Kim Moffett
- MSW, LCSW, LAC
- Lecturer
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IU Indianapolis IU Online
Contact
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(317) 946-5802
- kmoffett@iu.edu
About
I have been with the Indiana University School of Social Work since 2007 as a full-time lecturer and prior to that had worked as an adjunct for 12 years. My professional experience includes working with child welfare, juvenile justice policy and programming, mental health research, school social work, and both clinical and community practice. Because of the lecturer role, I originally taught courses across the spectrum at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. That opportunity was a gift as I identified early on the enormous value of integrating practice, theory, research, and policy consistently in the academic arena. In recent years, I have continued to teach in the graduate program, focusing on policy, community and global practice, and issues of diversity, human rights, and social justice. Throughout my time at IUSSW I have had the good fortune to work with outstanding colleagues and have benefited greatly from research and experiences that highlight international efforts. Working with the IUPUI Student Outreach Clinic is an area of service that I have enjoyed over the past few years. Regarding my personal life, I am married, have four adult children and seven grandchildren.
Education
MSW
Emphasis/Major: Social Work1995 - Indiana University
BS
Emphasis/Major: Education1977 - Indiana University
Research Interests
Social Determinants of Health/Mental Health; Refugee experiences and related policies
Teaching Interests
Community and Global Practice; Leadership; Mental Health Policy and Practice; Diversity, Human Rights and Social Justice
Awards and Honors
- Service
2022 - Hawthorne Community Center
Presentations
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Moffett, K. A., Bellian, P. M., Lee, J. E., & Glassburn, S. L. (2021). Promoting and Assessing Human Rights-Based Social Work Teaching Practice. IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN.
Abstract: (100 words or less)
The global COVID-19 pandemic is revealing structural inequities related to human rights in international and domestic contexts, highlighting a fundamental need to strengthen human rights education in all disciplines. In this session, presenters will describe the assessment of MSW students’ knowledge of and engagement with the human rights framework using scales developed by McPherson & Abell (2012). Presenters will apply the study’s findings to curriculum development related to human rights and global practice with particular emphasis on Covid-19. Upon completion, attendees will be able to identify potential opportunities for rights-based teaching practices and capacity-building at the institutional level.
Extended Description: (Please provide an extended description that includes 1-5 learning objectives for the presentation and describes how participants will be involved in achieving these objectives)
Background
Local communities throughout the world are increasingly confronted by the impact of globalization and the influence of geopolitical forces. In order to “advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice,” (CSWE, 2015) it is critical that social work education prepare practitioners to engage effectively with communities and organizations in a global environment. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights set a common standard of fundamental rights of all people (UN, 1948). A human rights framework enables social workers to enact anti-oppressive and rights-based practice (Quzack et al, 2021; UN, 1948). The presenters examine graduate social work curriculum on human rights and social justice while presenting didactic strategies designed to encourage cultural humility and rights-based critical thinking across disciplines.
Methodology
The presenters employed a mixed-methods examination of graduate social work curricula and evaluative data measuring student learning of human rights at one school of social work. The researcher-instructors disseminated the “Human Rights Engagement in Social Work” and “Human Rights Exposure” surveys, created by McPherson and Abell (2012; 2020), to MSW students enrolled in the core course, Community and Global Theory and Practice. Surveys were administered in-person and online via Qualtrics. Study protocol also involved reflexive analysis of course content and institutional capacity-building related to global social work.
Results
This study gathered pre- and post-test responses from students enrolled in the core course, Community and Global Theory and Practice from 2019 to 2020. Survey respondents included MSW students enrolled in course sections across four semesters: Spring 2019, Summer 2019, Fall 2019, and Spring 2020. The project yielded N=107 for pre-survey responses and N=95 for post-survey responses to the two human rights instruments (McPherson & Abell, 2012). The engagement survey (25-item scale) and the exposure survey (11-item scale) utilize a seven-point likert scale to assess students’ understanding of the human rights lens (McPherson et al, 2017). Pre- and post-test survey responses in this study indicated high human rights engagement and exposure, with mean scores over six. Reflexive analysis of course content included examination of course syllabi, competencies, assignments, classroom activities, and experiential student learning. Examination of institutional capacity highlighted the processes and outcomes related to the formation of a new global social work curriculum committee and a global social work certificate.
