Forensic Social Work Graduate Certificate

The add-on graduate certificate in Forensic Social Work is a partnership between the College of Social Work and the College of Law . The certificate is intended for currently admitted Social Work graduate students. This certificate provides students with the coursework and practical experience needed to provide forensic services and evidence-based interventions in a variety of settings including but not limited to prisons, juvenile justice settings, child welfare, public defender offices and legal aid, programming and policy development.

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus
Nashville Campus
Distance Education

Graduate Certificate Type

Add-On

Admissions Standards/Procedures

Students will receive information about the certificate program at the time of their admission to the MSSW program.

To be admitted to this program, students must

Meet the Graduate Admission requirements for a certificate program and submit online application through the Office of Graduate Admissions.
Submit a departmental application at the time of their admission to the MSSW program and agree to program requirements.

The application includes a brief personal statement describing 1) their reasons for participating in the certificate program, 2) their professional career goals, and 3) acknowledgement that they understand there are additional credit hours to be taken beyond the credits required for the MSSW.

Students selected for admission must be formally admitted to the certificate through the Office of Graduate Admissions.

Credit Hours Required

18 graduate/law credit hours

Required Courses

6 credit hours to be taken during the generalist year of the program

6 credit hours to be taken during the concentration year of the program

Students must complete at least one of the following two Forensic Social Work electives.
SOWK 573 - Forensic Social Work in the Criminal Legal System
SOWK 574 - Forensic Social Work in the Civil Legal System
Choose between one elective from the College of Law (3 credit hours) OR a second Forensic Social Work elective (SOWK 573 or SOWK 574 as listed above). Course offerings from the College of Law will vary by semester.

Additional Course Requirements

At least 6 credit hours in a field placement that focuses on work with and/or on behalf of populations impacted by the legal system (i.e., a placement in which more than half of the student’s time is spent working within forensic related systems).
- SOWK 542 and SOWK 544 (6 credit hours), OR
- SOWK 584 (taken 3 times) OR SOWK 586 (taken 2 times) to equal 12 credit hours
  - The 6 credit hour field placement must be approved by the MSSW Field Coordinator.
  - Forensic social work students will develop a field learning plan in preparation for their foundation or concentration field that focuses on forensic social work specific learning. The field learning plan will include learning goals specific to the arena of forensic social work.

Non-Course Requirements

To receive the certificate, students must:
1) complete the Graduate Certificate Course Verification Form (located on the Graduate School webpage under the Forms Central tab) and
2) through MyUTK, apply to graduate from the certificate program.

Undergraduates

Graduate Students