Social Work Education

We are in the process of developing a BSW program and are currently evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of requiring either 400 or 450 hours of field placement.

Does anyone recommend setting the requirement at 450 hours? If so, what are the benefits you've seen with this model?

Alternatively, does anyone prefer sticking with the minimum of 400 hours, and why?

We would appreciate any insights or experiences you can share as we make this important decision.

For the first 8 years of our BSW program we required 450 hours. This year we switched to 400. Theoretically, having the extra 50 hours would give the student more experiences in their practicum. What we were seeing, however, was those extra hours really just being more of what they had already experienced. Reducing the hours was also a move towards equity. Students who were single parents, caring for parents, or needed to maintain a full time job had significantly more obstacles managing a 450-hour placement than a 400-hour placement. We also have heard from placement sites that they prefer the 400 hour model as well. It requires less work on their parts to ensure the students have enough work to fulfill those hours.

We are in the process of developing a BSW program and are currently evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of requiring either 400 or 450 hours of field placement.

Does anyone recommend setting the requirement at 450 hours? If so, what are the benefits you've seen with this model?

Alternatively, does anyone prefer sticking with the minimum of 400 hours, and why?

We would appreciate any insights or experiences you can share as we make this important decision.