Social Service Worker Certificate

Notes: SSWP 110 Intro to Counselling Skills is now available for registration. This is the co-requisite course with SSWP 109 Introductory Counselling Skills.

Course requirements have recently been revised in order to create a curriculum which is more relevant and as such, will better prepare social service providers to enter the workforce. The courses will transfer directly into a Human Service Diploma Program, a two-year program available through Thompson Rivers University's Kamloops and Williams Lake campuses.

This certificate program is designed for those seeking the knowledge and skills to enter the field of social services or to upgrade a current position. Social service providers implement a variety of social service programs and community services. They provide assistance and support to service users who are dealing with personal and social issues. Many social service providers are employed in non-profit and government agencies.

Find more information on employment trends and opportunities at  www.workfutures.bc.ca.

This program offers courses in social work theory and practice, counselling skills, lifespan development, and social science. Program students also attend a practicum in a social service setting and complete a skills practice course, which will be offered in a new distance format. Students who chose to attend the skills practice in-person, normally held at the Kamloops campus, are responsible for all associated costs. The SSWP 110, a skills practice course, will be offered through distance format through continuous enrolment. The course is being developed and a notice will be posted when it becomes available.

Students who intend to complete this program and obtain the certificate must declare their intention by applying to the program and must meet all program admission and completion requirements listed below. If you applied and were accepted under the old program, you will only be expected to fulfill the old program requirements. A full description of the changes are provided after Admission Requirements on this webpage.

Note

Applicants residing outside BC who want to complete the program may participate on the condition that appropriate practicum arrangements at a social service agency, can be made in their home province.

Students who do not intend to complete the program may register in SSWP courses, except the practicum course (SSWP 215). Courses other than the field practicum are available to applicants residing in Canada or outside Canada.

Admission Requirements

• The new entrance requirement into the program is SSWP 200, Introduction to Social Work (3)
• The English requirement may be fulfilled in several ways:
• ENGL 106, Written Communication (3) or equivalent.
• Students who have completed Grade 12 English with a B average may complete either the voluntary English Language and Writing Assessment, the Language Proficiency Index or the English assessment with First Nations content  and are exempt from ENGL 106 if they obtain a writing level score of 5 or 6.
• Sixty documented hours of people-oriented volunteer or paid work experience in public or private social service agencies in the last five years. See page 9 of the Social Service Worker Certificate Application Supplement form  for more details. 
• Satisfactory current criminal records search (refer to the policy).
• Personal statement (minimum three typed pages). This statement is separate from the paragraph you write for the Social Service Program Application Form. In this statement you will describe what experiences have prepared you for the program and elaborate on how the program will enhance your personal goals. 
• Completion of a situational questionnaire. Note: The Friendship Centre scenario option on the Social Service Program Application Form refers to an Indian Friendship Centre and as such in your response, you must be sure to include cultural awareness and sensitivity. 
• Phone interview with the program coordinator.
• Completion of a Grade 12 program or the Adult Graduation Diploma is recommended.

The Program Admission/Transfer Credit form and Social Service Worker Certificate application supplements are required to be completed and submitted when applying for the program. The Social Service Worker Certificate application supplements are provided in PDF format to download and print (9 pages). The Criminal Records Search form  is provided in PDF format to download from the RCMP Website. Application forms are also available from Student Services.

Note: The program plan fee is not required for the Social Service Worker Certificate program.

Course Requirements

Course requirements have recently been revised in order to create a curriculum which is more relevant and as such, will better prepare social service providers to enter the workforce. The courses will transfer directly into a Human Service Diploma Program, a two-year program available through Thompson Rivers University's Kamloops and Williams Lake campuses.

Two of the courses, SSWP 200 and SSWP 212, are prerequisites for Bachelor of Social Work Programs in Canada. This includes Thompson Rivers University's Kamloops campus BSW Program and the University of Victoria's distance BSW Program.

Current Requirements:

• University-level English course such as ENGL 108, now available for registration
• SOCI 101, Introduction to Sociology (3)
• SSWP 109: Introductory Counselling Skills
• SSWP 110: Intro to Counselling Skills
• SSWP 212, Social Welfare in Canada (3)
• SSWP 215, Field Practicum (6)
• SSWP 355, Human Development (3)
• HUMS 177: Intro to First Nations Studies and Human Service Practice (3) (in development)
• HUMS 158: Professional Human Service Practice (3) (in development)

Additional courses (that have not been developed yet) which will transfer into a Human Service Diploma Program include:

• HUMS 154, Interpersonal Communications (3)
• HUMS 161, Interviewing Human Service Practice (3)

Until SSWP 109 and 100 will also be accepted into the Human Service Diploma Program.

The material from previously required courses SSWP 109 and SSWP 110 will be incorporated within HUMS 154 and HUMS 161.

Social Service Worker Certificate Program OL – Changes approved Spring 2009

TRU-OL may accept transfer credit for similar courses offered at other recognized Canadian post-secondary educational institutions.

Note: The Social Service Worker Program, once the revisions are completed, will fulfill the requirements for the first year of a Human Service Diploma Program at Thompson Rivers University.

Bachelor of Social Work

Requirements for application to Bachelor of Social Work degree programs include the completion of introductory courses such as SSWP 200 and SSWP 212. Completing courses in the Social Service Worker Certificate program is a way to acquire new skills and transfer credits toward a Bachelor of Social Work degree program and a Human Service Diploma. Refer to BC admissions and transfer information.

Students are responsible for consulting with their TRU-OL program advisor to ensure that courses selected are appropriate for the program of study or to meet future educational goals.

Email Student Services for more information.