How to Best Address the Needs of African American Children Vulnerable to the Continual Widening of the Achievement Gap

Abstract

I recently attended a meeting of Black Administrators, Researchers, and Scholars in social work (BARS) hosted by the Center on Race and Social Problems (http://www.crsp.pitt.edu) and the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh (http://www.socialwork.pitt.edu). To my knowledge this was the first such convening of African American social work researchers, scholars, and administrators during my tenure in the academy. The meeting highlighted a few concerns for me regarding race and social work education. The number of African Americans in the academy continues to be low. There is a dearth of significant and contemplative discussions regarding race within the overall governance and training structures of the major social work education organizations (the Council on Social Work Education, Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work, and National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work), and given the intellectual resources of the profession, the overall social, economic, and psychological outcomes for African American children, families, and communities are well below where one would expect after these many years. Members at the BARS meeting agreed that addressing the needs of the African American community should be a primary focus of intellectual and fiscal resources in the coming years. To this end those in attendance agreed to develop a grand goal: to “create a pipeline of success for African American youths.” The rich discussions regarding the critical issues and challenges for African American social work scholars, researchers, and leaders were both energizing and affirming.

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