Learning Objectives:
Analyze assessment of social work students’ understanding of and exposure to the human rights lens. Upon completion, participants will be able to define key elements of the human rights lens and assess related student learning. Synthesize human rights-based approaches, anti-oppressive frameworks, and cultural humility for graduate and undergraduate education. Attendees will be able to apply a multi-theoretical model to teaching practices that advance human rights and social justice. Identify viable strategies to enhance institutional capacity for human rights engagement and global education. Upon completion, participants will be able to pursue potential opportunities for rights-based curriculum development and capacity-building at the institutional level.
Participant Activities:
Activity 1 – World Map Exercise
Activity 2 - Interactive dialogue examining the global COVID-19 pandemic through a human rights lens.
Activity 3 - Review human rights curriculum examples from graduate social work and other disciplines. Participants will utilize a digital handout offering strategies to enhance existing or developing courses with a human rights framework.
References
Council on Social Work Education. (2015). Educational policy and accreditation standards. Retrieved from https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/Accreditation/Accreditation-Process/2015EPAS/2015EPAS_Web_FINAL.pdf.aspx
McPherson, J., & Abell, N. (2012). Human Rights Engagement and Exposure: New Scales to Challenge Social Work Education. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(6), 704–713. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731512454196
McPherson, J. & Abell, N. (2020). Measuring rights-based practice: Introducing the human rights methods in social work scales, British Journal of Social Work, 50(1), 222-242. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz132
McPherson, J., Siebert, C. F., & Siebert, D. C. (2017). Measuring rights-based perspectives: a validation of the human rights lens in social work scale. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 8(2), 233–257.
Quzack, L.E., Picard, G., Metz, S.M. et al. (2021). A Social work education grounded in human rights. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-020-00159-
The United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
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Moffett, K. A., & Lee, J. E. (2021). Build Professional Capacity, Impact Global Communities. Our Lady of the Lake University Worden School of Social Service, San Antonio, TX.
Build Professional Capacity, Impact Global Communities
Abstract:
Communities worldwide are increasingly experiencing globalization and geopolitical challenges. It is essential that a pedagogical approach underscoring a rights-based discourse be integrated into professional education. This workshop examines graduate social work curriculum on diversity, human rights, and social justice while presenting didactic strategies designed to encourage cultural humility and rights-based critical thinking. Facilitators will discuss course content and evaluative data measuring student outcomes.
Proposal Text:
Local communities throughout the world are increasingly confronted by the impact of globalization and the influence of significant geopolitical and socio-economic forces. These constituents, especially marginalized groups, are facing unprecedented challenges such as refugee migration, poverty, human trafficking, disease, natural disasters, gender violence, and conflict. Organizations currently in place to address these global issues are endlessly grappling with concerns over priorities, resources, and policy/political implications in their efforts to meet unparalleled human need. It is essential that a pedagogical approach underscoring a rights-based discourse as well as a framework to address privilege and the dynamics of oppression be integrated into professional education preparing students to work effectively with communities and organizations in a global context. This interactive workshop will examine graduate social work curriculum for online and face-to-face courses that highlights diversity, human rights, and social justice while emphasizing didactic strategies designed to cultivate a comprehensive knowledge base, encourage cultural humility, and develop a wide-ranging worldview through a critical lens. The primary objectives of the workshop are to share cross-contextual information with regard to similar teaching experiences, deconstruct content to enhance instructional methods, and glean unique perspectives through participant reflection and dialogue. The facilitators will provide a brief presentation of the overall course content and evaluative data measuring student outcomes then participants will have the opportunity through guided activities to assess course assignments, observe student videos, and experience first-hand course exercises. The ultimate goal is that this workshop will result in professional capacity building as a way to affect positive change in global communities.
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Moffett, K. A., & Lee, J. E. (2020). Build Professional Capacity, Impact Global Communities. Indiana University, Greenwood, IN United States.
