Welcome to the South Carolina Professional Development Consortium. South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) has partnered with the seven colleges and universities that provide social work education in this State to form a consortium whose goal is to educate and train current and future SCDSS employees in evidence-based best practice.

A competent and stable human service workforce is the foundation for success. Establishing such a workforce will help families and children achieve better outcomes related to safety, permanency, and well-being. Better outcomes for our citizens can, in turn, be a major factor in economic growth for the State and improved quality of life for all. The South Carolina Professional Development Consortium is made up of representatives from Benedict College, Columbia College, Coker College, Limestone College, South Carolina State University, Winthrop University, and University of South Carolina.

Consortium goals are:

• To have better outcomes for families and children around safety, well-being, and permanency.
• To have a competent and stable human service workforce to help families and children achieve better outcomes.

It will accomplish these goals by:

• Developing the Agency/Universities partnerships that will increase the professional learning opportunities for all employees in the SCDSS system.
• Providing BSW and MSW graduates with the knowledge, skills, and cultural/ethnic sensitivity to become excellent human service workers in South Carolina.
• Increasing the number of BSW and MSW graduates hired by SCDSS.
• Increasing the retention of public human service workers at SCDSS.

It is Dr. Hayes’ vision that the consortium will be responsive to the needs of the agency, and as the partnership continues, it will become a strong force for helping develop and deliver high-quality service by working together to build the capacity of the SCDSS human resource capital.

The Child Welfare Worker - these videos provide a realistic look at being a social worker.