Jackson State University’s School of Social Work has received a $25,000 check for student scholarships from Social Work p.r.n. in what is described as the beginning of a continuing relationship.
Presenting the check on Wednesday, CEO Kim Adams told Dr. Ricardo Brown, dean of the College of Public Service and others in attendance, that the company based in Overland Park, Kan., only had longstanding scholarship commitments with one other university.
That relationship with the University of Kansas was started by Joan Upshaw, her mother, who created the original company in 1988 under the company name of Joan Upshaw and Associates.
“She would be so proud of this,” Adams said, about Upshaw who died in 2010. She added that the company plans to continue giving to JSU’s School of Social Work for scholarships “as long as we fiscally can.”
Upshaw, LSCW, developed Social Work p.r.n. as a demonstration project for the social work profession, believing that social work and business ideas make a great meld. The company changed its name in 1992 — “p.r.n.” is Latin for pro re nata or “under the circumstances” — so its name is Social Work “as needed.”
The company provides social work staffing, temporary and permanent placement, consultation, clinical social work supervision and training and education.
Adams has said elsewhere that her mother spent years fighting for social workers and emphasizing their worth. But with her company, she was able to build an environment that immediately recognized their value.
While the company has expanded to several cities, the needs of the industry have shifted. Now, she told Brown, Dr. Theresia Ratliff, director of Field Education in the School of Social Work, Dr. Jerry Watson, chair, Graduate Programs, School of Social Work and Charles King, development officer, Division of Institutional Development, at the meeting that “our biggest need is health care social workers.”
Brown expressed appreciation for the gift and keen interest in furthering collaboration.
For more information about Social Work p.r.n., see: https://www.socialworkprn.com