Overview

Our AmeriCorps program educates, trains, and certifies both professionals who are working in the community and current students at Arizona State University to be domestic violence (DV) advocates in the community through our certificate program.  We place the certified DV advocates within community agency partners in the role of interns, employees, and AmeriCorps volunteers. Social workers and other helping professionals with knowledge of domestic violence are better equipped to intervene safely, educate survivors, and provide appropriate resources and evidence-based interventions.

The certificate offered through the School of Social Work on ASU’s downtown campus. The curriculum for the certificate is designed to be complementary to social work elective courses and the AmeriCorps program. The certificate is open to other disciplines that will benefit from the emphasis on professional development and service delivery. The certificate provides both academic and practical expertise in domestic violence advocacy.

Knowledge, Competencies, and Skills

• Students will recognize gender-based violence and identify different approaches for intervention and prevention.
• Students will be able to define domestic violence, intimate partner violence and dating violence in a local and global context.
• Students will analyze and implement evidence-based practices specifically for those dealing with domestic violence.

 Admission Criteria

A minimum of 56 semester hours with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 at ASU

Program Requirements

Those completing the certificate must provide 300 hours (minimum) of domestic violence service through an internship with the School of Social Work or their home department. All students seeking the certificate must have 56 hours of coursework completed with a 2.5 minimum GPA.

Student Requirements

• Take 15 approved credits
• Participate in 450-hour internship
• Receive 6 credit hours (from SWU 484 or another department) for their internship
• Take the DV & AmeriCorps Service course at the beginning of their internship

Outcomes Obtained by Students

• Increasing access to evidence-based care (EBC) for domestic violence survivors
• Students must determine best EBC for placement
• Organizational Assessment
• Learning about the variance in service delivery
• A network of social services providers