Organizational Leadership & Policy Practice Pathway

This course examines legal principles and procedures relevant to social work practice with families and children, including the structure and operation of the American legal system, principles to follow in conducting legal research, basic principles of constitutional law and law related to juvenile delinquency, child protection, child adoption, education and domestic relations. The course also covers legal aspects of social work practice, including licensing, confidentiality and professional liability.

This course examines grassroots approaches to community organizing and social change for social justice. Topics include power and empowerment theory, insider/outsider considerations, development of critical consciousness and popular education techniques for organizing, history and genealogy of community organizing and social movements related to social work, direct action tactics and strategies, arts-based organizing, campaign development and ethics and skills for working with diverse communities.

This course facilitates student learning within policymaking arenas. You will be paired with health and social service agencies and coalitions to assist in agenda-setting, legislative research, and issue-advocacy development and implementation in the state legislature and bureaucracy.

This course examines the barriers to the professional use of self as an ally to historically disenfranchised groups, both in the context of day-to-day relationships with clients as well as in the context of community and macro-level interventions. It will help you understand the personal, situational, structural and cultural influences that impede justice-oriented social work practice. You will develop strategies, skills and approaches to anti-oppressive practice.

This course is relevant for students who are interested in trauma, human rights, international issues, prevention of child abuse, interventions with high-risk youth and victims of violence and child abuse and PTSD. You’ll study human trafficking from a social work perspective—prevention, intervention and support of victims—and these perspectives change in different regions (Asian, African, European, and Latin American). The course also investigates human trafficking in the United States, both with domestic and international victims.

This course focuses on poverty, low-income neighborhoods and local economic development, beginning with a thorough review of the literature related to poverty, sustainability and the concentration of poverty in low-income neighborhoods. You’ll learn about public and private responses to poverty and local responses to the concentration of poverty in low-income neighborhoods.

The district office of Congresswoman Diana Degette focuses on helping constituents resolve problems with federal agencies, community outreach, developing public events and working with constituency groups on issues related to business, education, health care, veterans and more. Interns learn about the inner workings of the federal government, attend community meetings, direct constituents to appropriate resources and assist congressional staff with projects. Interns also engage with federal, state and municipal agencies and leaders.

The Bell Policy Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that uses in-depth research and analysis to advocate for progressive public policies in Colorado. It identifies and promotes policies that help individuals and families, especially those in low-income or marginalized communities, to access opportunities and move toward self-sufficiency. Interns analyze the impact bills have on marginalized communities, publish policy briefs, interact with policymakers, participate in stakeholder meetings, testify in committee hearings and engage in community outreach.

One Colorado is a statewide organization dedicated to securing and protecting equality and opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Coloradans and their families. One Colorado has a strong commitment to social justice and uses an anti-oppression lens to do its work, which includes grassroots organizing and public policy advocacy. Interns work on electoral organizing and political advocacy, gaining experience in grassroots organizing, public policy advocacy, coalition building and voter mobilization.

The mission of the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel (OADC), through the practice of holistic public defense, is to help adults and children whom the government has charged with criminal and delinquent offenses. The OADC’s holistic practice model fosters ethical, informed and standard-driven best practices in public defense. The OADC allocates resources in a manner intentionally designed to rebalance the disparate power wielded by the government in the criminal legal system. OADC advocates for every client’s inherent worth and dignity by centering the client’s lived experiences and voice to achieve the best legal outcome.

The Denver Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs (DOIRA) partners with nonprofits, community-based organizations, residents and government agencies to develop and implement policies, practices and programs that influence the various paths of immigrant integration.

Envision:You seeks to close gaps in behavioral health outcomes for LGBTQ+ individuals through co-created community programming, advocacy engagement, public awareness campaigns and evidence-based training.