/Institutions/Catholic-University-of-America/json/2025-2026/Graduate-Announcements-local.json

/Institutions/Catholic-University-of-America/json/2025-2026/Graduate-Announcements.json

Graduate Announcements > National Catholic School of Social Service > Organization

Organization

NCSSS achieves its goals primarily through its three major programs as well as a variety of additional activities and publication of a scholarly journal. The major programs are the PhD program, the MSW program, and the BSW program. Additional activities include the work of several research and training centers, non-degree enrollment programs, summer and part-time programs and continuing education programs. The school actively participates in the publication of the scholarly journal, Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought.

The National Catholic School of Social Service is one of the professional schools of The Catholic University of America. As such it is governed by its own faculty and dean, under the jurisdiction of the university's president, Board of Trustees and Academic Senate. The school recommends students in its graduate programs for BSW, MSW, and PhD degrees directly to the Academic Senate and the university president. The BSW and MSW programs are fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The PhD program is accredited through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education's accreditation of the university.

Center for the Advancement of Children, Youth and Families

The Center for the Advancement of Children, Youth, and Families seeks to improve the quality of life, safety, and well-being of children and their families by conducting research, training practitioners and administrators, and translating research to practice. Grounded in social justice, the center's mission is to facilitate multidisciplinary exploration of trends, issues, values, and challenges associated with delivering best practices and culturally competent social work to children and their families.

Center for the Promotion of Health and Mental Health Well-Being

The mission of the center is to develop and conduct research studies that focus on promoting the physical and mental health of individuals, organizations, communities, and society. The primary objective of the center is to generate and disseminate knowledge that informs social work practice, enhances the delivery of social services, and influences state and national policy in the health/mental health fields. In addition, the center sponsors educational seminars and workshops on health and mental health issues.

Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought

In addition to its educational programs and community service, the National Catholic School of Social Service publishes, with Taylor & Francis Publisher, a scholarly journal, Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought. This journal is committed to exploring topics pertaining to diverse sectarian and nonsectarian approaches to religion and spirituality related to social work and the helping professions. The journal also publishes philosophical and theoretical papers that deal with professional ethics and innovations in professional paradigms, world views, conceptual frameworks, and the philosophy of social work.