Specialization: Children, Youth & Families

Optimal early-life development is essential to lifelong physical and emotional well-being and depends upon the health, safety, strengths, and resources of the families and communities in which children grow up.

The Children, Youth & Families specialization prepares students to work with children and youth of all ages and identities and their families in direct practice and in medium- and large-system settings, using a social justice/racial justice framework. Common areas of social work practice include early intervention, school social work, child protection, family support, behavioral health, and community-based youth initiatives. The specialization prepares students for practice by recognizing oppression—including racism, heterocentrism, ableism, sexism, and classism—as key threats to the optimal development and well-being of children, youth, and families. In doing so, this specialization prepares students to fulfill the responsibility of social workers to disrupt and dismantle these and other forms of oppression.

Students may seek permission from the specialization coordinator to substitute applicable courses from other graduate programs at Boston University toward satisfaction of the specialization requirement.

Any required courses not available at your campus will be taken through the BUSSW Online Program. Please be aware of the tuition differential rate for online program courses.