of adolescent advocacy and its relationship to other disciplines that serve the needs of children and families. This course will rely on specialists in the field to present research, relevant policy and legislation, knowledge of their field, and opportunities for post-BA graduates.
Prerequisite(s): Department approval. Independent research project done under faculty advisement. Students must follow the MSU Thesis Guidelines, which may be obtained from the Graduate School. Students should take CHAD 699 if they don't complete CHAD 698 within the semester.
Prerequisite(s): CHAD 698. Continuation of Master's Thesis Project. Extension will be graded as IP (in progress) until thesis is completed, at which time a grade of Pass or Fail will be given.