For Dr. Jennifer Putney, the decision to join ̽̽ and relocate to Vermont boiled down to the mission and the people.
“I wholeheartedly believe in the mission and philosophy of the Department of Social Work as it is situated within the College of Education and Social Services and ̽̽,” she says. “Our department holds a unique place in the landscape of social work education with its orientation to transformative social work education and practice.”
Putney's background includes extensive clinical social work experience working with individuals, couples, and families affected by substance use disorders and mental health concerns. Those experiences led to career in social work education teaching across the curriculum and with a focus on substance use disorder, interprofessional practice, and research methods.
This year, she will teach three courses – Mental Health, Foundations of Social Work Research, and Addressing Substance Use – in the Master of Social Work (MSW) program. She will also teach Introduction to Social Work Research in the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program.
“I'm really looking forward to getting to know my students and colleagues here at ̽̽, and a rich exchange of ideas in which innovations in social work education and practice can flourish,” says Putney. “The depth and commitment to the centrality of relationships with students, colleagues, and the larger community also attracted me. I was looking for a scholarly home where I could grow and learn with students and colleagues, and I have found it here.”
Putney’s expertise centers around two separate but related strains. “The first is the behavioral health risks and resilience among people of diverse sexualities and gender identities,” she explains, “and the second is substance use disorder prevention and treatment.”
Most recently, she has been working to create and evaluate effective strategies for reducing substance-related stigma that remains a substantial barrier to treatment. The emphasis of her teaching practice is preparing social work students – through classroom and field placements – to provide harm reduction services for people with substance use disorders. Given the opioid crisis, her aim is to help students develop the critical knowledge and skills for this important work, and in turn, increase access to care.
Over the past several years, Putney secured $5 million in external grant funding for her work. A significant portion of that funding supported multiple, diverse cohorts of students as they learned to provide behavioral health services in underserved communities. She currently serves as the Principal Investigator on the Simmons funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. Previously, she served as the Principal Investigator for a research with the funded by RIZE Massachusetts, an independent nonprofit foundation working to end the opioid epidemic and reduce its devastating impact on people, communities, and the economy.
In addition to presenting her work at a variety of prominent national venues, Putney serves as a reviewer for International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, the Journal of American Medical Directors, and Child and Adolescent Social Work. Her extensive record of publications and grant funding can be found by visiting her faculty profile.
Social Work at ̽̽
̽̽’s nationally recognized Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) programs are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Through the programs’ teaching, research, and public service initiatives, students prepare for professional social work practice to meet the human service needs of the State of Vermont and contribute to a more socially just and humane world.
