With Assistant Professor of Social Work Juan Rios, Ph. D. taking over as the program director of Seton Hall University's Master of Social Work program, exciting new changes are underway. One such addition to the program that will be (re)introduced is the program's concentration in Forsenic Social Work. While various Forensic Social Work programs exist throughout the country, Seton Hall University is proud to be the first and only school in New Jersey offering this graduate level concentration. It has been said that leaders define their own reality, and that is exactly what is being done here at Seton Hall by pioneering such a program, available to current and upcoming graduate students.

Forensic Social Work is defined as any social work connected to the legal system. Due to the growing need of social workers within environments such as the criminal justice system, civil or family court systems, and prisons or juvenile detention centers, there is no question that this career field is rising in popularity. The addition of the Forensic Social Work concentration offers Seton Hall graduate students an opportunity to gain a certain focus and to learn a unique skill set needed to work with clients within these legal systems.

Christine Heer, Ph.D.,  a faculty member in the M.S.W. program, headed the Forensic Social Work concentration back in Fall 2019, but the program had to be put on hold due to the unknowingness that accompanied the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. With the world returning to normalcy, Heer is confident in bringing back this concentration for Fall 2022. Despite the curveball of the pandemic, seven Seton Hall graduate students were still able to complete the courses offered for the concentration, becoming the first alumnus graduating as forensic social workers. Even more exciting, one alumni from the program went on to work with the current program director, Juan Rios, and support his research on Police and Mental Health Professionals in South Orange — a full circle as one would say!

When asked why she was so persistent in having the university offer this concentration, Heer stated, "Everything that we know from research certainly tells us that social workers within the legal system are having far more jobs become available."

Having experience within the family court system herself, as well as collaborating with various other social workers in the Forensic field, Heer has managed to put together classes that will help graduate students capture the essence of what it would be like working within this career niche. The classes offered in the Fall semester are an introduction to this career path and are more generalized: Theory in Practice of Forensic Social Work and Social Work in the Criminal Justice System. Both classes are aimed at giving students a baseline of what the concentration is about. As Heer explained, "We talk about why forensic social work, what we do, why we do it,".

Classes that are offered in the Spring have more of a focus on the two main routes forensic social workers can venture into: Social Work in Civil Justice Systems and Social Work in Family Law. The forensic social work concentration was a big draw to enroll at Seton Hall for Natalie Tague, a rising second year M.S.W. student. "It's great going to the only school that is offering Forensic Social Work…Having this opportunity makes me feel like I can learn something here that cannot be found at other schools because other schools don't even have the program to offer!"

For more information on the Master of Social Work program, please contact Program Director Juan Rios, Ph.D. at [email protected] or Christine Heer, Ph.D., [email protected].

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