Teaching Social Work Students About Homelessness: An Interdisciplinary Interinstitutional Approach

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ABSTRACT

This article presents the conceptual underpinnings of a homelessness intervention program, accompanied by a social work course, that provide direct services and cause advocacy with and on behalf of people experiencing homelessness. A program goal is to educate students in social work, medicine, law, pharmacy, public health, and nursing about systemic causes and human consequences of homelessness, while teaching students skills for providing trauma informed care while simultaneously pursuing mezzo and macro-level systems change. The program’s and course’s evolution and efforts to collect evaluation data are described. In detailing the iterative process that spawned the still evolving program and course, the article illuminates person-centered ways to teach about homelessness, social work practice, interprofessional teamwork, humility, flexibility, and persistence.

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Notes on contributors

Deborah H. Siegel

Deborah H. Siegel is professor at Rhode Island College, Megan C. Smith is doctoral candidate at Boston University, and Sara C. Melucci is outreach worker and the outreach program manager at House of Hope CDC.