Social work

Jolene Swain, ACBSW, MSW

swain
Full-time Lecturer, Director of Field Education
Email:
Phone:
818-677-6421
Office location:
ST 203

Biography

JOLENE SWAIN joined the California State Northridge Department of Social Work in 2015 serving as the Director of Field Education for the Stateside Program. In 2019 she was re-assigned as the Director of Field Education for the stateside and online field education programs. Presently, she develops the field education curriculum, mentors field education faculty members,  teaches academic courses in the macro and human behavior sequence, and collaborates on special field education projects. Ms. Swain is currently Co-Principal Investigator for the Minority Male Mentoring Program (M3) and is the Academic Lead for the UNAM Certification Program.  

Most recently, she co-developed the conceptual framework to implement a series of culturally based bridge seminars for newly admitted MSW students who may face racial, cultural, social, and economic challenges transitioning into a graduate level MSW program.

Prior to joining CSUN’s Department of Social Work, Swain spent 20 years as a member of the USC School of Social Work field education faculty. Joining in 1995 as part of the Community Organization, Planning and Administration (COPA) concentration as field liaison and later was appointed to the roles of assistant director of field education and as co-project director for the CalSWEC Public Welfare and Mental Health stipend programs.

During her tenure at USC, Swain has also co-developed the curriculum for a evidence-based practice/translational science field education student unit and its course curriculum. Also among her credits is the development of a social work internship unit for a community partnership/neighborhood school academic achievement program which included across-cultural seminar for the USC Family of Five Schools, a public-private partnership that provides educational, cultural and developmental opportunities for approximately 8,200 children who live near the USC campus. She co-wrote a Peace Games proposal, which is a community collaborative model to address a nonviolent, multicultural approach to resolve school and community conflict/violence. In addition, she collaborated on two projects with the USC Gould School of Law focused on juvenile delinquency and domestic violence.

Before being recruited to USC School of Social, she was the administrator of programs for high-risk adolescents at the Los Angeles Free Clinic and Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, Division of Adolescent Medicine, where she helped develop a state funding policy and legislation for runaway and homeless youth. She was also a field instructor for California State University, Northridge and California State University, Long Beach.

Swain continues to provide professional consulting services to non-profit organizations, including culturally-based parent education groups, parent education groups for single mothers raising male children and educational groups for pregnant and parenting teens. She also offers consultation in the areas of program administration, development, implementation and evaluation, and continues to present at numerous conferences and workshops.

 

Awards and Distinction

  • Governor's Award in the area of Prevention of Child Abuse
  • American Medical Association Adolescent Health Congress Award

Selected Publicatons

  • Swain, J. (1998). A Case study: How Students can get Involved in Political Campaigns. In B. Jansson (Eds.) Becoming an Effective Policy Advocate From Policy Practice to Social Justice. Pacific Grove, CA: Brookes/Cole Publishing Company.
  • Swain, J. (1992). Satanic Ritualistic Involvement Among High Risk Youth.