News Archive

Margarita Artavia, professor of practicum education at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, has four primary tenets for life in which she strongly believes and have never failed her: respect, openness, curiosity and individual accountability. Since 2016, Artavia has held a joint appointment with the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry at USC.

A new regional study led by the Military and Veterans Programs (MVP) at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work indicates an evolution in the needs of veterans throughout Southern California as they transition from active duty.

In 2022, approximately 2.9 million Californians had a substance use disorder (SUD), yet only about 10% received treatment, driven in part by a statewide shortage of SUD counselors.

A 20-person delegation of administrators, clinical supervisors and licensed social workers from the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF), the private charitable organization that delivers child and family services for the government of Taiwan, joined faculty at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work for a three-week intensive training and cross-cultural exchange on the USC campus.

USC has been steadily building a world-class program in the education of school social workers  for decades. Social work in schools and educational settings is woven into the DNA of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, with roots stretching back to the school’s first dean, Arlien Johnson, who led the school from 1939 to 1959 and authored one of the first books on social work in school settings, School Social Work: Its Contribution to Professional Education, in 1962.

As part of a continuing expansion of lifelong learning opportunities, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work launched a university-approved graduate certificate program in fall 2022, the first comprehensive certificate program within the university.

The experiences, accomplishments and goals of Tyler Titus, who received his Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in 2020, share a common theme: expansion. As the first openly transgender elected official in Pennsylvania, Titus (they/them) expanded the idea of who could be included in government. They also incorporated a social work lens into who government should serve and how.

According to the National Institutes of Health, rural Americans are more likely to die prematurely from heart disease, cancer, lung disease and stroke, and have higher rates of obesity and diabetes. They are also at greater risk for fatal car crashes, suicide and drug overdoses.

Studies show that as few as 4% of former foster youth complete a four-year college degree by age 26. On April 21, the Trojan Guardian Scholars (TGS) Graduation Gala celebrated thirteen USC Class of 2023 graduates who overcame those odds.

Two years ago, Michelle Zappas, director of the Department of Nursing at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, noticed developmental delays and language regression in her two-year-old daughter Margot. Her little girl had even stopped responding to her own name.