Social
workers focus on Muslims
By Maritza Diaz
On-line Forty-Niner
The
department of social work at Cal State Long
Beach has been awarded a $51,354 grant to
help further train social workers in understanding
how to better serve Muslims and people of
Arab and South Asian decent.
The Social Work Anti-Bias Curriculum Project
grant, which was awarded the first of this
month, was obtained by a competitive process
with over 300 applicants vying for about
30 awards, said Susan Rice a social work
professor.
To keep their licenses current, all social
workers must take 36 hours of continuing
education every two years. The grant will
be used to create a one-day continuing education
curriculum to be used by social workers
across California, Rice said.
“The curriculum will offer social workers
information that will potentially increase
their effectiveness in their own communities
working with clients who are South Asian,
Muslim and Arab,” Rice said.
Since the grant was awarded, the department
has had two meetings pulling together professionals
from the South Asian, Muslim and Arab communities.
The participants are currently reviewing
materials that will be included in the curriculum.
The department wants to increase understanding
and enhance skills in serving these communities,
Rice said.
The workshop will be presented to about
five groups of 35 social workers. Each participant
will be asked to distribute the information
they receive to their work colleagues, Rice
said.
Hani Abdelhadi, president of the Muslim
Student Association, is happy about the
grant and said that members of the association
have consulted with Rice acting as a link
to the community.
“We feel that this grant reflects the great
spirit of the faculty of the social [work]
department in particular and the school
in general and reflects the importance of
diversity at CSULB,” Abdelhadi said.
One of the problems facing these communities
is that of hate crimes committed against
them. Abdelhadi said the Muslims of America
are facing many issues and the greatest
issue is probably hatred and racism towards
the Muslim community.
“Unfortunately, hate crimes have drastically
increased towards these communities, and
social workers need to have up to date,
relevant [information] and create ideas
about how to understand the difficulties
these clients face, as well as to effectively
reach out to them and serve them,” Rice
said.
“The fear of being a victim of a hate crime
is something that needs to be addressed,”
Abdelhadi said. “Trust between Muslims and
non-Muslims almost doesn’t exist and this
is an issue that should be addressed on
both sides.”
“After this workshop, we will refine the
curriculum, and then repeat the offering
in the fall to different groups of people,”
Rice said.
The
goal of the department is to use the understanding
of educational tactics and skills to create
material that can be used even after the
grant runs out, Rice said.
“I
am grateful to have the opportunity to work
on this project, which I believe is very
timely,” Rice said.
The first preliminary workshop is scheduled
for June 20.
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