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Social work professors and staff conduct training in Belize
The Family Preservation Institute in the School of Social Work continued its support of developing professional social workers in Belize this summer by providing refresher training in July.
Alvin Sallee, NMSU professor and director of the institute, was joined in Belize by Robert Blair, assistant professor of social work, P.J. Shannon, program coordinator, and Traci Tippett, Title 4-E training coordinator, to present a refresher workshop to the countries 65 social workers employed by the Belize's Ministry of Human Development and Social Transformation.
The training was a continuation of a more-than-15-year relationship between the NMSU School of Social Work, the Family Preservation Institute, the University of Belize and the Central American country's national ministry responsible for social service delivery to the nation of Belize. The "Back to Basics" training received support from UNICEF and the Family Preservation Institute.
Dennis Hoy, Pride Belize and the country's native OBGYN who, at that time, had delivered almost every baby in Belize, approached Paul Huntsberger at a conference of COBEC (Consortium for Belize Educational Cooperation, of which NMSU is a member) being held at NMSU.
"The country had one or two professionally trained social workers and Hoy wanted to start a professional program in Belize," Sallee said. "It has been an exciting partnership. Some people involved in the early planning were in professor Shannon's first social work class taught the University of Belize and are now in leadership positions in the country, including the minister and CEO for the national agency responsible for social services delivery to the citizens of Belize."
Sallee and Shannon have worked from the ground up to help the University of Belize to develop a bachelor degree curriculum that is comparable to those of U. S. universities.
Following that early visit to NMSU, Shannon was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and subsequently spent 11 years in Belize as an international social work consultant and professor working with UNICEF and the Ministry of Human Development to further develop the university's social work curriculum.
"The philosophy of family preservation was welcomed in the early 1990's and has greatly influenced the development of family policy in the country. When representatives first visited the country, U.S. television had made a major impact on the children and families of Belize. The country's social issues have changed through the years though issues involving children and families remain paramount," Shannon said. "Social problems include a struggling economy, lack of educational resources, a continued deterioration in the extended family, HIV-AIDS, and an increase in crime and gang violence, especially in Belize City."
Sallee recalls that there were fewer problems when he first got involved with Belize. "The Family Preservation Institute's focus was mostly child custody issues - foster care and adoptions - and family issues. As the country as become more developed the extended family is breaking down and criminal behavior is increasing."
The institute's support has included providing a number of support services to the University of Belize to include training and consultation, social work textbooks to the university, paperback books to prisoners and currently a project is underway to provide pillow stuffed animals for incarcerated juveniles.
"When we visited the juvenile detention center we observed the youth hugging their pillows when they sleep. These youth may be 13-16 years old, but emotionally they are much younger. We decided to raise funds to provide pillows shaped like stuffed animals," Sallee said.
For more information about the Family Preservation Institute visit http://fpi.nmsu.edu.
Written by Jane Moorman.