Prerequisite(s): CHAD 100 or WRIT 105 or HONP 100. This course will identify the three components of cultural competency that have been identified in the child welfare field: value base, knowledge, and skills. The course will focus on enabling students to examine the values that are necessary for a culturally competent understanding and response to child welfare, specifically accepting the existence of biases and developing a commitment to a strengths-based model that relies on respect and working toward empowerment as a goal for intervention. Culture is defined broadly, and the course will expose students to a range of belief systems common in different groups concerning child rearing and child maltreatment.