Mail Completed Form to:

USC School of Social Work

Office of Admission
Master of Social Work Social Work Center, #114
Limited Status Application Form Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411

Requesting Limited Status for Master of Social Work Program:

Year: 2012 Campus Preference (please select one):

 Fall XX University Park Campus (UPC)
 Spring  Orange County Academic Center (OCAC)
 Summer  San Diego Academic Center (SDAC)
 Skirball Academic Center (SAC)
 Virtual Academic Center (SAC)
Desired Course (# and Title): POLICY AND PRACTICE IN SOCIAL SERVICE ORGS

Name: BASS KAREN RUTH

(Last) (First) (Middle)

City, State, Zip:

_______________________________________________________________________

Primary Phone Number: Secondary Phone Number:

Email Address:
Undergraduate School: CAL STATE UNI DOMINGUEZ HILLS Degree/Major: HEALTH SCIENCE

Date Conferred: MAY 1991 Grade Point Average (GPA): 3.0??

GRE Score (if taken): ______ TOEFL Score (International Students): ______ Date Taken:
_____

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:
1-2 page statement describing your interest in the field of social work and your reason for
requesting a course
 Resume
 An official or unofficial copy of your transcript

Do you plan to apply for the MSW program?  Yes  No Year: 2012

I certify the information on this application is complete and accurate and that the documents submitted
represent my work.

Signature: ____________________________________________ Date:

________________________
For Office Use Only:
Applicant’s request was approved:  Yes  No
Comments:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Poverty is a complex problem and sadly we have yet to witness sustained commitment
from our nation to address, much less eradicate, poverty. On January 5 2011, I was
sworn in as a new member of the House of Representatives. My goal is to serve long
enough to positively impact how the richest nation in the history of the world addresses
poverty within its borders. During my tenure in Congress my objective is to meet this
challenge by addressing a unique sector of the population that often spends a lifetime in
poverty, children in the foster care system.

In any given year over 400,000 children are placed in the foster care system. The long
term outcomes bear witness to far too many living a life in multigenerational poverty and
cycling in and out of the criminal justice system. A Masters of Social Work with an
emphasis on public policy and the administration of Child Welfare agencies can help
guide my efforts in Congress.

In the 1980’s I was on the clinical faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at USC’s
Health Science campus. I trained Physician Assistant students in Primary Care and
Emergency Medicine. Before this I worked full time in the Department of Emergency
Medicine and witnessed first-hand the impact of drugs and alcohol on families and
communities. From my observation the crack cocaine epidemic was the first time
women were using drugs at rates equal to men. Families began to collapse, babies
were abandoned at birth and the numbers of children in foster care began to explode.

For the last twenty one years I have worked to improve the foster care system by
organizing to influence policy at the County and State level. When crack cocaine
emerged on the scene, far too many grandmothers were faced with raising their
grandchildren. Witnessing this and the scourge of crack addiction on South Los
Angeles, I left my full time faculty position and started a non-profit organization called
the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment. This is a
social justice organization formed to address the myriad problems associated with
addiction. Coalition staff and volunteers launched a campaign to pressure the Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors to understand the plight of relatives who care for
the children and fought to have resources extended to the family members.

At the Coalition we encountered a dizzying maze of governmental policies, regulations,

management practices, interagency fissures, and broken systems. Rather than being
resources and safety nets, government institutions and practices created roadblocks,
conundrums, and setbacks to constructive aid and change. These problems remain
begging for solutions that I know will be informed by what I will learn in the Master’s
program. I need insight on how government can do better analysis, decision-making,
and management of complex, interlocking systems to better meet the needs of families
engaged with the foster care and child welfare system.

In 2004 when I was sworn into the California State Assembly I formed a Select
Committee on Foster Care and conducted public hearings and community meetings
around the State listening to children, social workers, relatives, academics and
administrators. An informal Statewide coalition was created. Coalition members testified
before formal committee hearings, wrote letters, held conferences and met with
legislators on numerous occasions over my six years in State Assembly. The result was
a bipartisan commitment from legislators to improve the system. A permanent across
agency task force was created and the Governor signed into the 2006 budget the
largest increase in funding for foster care in many years. Unfortunately when the
economy collapsed and after a disagreement with the Governor funding was reduced.

In Congress I am attempting the use the same strategies and have created a Foster
Care Caucus with the intention of building a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators
interested in improving the outcomes for children in the system. As a new member of
Congress it will take some time before I am able to have a seat on the committee that
oversees child welfare. Regardless, I can introduce legislation and impact the issues. I
am currently in conversation with the Republican leadership in the House of
Representatives seeking approval to move forward with a series of initiatives to learn
about the best practices and most difficult challenges in the nation facing children in the
system.

As a member of Congress I could delegate the details of policy development to staff and
governmental agencies. My role could simply be to work on passage of legislation
developed by staff but I want to develop my own policy expertise and not just delegate
to staff. I also believe it is important to develop transformative policy change through
building a national movement that demands change. I believe the best policy is created
and sustained when the people most affected by the policy participate in its
development and implementation.

With a Masters of Social Work I can gain the depth of knowledge needed about
governmental systems in general and the child welfare system in particular to better
guide staff and build a national movement as we develop legislation to tackle systemic
transformation.
Community Anti-Drug Coalition’s of America

Member, Board of Directors

Homeless Health Care

3
Los Angeles Progressive