Local communities throughout the world are increasingly confronted by the impact of globalization and the influence of significant geopolitical and socio-economic forces. These constituents, especially marginalized groups, are facing unprecedented challenges such as refugee migration, poverty, human trafficking, disease, natural disasters, gender violence, and conflict. Organizations currently in place to address these global issues are endlessly grappling with concerns over priorities, resources, and policy/political implications in their efforts to meet unparalleled human need. It is essential that a pedagogical approach underscoring a rights-based discourse as well as an anti-oppressive framework to address privilege and inequities be integrated into higher education preparing students to work effectively with communities and organizations in a global context. This interactive workshop will examine graduate-level social work curriculum that highlights diversity, human rights, and social justice while emphasizing didactic strategies designed to cultivate a comprehensive knowledge base, encourage cultural humility, and develop a wide-ranging worldview through a critical lens. The primary objectives of the workshop are to share cross-cultural backgrounds in relation to similar teaching experiences, deconstruct content to enhance instructional methods, and glean unique perspectives through participant reflection and dialogue. The facilitators will provide a brief presentation of the overall course content and evaluative data measuring student outcomes then participants will have the opportunity through guided activities to assess course assignments, observe student products, and experience first-hand course exercises. The ultimate goal is that this workshop will result in professional capacity building as a way to affect positive change in global communities. At the end of the session, participants will:
1) Understand the impact of globalization on communities and organizations, 2) Recognize the significance of using a right-based approach and an anti-oppressive framework in social work practice, 3) Apply the concepts of cultural humility to professional practice within a global to local context, and 4) Identify viable strategies to enhance professional capacity related to issues of human rights and social/environmental justice.
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Moffett, K. A. (2019). Changing Policies and Ideologies of Refugee Resettlement: Analyzing Third Country Resettlement within a Human Rights Framework. Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations, Patras, Greece.
This study provides a comparative discussion of immigration and refugee resettlement policies among the thirty-seven countries that participate in the UN Refugee Agency’s resettlement program. Critical policies like the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and the 1967 Protocol which outline the legal concept of the “refugee” (UNHCR, 2018) will be addressed as well as changing policies in the United States. For example, the US Refugee Act of 1980 adopted the UNHCR’s definition of refugees; this has shaped US refugee resettlement policies considerably. It established a presidential privilege for deciding on annual allocation to determine refugee admission numbers for each fiscal year (Uzabakiriko, 2011). Among the resettlement countries, the United States has historically received the largest numbers of refugees through the UNHCR program. However, due to significant policy changes since 2016, the number of refugees admitted into the US has sharply declined. Presently, policy changes and nationalist sentiments worldwide are polemical which continues to diminish the capacity of decision-makers to revise and create balanced immigration policies. This focused discussion will examine the social and legal construction of forced migration by posing the question, “who is a refugee?” Using a human rights framework and examples from qualitative data, the presenters will facilitate a timely dialogue on changing immigration policies in multiple countries and analyze the implications for the human rights of refugees worldwide.
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Moffett, K. A. (2019). Build Professional Capacity, Impact Global Communities: Pedagogical Strategies for Successful Global Development. Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations, Patras, Greece.
Local communities throughout the world are increasingly confronted by the impact of globalization and the influence of significant geopolitical and socio-economic forces. These constituents, especially marginalized groups, are facing unprecedented challenges such as refugee migration, poverty, human trafficking, disease, natural disasters, gender violence, and conflict. Organizations currently in place to address these global issues are endlessly grappling with concerns over priorities, resources, and policy/political implications in their efforts to meet unparalleled human need. It is essential that a pedagogical approach underscoring a rights-based discourse as well as an anti-oppressive framework to address privilege and inequities be integrated into higher education preparing students to work effectively with communities and organizations in a global context. This interactive workshop will examine graduate-level social work curriculum that highlights diversity, human rights, and social justice while emphasizing didactic strategies designed to cultivate a comprehensive knowledge base, encourage cultural humility, and develop a wide-ranging worldview through a critical lens. The primary objectives of the workshop are to share cross-cultural backgrounds in relation to similar teaching experiences, deconstruct content to enhance instructional methods, and glean unique perspectives through participant reflection and dialogue. The facilitators will provide a brief presentation of the overall course content and evaluative data measuring student outcomes then participants will have the opportunity through guided activities to assess course assignments, observe student products, and experience first-hand course exercises. The ultimate goal is that this workshop will result in professional capacity building as a way to affect positive change in global communities. At the end of the session, participants will:
Understand the impact of globalization on communities and organizations, Recognize the significance of using a right-based approach and an anti-oppressive framework in social work practice, Apply the concepts of cultural humility to professional practice within a global to local context, and Identify viable strategies to enhance professional capacity related to issues of human rights and social/environmental justice.
