Child Welfare Training & Advancement Program

The Child Welfare Training and Advancement Program (CWTAP) is a partnership between the State of Washington’s Children's Administration (CA) and the School of Social Work (SSW) at the University of Washington (UW), administered by the Northwest Institute for Children and Families (NICF). A similar program exists at Eastern Washington University (EWU).

CWTAP affirms pride, integrity, and best practice in public child welfare by providing a specialized Master’s of Social Work (MSW) education. It is funded by contract between CA and UW. Using the UW's contributed indirect funds as match, CA recovers the costs of the program from the federal Title IV-E (foster care) program.

CWTAP offers customized field instruction in preparation for leadership in all areas of public child welfare, the opportunity to develop practice skills in a child welfare office, and quarterly educational assistance for students pursuing their MSW.

Those with no prior CA experience take part in a specialized field unit, while current CA employees choose an individual field experience that broadens and deepens their knowledge and skills. In return, graduates of CWTAP agree to work for CA for a period of time roughly commensurate with the amount of time for which they received educational assistance.

Educational assistance is calculated on a formula that includes the cost of educating a student, the amount of tuition paid by the student, and the amount subsidized by the legislature for each student.

At the present time, educational assistance covers the cost of each student’s tuition.