USC CIR – News

Consortium develops competencies for the care of families impacted by military service

The USC School of Social Work’s Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families (CIR) co-hosted a consortium with the Army Behavioral Health Division’s Marriage and Family Therapy Program to develop a competency model for training mental health professionals treating military personnel and their families.

A group of 32 senior Department of Defense and military service behavioral healthcare leaders, distinguished academics, representatives from the Veterans Administration family programs and other behavioral health care experts convened in Los Angeles on Jan. 5-6 to develop competencies for behavioral health educators and providers caring for families impacted by military service.

“The ongoing war […]

Sen. Boxer visits school in support of military social work program

by Cortney Fielding

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer delivered high praise for the USC School of Social Work’s military social work program and its students now preparing to serve the nation’s war veterans during a Sept. 17 visit.

Boxer (D-Calif.) was invited to campus for a demonstration of the school’s “virtual patient program.” A joint creation of the school’s Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families and the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, the virtual patient is an avatar-based simulation program designed to replicate the experiences of veterans exposed to combat stress and help prepare students to interact with real […]