From the Dean's Desk

To solve the most intractable problems of our day—and of tomorrow—we must draw upon a diversity of disciplines and partner with those who experience these issues. Only then can we create and scale up appropriate evidence-based interventions. At the Boston College School of Social Work, we are advancing a bold and innovative agenda for transdisciplinary social work research, education, and practice. It is not an easy undertaking, but the outcomes are rewarding and impactful.  

We are pursuing multiple paths to increase access to evidence-based interventions, reduce risk and vulnerability in people’s lives, and improve the quality of life in our communities. Such efforts need a keen understanding of culture, diversity, and the complex adaptive systems driving marginalized and vulnerable livelihoods. Moreover, they require enduring partnerships with a network of practitioners, government agencies and non-governmental organizations, and communities. It is imperative that evidence-based interventions—whether to address mental health, the trauma of war and displacement, social isolation of the elderly, or to improve the health and well-being of women and children—reach those most in need.

This remains a central concern at the school and is reflected in our efforts to adapt solution-focused therapy for Latinx clients; to expand Sugira Muryango, a father-engaged, playful parenting home-visiting intervention for 200,000 families facing extreme poverty in Rwanda developed by the Research Program on Children and Adversity and their partners; and in our partnership with the Foundation for Ecological Security to address the complex social and environmental problems of the poor. I invite you to read further on these and other contributions from our school. We are setting a high standard for action.