Case managers with the Abu Dhabi Family Care Authority visited NYU Silver Dean Michael A. Lindsey, as well as other Silver faculty and staff, at the Washington Square Campus.
NEW YORK, NY – In a first of its kind partnership between an American school of social work and the United Arab Emirates, NYU Silver in collaboration with the NYU Abu Dhabi Office of Executive Education launched a case management professional development program for social sector workers with the Abu Dhabi Family Care Authority (ADFCA) last fall. The nine-month program is training 18 ADFCA’s case managers in international best practices and skills to better serve Abu Dhabi’s families. In May, we welcomed the case managers enrolled in the program to New York.
The students were joined by ADFCA’s Sector Executive Director, Her Excellency Asma Sulaiman Alazri, and Dr. Taghreed Mahmoud Abu Sarhan, an advisor to ADFCA’s Director General. In visits to government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, they received a first-hand view of New York City social services for women, children and families. Through meetings with both senior leaders and fellow case managers at agencies including NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services, NYU Langone Family Support Center, The Children’s Village and Safe Horizon, they gained insights on both policy and practice. They also were hosted for lunch by the Women Empowerment Coalition of NYC which serves the Arab community in NYC and visited a local Mosque.
Another highlight of their visit was attending Silver’s annual Practicum Instructor Appreciation Breakfast, hosted by our Office of Practicum Education & Community Partnerships. There, the ADFCA case managers had the opportunity to meet some of the hundreds experienced social work professionals who nurture our students’ education and professional development at practicum sites across New York City. They reported that the event’s panel on self-care and Associate Professor Doris Chang’s keynote on Social Transformation Mindfulness for Healers and Change Makers were particularly illuminating.
The ADFCA case managers also met during the week with NYU Silver Dean Michael A. Lindsey; the program’s Educational Consultant Layla Al Neyadi, a PhD student from the UAE; as well as Drs. Anne Dempsey, Sireen Irsheid and Sandy Lulu, who were guest faculty in the program. Silver PhD candidate Krushika Uday Patankar accompanied the cohort on their visits.
After their meetings and visits, they participated in class sessions with their faculty leads, Drs. Nicholas Lanzieri and Victoria Stanhope, to reflect on and process what they observed. “Our aim was to contextualize the work within New York and U.S. social services,” said Dr. Lanzieri. “We also had them use their observations on services, populations and issues as a point of comparison to social services within the UAE.”
Drs. Lanzieri and Stanhope had taught the cohort’s first class sessions in-person at NYU Abu Dhabi last fall along with Dr. Juhi Malhotra. Subsequent class sessions were held virtually with participants gathered in person and Silver faculty teaching via Zoom, with NYU Abu Dhabi’s Office of Executive Education providing logistical support.
The Case Management Professional Development Program is reflective of NYU Silver’s commitment to training the next generation of social workers, not just in the United States, but worldwide.
About NYU Silver School of Social Work
Founded in 1960 and renowned for a strong tradition of excellence in direct social work practice and dedication to social justice, NYU Silver has provided rigorous training to more than 20,000 social work practitioners and leaders in every area of the field, making it the leading destination for students who want to become innovative practitioners at the micro, mezzo and macro levels of social work practice. The School has four campuses in the heart of New York City, Rockland County, Westchester County and Shanghai.