Center for Maternal & Child Health Leadership in Public Health Social Work
The Maternal and Child Health leadership program at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health helps develop leadership skills among public health social work students. Goals of the program include:
- To train social workers for leadership positions in maternal and child health systems
- To provide interdisciplinary training in public health social work for doctoral as part of the Center for MCH Leadership in public health social work at the school of social work.
- To provide public health training for dual MSW-MPH students, with an emphasis on maternal and child health
- To provide continuing education support for professionals in maternal and child health positions
- To conduct program evaluations in Maternal and Child Health programs to improve policy development, program planning and service development.
The MCH Center is based in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. This program provides academic training to students pursuing the joint PhD/MPH in social work and public health and to joint master’s degree students pursuing the MSW/MPH degrees. It has been funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in HRSA continuously for more than 50 years.
Over 100 students have graduated from the program, including 70% with joint PhD-MPH degrees and 40% minority students.
Primary Faculty
Kenneth Jaros, MSW, PhD
Dr. Jaros is the director of the Center for Maternal and Child Health Leadership in Public Health Social Work, and is also presently serving in the position of associate chair for the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences (BCHS). This project has for many years facilitated an exciting collaboration between the Graduate School of Public Health and the School of Social Work and has consistently been successful in graduating large numbers of minority students at both the master's and doctoral levels. His primary areas of interest include children and youth services, community organizing, addressing issues of health disparities, applied community-based research, and helping organizations translate ideas into effective intervention programs. He has directed a variety of needs assessment and evaluation projects relating to children with special healthcare needs, substance-abusing women, statewide maternal and child health planning, peer education, and violence prevention.
Valire Carr Copeland, MSW, MPH, PhD
Dr. Copeland is an associate professor in the School of Social Work and Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, the associate director of the Public Health Social Work Training Program, and faculty affiliate in the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. She also co-directs the Center for Minority Health’s Cultural Competency, Health Literacy, and Participatory Research Core. She is Co-Director of the Faculty Diversity Seminar, Office of the Provost & Senior Vice Chancellor.
Dr. Copeland received her BSW (1977) from Livingstone College, her MSW (1978), MPH (1988), and PhD (1989) from the University of Pittsburgh. Her research and publications have focused directly on minority health and mental health disparities in service delivery, program planning, and treatment engagement for women and children. Dr. Copeland’s current scholarship focuses on culturally competent engagement and intervention strategies and their impact on minority health disparities. Dr. Copeland’s areas of interest include: child health policy, maternal and child health services programs, and the health/mental health status of African American women and children.
Community Linkages
A major role of the program is also to provide technical assistance and consultation to Maternal and Child Health systems (Title V agencies and others). This technical assistance primarily takes the form of advice and consultation by faculty members and student trainee teams on program planning, evaluation, and data management issues. The Project also manages and conducts a variety of MCH related applied research and program evaluation activities on which students receive practical experience. The program also provides limited support as feasible for continuing education for social workers and other MCH professionals in public health. This has been accomplished in recent years through financial support and coordination with other training programs, including the local LEND program.
The Project maintains close working relationships with the MCH Program in the Allegheny County Health Department and also with the Title V Program in the Bureau of Family Health in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Health.
The Training Project is working directly with both the Center for Minority Health and the Center for Public Health Practice in GSPH to engage MCH trainees in projects, which these centers may be developing or implementing. Several of the trainees have had direct involvement with the Center for Minority Health efforts over the past several years. This continuing relationship should result in increased opportunities for students in the areas of applied research, project and program development, and policy and legislation.
Students participate in a number of structured MCH related work experiences, and projects as part of their training. These include:
- Family Support Program
Continued assisting in various evaluation and project development activities for a community-based program providing “wrap-around” services for pregnant women with mental health conditions
- Graduate School of Public Health Center for Minority Health
Trainees involved in the development of community-based outreach and health promotion strategies; implementation of cultural competence workshops designed for community-based programs
- Community Development Program
Assisted in the analysis of community needs and the development of interventions to improve overall health status of target communities and neighborhoods
- School-based Health Promotion Initiatives
Identified needs and developed health education strategies in suburban middle and high school
- Health Promotion in Homeless Shelter for Women
Identified needs and developed health education interventions at a homeless shelter
- HIV-AIDS Screening, Treatment, and Education Service
Assisting in the counseling and referral process for individuals with HIV-AIDS at a major clinical site.
Leadership Training
This activity has taken a variety of forms. Trainees have worked directly with the Project Director as teaching assistants for both the Introduction to MCH Services class and the joint seminar with the LEND Program. Trainees have worked with the Project Director on evaluation projects with community-based MCH programs, and have participated in community outreach groups with the Center for Minority Health. Trainees have assisted the Practicum Coordinator in the assessment and development of MCH-related practicum sites, and have collaborated with other BCHS faculty and staff on the preparation of scientific presentations for the American Public Health Association annual meeting, as well as the Pennsylvania Public Health Association meetings. Trainees in their second year have also served as effective mentors for incoming students. One of our experience trainees has been selected for a national advisory committee on infant mortality/LBW issues.
The Center has an excellent record in terms of the participation of women and under-represented minorities in the Program. Over time, approximately 50% of the trainees have been under-represented minorities and the last year is no exception, with two-thirds of the trainees falling into that category. In the past, the Program has had international students involved, and trainees typically have come from throughout the eastern part of the United States. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau also funds similar training programs at the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland-Baltimore Schools of Social Work.
Link to Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Link to Health Resources and Services Administration
Link to University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work
Link to University of North Carolina's Dual MSW/MPH Program
Link to University of Maryland's Dual MSW/MPH Program