Tia Mancuso, MSW '18, Awarded NYSSCSW Student Writing Scholarship

Class of 2018 MSW student Tia Mancuso was awarded a Diana List Cullen First Year MSW Student Writing Scholarship by the Metropolitan Chapter of the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work (NYSSCSW). Each year, the chapter confers a $500 scholarship and a one-year NYSSCSW membership on one student from each of six New York City schools of social work in recognition of outstanding clinically-oriented writing done in their first year of the MSW program.

The paper for which Mancuso received the award, entitled “Biopsychosocial Assessment on Dasani,” was based on New York Times investigative reporter Andrea Elliott’s five-part series, “Invisible Child,” which profiled an 11-year-old homeless girl named Dasani Coates. Mancuso culled details about Dasini’s background and experiences from Elliot's vivid reporting and, through a comprehensive literature review, put them in the context of Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and MSW Program Director James I. Martin attended the NYSSCSW Metropolitan Chapter’s awards reception, at which Mancuso presented a synopsis of her paper to a capacity crowd. “With the high caliber of her clinical interpretation, engaging writing, and poised presentation, Tia was an exceptional representative of NYU Silver and proved very worthy of this prestigious honor.”