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Moffett, K. A. (2016). Working with Clients/Patients in the Management of Co-existing and Complex Physical and Mental Health Issues. Indiana Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, Indianapolis, IN United States.
Health and mental health professionals in a variety of environments frequently encounter clients/patients who present with complicated symptoms related to both physical and mental health issues. This presentation will provide relevant content for understanding this distinctive population, offer current information on best practices, and give opportunity to discuss applicable experiences.
Institutional Services
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Committee Member
2019 - Strategic Planning CommitteeStrategic Planning Committee members provide ongoing leadership and support for the overall strategic planning process for IUSSW. -
Committee Member
2019 - Diversity CommitteeCommittee engaged in efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the leadership, hiring of staff and faculty, recruitment of students, structures, and programs at the Indiana University School of Social Work. Due to the meeting dates/times, I only attended two during the 2019 year. -
Other
2018 -Attend quarterly meetings and report back to the school on new and upcoming professional development opportunities with CTL. -
Committee Member
2018 - International and Global Affairs CommitteeRecognizing that our faculty and students come to IUSSW from around the globe and engage in research and teaching that attends to global demands and challenging contexts of our time, the IUSSW International Task Force (ITF) was established in response to a large body of our faculty (eighteen) making the commitment to transform our school into a leading institution in which global education is part of the foci of our mission. Recognizing the importance of this mission, first the ITF decided to map out our school’s work and collective interests. -
Committee Member
2017 - Mental Health and Addictions Curriculum CommitteeCurriculum Development -
Committee Member
2017 - Community and Organizational Leadership Curriculum CommitteeSupport and develop the Leadership Concentration. -
Committee Member
2017 - MSW CommitteeFaculty member. -
Committee Member
2017 - MSW Direct CommitteeFaculty member -
Committee Chair
2017 - Technical Writing and Education Assessment Specialist Search & Screen CommitteeChaired the search and screen process for the Technical Writing and Education Assessment Specialist. -
Committee Member
2017 - Foundation CommitteeCurriculum Development. -
Other
2017 - IU School of Social WorkReview applications for the MSW program. -
Committee Member
2023 - Search Committee for Assistant Dean for Student AffairsParticipating in the search process to hire an Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.
Licensure
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LAC
Indiana Professional Licensing AgencyLicensed Addictions Counselor -
LCSW
Indiana Professional Licensing AgencyLicensed Clinical Social Worker
Memberships
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Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations Research Network
2024 to Present -
Council on Social Work Education
2021 to Present -
National Association of Social Workers
2021 to Present
Professional Services
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Attendee, Meeting
2021 to Present - Criminalization Alternative ProjectI attended the Criminalization Alternative Project Task Force meetings in 2020 in a support role per student invitation. This group is working with prosecutors, law enforcement, social workers, health personnel, and others advocating for policy change to develop alternatives to the criminalization of human trafficking victims and sex workers. I assisted with the development and editing of a proposal, offered feedback on a survey, and provided applicable research.
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Other
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Faculty Supervisor
2019 to Present - Student Outreach ClinicSupervision of social work student services at the Student Outreach Clinic.
Public Services
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Volunteer
2022 to 2022 - Political CampaignCampaign volunteer for a candidate who was running for state representative in the 39th District.
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Volunteer
2022 to 2022 - Freedom SchoolWorked with elementary age children from Washington Township schools in Indianapolis on enrichment activities during the summer of 2022.
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Other
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Delegate
2018 to 2018 - Indiana Democratic ConventionAttend the Indiana Democratic Convention as a delegate to select candidates for the 2018 election.
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President
2006 to 2021 - Hawthorne Community CenterSupport the director and other staff in serving the Hawthorne community with appropriate programming and services. Involved significantly with the Executive Committee and other committees related to strategic planning, finance, nominating, program and personnel, buildings and grounds and resource development. 2020 was certainly not the norm so much of the interaction was focused on navigating the pandemic and associated issues.