Our Impact

Our city, our profession and our world need us, and we’re answering the call. Just as our students are called to this profession to help others, we must also create systemic change in our communities — from the ones in our own backyard to the ones halfway across the globe.

By the Numbers

$4.2M

in in-kind support in the Chicago area

247k

Hours of fieldwork completed in 2020-21

1243

Field sites

500+

Continuing education attendees in 2020-21

Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP)®

The TIP program, developed by Dr. Philip Hong and his research team at the Center for Research on Self-Sufficiency (CROSS), is an intervention model using the psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) framework for workforce development. Its early success with Chicago-based social service agencies has been replicated nationally and internationally. Through 15 sessions, low-income job seekers develop the tools to transition from long-term unemployment—due to welfare receipt, homelessness, substance abuse, mental health issues, prison sentencing—to employment.

Migration-Focused Immersion Seminars in Mexico

Each year, we bring undergraduate and graduate students face-to-face with a part of the migration experience they don't often see. In Mexico City and at the U.S.-Mexico border, students visit organizations working on migrant issues and learn from interdisciplinary experts on the ground.

Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program (B-WEP)

B-WEP provides training for MSW students preparing to become behavioral health professionals. They learn screening, assessment, and treatment techniques, with a focus on marginalized communities and medically underserved settings. They establish relationships with community organizations and our partners gain access to quality behavioral health services in high-need areas.

"We have been able to expand our refugee resettlement and behavioral health program by hosting Loyola interns in a two-way binational Mexican and U.S. exchange program, hiring alumni, and conducting research that informs organizational strategies. We are committed to the formation of compassionate professionals with intercultural skills who understand migration as a transnational phenomenon." Dr. Cary Rositas-Sheftel
Director of Latino/Latinx Affairs, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago

Community Partners

We build and maintain relationships with local organizations through our Community Immersion Program. Incoming MSW students volunteer with our partners to network and learn about social work while making a direct impact.

We work with community organizations to bring services to those who need them most and offer our students learning opportunities that will inform their practice for decades. Our students work all across Chicago, primarily in healthcare and education settings. Some of our top fieldwork sites include:

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Last year, over 40 of our students conducted fieldwork in Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the country.

ADVOCATE ILLINOIS MASONIC CRISIS TEAM

Our students worked as consult liaisons on Advocate's Behavioral Health Crisis Team, a multidisciplinary group that includes psychiatrists, nurses, social workers and case managers.

ABOVE AND BEYOND FAMILY RECOVERY CENTER

Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center is an outpatient behavioral treatment center located on Chicago's west side. The center serves people with a long history of unemployment and substance abuse impacting both their families and the community at large.

AMITA ALEXIAN BROTHERS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOSPITAL

Located in the western suburbs, AMITA Alexian Brothers is one of the largest behavioral health hospitals in the U.S. Our students worked in the Adolescent Partial Hospitalization division.

COUNSELING CENTER OF ILLINOIS

Counseling Center of Illinois is Chicagoland's leading provider of DUI classes and evaluations, offering counseling and case management services alongside education.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO

For the past fifteen years, we've partnered with Catholic Charities in a two-way binational Mexican and U.S. student intern exchange program to increase student awareness of the dynamics and implications of migration in our region, while delivering culturally responsive services to Latinx families participating in Catholic Charites programs.

Making Change Locally and Globally

For more than 100 years, we’ve been training social workers in Chicago — a diverse and dynamic city where many residents aren’t getting the services they need. While we’re giving our students all the resources they need for successful careers, we’re simultaneously working to understand, inspire, and improve lives at the individual, community and policy levels.