Dear CalSWEC Community,
I am pleased to report that CalSWEC continues to achieve and surpass goals outlined in its Strategic 5-Year Work Plan. The Plan’s four goals are to:
- Build an organizational structure that allows for more internal integration, coordination, communication, and collaboration;
- Identify shared goals to sustain and expand the CalSWEC coalition and ensure coordination across programs and constituencies;
- Develop adequate resources and methods for achieving goals, initiatives, and organizational sustainability; and
- Partner with schools, CDSS, Regional Training Academies, counties, and Tribes to develop research, education, training, and workforce development tools that promote the development and retention of social workers throughout their careers.
Significant 2017 CalSWEC activities that were guided by these goals include:
- Consistent engagement throughout the year with the CalSWEC Board’s Executive Committee to initiate a series of “next steps” outlined in the organization’s Strategic Plan.
- Board approval of proposed changes related to the reorganization of CalSWEC Board membership and meetings.
- Outreach to and meeting participation with the three County Welfare Directors consortia—the Bay Area Social Services Consortium, the Central California Social Services Consortium, and the Southern Area Consortium for Human Services.
- Participation in the Curriculum Advisory Committee of the Building Evidence-Based Training Project, supported by the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children & Families.
- Completion of the design of the upcoming 27-year study of former Title IV-E Stipend recipients to examine their career paths since the inception of the program.
- Ensuring the representation of key stakeholders—Native American/Tribal and adult/aging constituents—on the CalSWEC Advisory Board.
- Participation in multiple statewide planning efforts focused on behavioral health and adult services workforce development for California.
- Initial development activities conducted by the Executive Director, designed to guide CalSWEC toward becoming a more self-sustaining organization.
- Development of policy advocacy skills among CalSWEC leadership and staff through targeted training.
- Expansion of CalSWEC’s external communications, including the initiation of a social media presence and creation of the tagline Leadership. Partnership. Workforce Development.
- Development of the new CalSWEC website designed to be more cost-efficient to maintain and ready to launch in April 2018.
I am also pleased to report that the proposed changes to Board composition and meetings and the bylaws needed to support this organizational change were passed on February 28th. This important milestone will allow CalSWEC to move forward even further on its Strategic 5-Year Work Plan. The newly recomposed CalSWEC Advisory Board will convene for the first time at our April 19th meeting.
As we move forward in 2018, I will continue to seek out ways to build on the strengths of our almost 28-year-old university-community partnership and work with our CalSWEC Advisory Board, leadership team, and staff to innovate upon our accomplishments and more fully implement the Strategic 5-Year Work Plan.
Virginia
Virginia Rondero Hernandez