If you want to become a social worker in New York State, you’ll need to first earn an MSW that’s accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and then earn licensure through the New York State Education Department.
The credentialing of clinical social workers in New York is a two-step process that first includes earning licensure as a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and then completing three-years of supervised experience in diagnosis and psychotherapy to be licensed and registered to practice as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).
Of course, you don’t have to go on to earn the LCSW, and in fact, many social workers in the Bronx and throughout New York choose to stick with the LMSW. The main difference is that the LCSW allows you to provide clinical counseling services including diagnoses and talk therapy used to treat certain common mental health and behavioral problems.
In either case, you can earn an MSW by either (1) earning a bachelor’s degree in a human services field like community mental health, psychology, or sociology and then earning a traditional, two-year MSW, or (2) earning a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) first, and then completing an advanced-standing MSW that takes just one year to complete.
Hip-Hop’s Legacy in Social Justice
‘‘Got to give us what we want/Gotta give us what we need/Our freedom of speech is freedom or death/We got to fight the powers that be!’’
– Public Enemy, ‘‘Fight the Power,’’ 1990.
Social and racial justice – it’s long been a recurring theme in hip-hop. For more than 50 years, it’s given artists a platform for railing against systemic injustice.
And the birthplace of this cultural expression? It’s the Bronx. It only makes sense; the Bronx was a tangle of post-war racial discrimination, segregation, and sheer animosity in the 1970s. It all culminated in what historians now refer to as the “Decade of Fire” — a time when landlords routinely set fire to run-down properties in hopes of claiming the insurance money. Those actions ultimately displaced an estimated quarter million black and Puerto Rican residents in the South Bronx.
In the decades since, hip-hop has circled the globe a thousand times, stirring the hearts and minds of billions of people over three generations and generating billions of dollars in the process.
But for many artists, hip-hop was and still is about free expression, providing those who otherwise would be voiceless with a strong and resonating platform to provide commentary on violence, corruption, injustice, and systemic racism.
There are two schools of social work in the Bronx offering CSWE-accredited programs:
Lehman College CUNY
School of Health Sciences Human Services and Nursing
Accreditation: MSCHE
Bronx, NY
MSW (on-campus)
Also Offers:
- BSW
CUNY’s Lehman College is home to a legendary social work school that includes both BSW and MSW degrees. The MSW program, designed to equip students with advanced clinical skills and leadership capabilities, features full-time, part-time, and advanced standing (for BSW holders) formats. Lehman’s commitment to experiential learning is reflected in its extensive fieldwork opportunities, which include placements in hospitals, schools, and community organizations throughout New York. Students benefit from small class sizes, personalized instruction, and a curriculum that emphasizes social justice, cultural competence, and evidence-based practice.
Mercy University
School of Social & Behavioral Sciences
Accreditation: MSCHE
Dobbs Ferry, NY (other location in Manhattan)
BSW (on-campus)
Though the main campus location for Mercy University is located in Dobbs Ferry, it also has a satellite campus right here in the Bronx.