Building and Strengthening Bridges Across Tennessee
Building and Strengthening Bridges Across Tennessee
By Abby Ann Ramsey Peters (’24)
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS) just marked 50 years of service. In the half a century since its inception, the organization has evolved and expanded, while remaining focused on improving outcomes for Tennesseans.
SWORPS got its start in 1975 as the continuing education arm of the UT College of Social Work. What began as a local effort in Knoxville has expanded into a mission to help Tennessee and the people who live in the state. With nearly 200 employees throughout Tennessee, it operates across three integrated divisions: Applied Research and Evaluation, Technology and Development, and Field-Based Services.
Together, these divisions support work that leads to measurable impact in communities. From helping parents overcome obstacles in paying child support to using research to promote child welfare to guiding grant recipients through technical obstacles, SWORPS has a long history of connecting research, practice, and community needs.
One of SWORPS’ key programs, the Tennessee Child Support Employment and Parenting Program (TCSEPP), serves parents with child support obligations who face barriers to economic and family stability. The initiative is offered in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, providing coordinated support and advocacy for parents in order to promote familial wellbeing across the state.
“The goal is eventually to provide services to every county in Tennessee. The program is expanding statewide because of its proven success in helping noncustodial parents stabilize, meet their child support obligations, and strengthen relationships with their children,” says SWORPS Director Daryl Chansuthus.
With nearly 200 employees throughout Tennessee, SWORPS supports work that leads to measurable impact in communities.
SWORPS’ work with TCSEPP is just one example of the way the program is building bridges across Tennessee. Moving forward, SWORPS wants to strengthen the bridges it’s already built.
SWORPS is almost entirely grant funded. Its programs rely on both local and national grants that empower its work.
Those grants fund programs like TCSEPP and Tennessee Strong Families, among many others. The Tennessee Strong Families program supports healthy births statewide by building capacity among local grantees.
“Tennessee Strong Families provides training and technical assistance to grantees of the governor’s Tennessee Strong Families grant program that provides support to pregnant women and their infant children,” says Chansuthus.
Navigating government grants can be complicated for organizations serving families. Through training and technical assistance, SWORPS helps ensure that Tennesseans understand the resources they have access to and what that can mean for the future of their health and wellbeing.
“SWORPS is an incredibly dynamic organization that is really committed to the service of Tennesseans. We have a number of different projects, but it’s all geared toward service to Tennesseans,” says Michelle LaCourt, SWORPS finance and operations director.
While SWORPS has access to grant funding, another key fund fuels the work it does across the state. The Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS) Enrichment Fund provides the organization with a safety net when, almost inevitably, grants fall through or funding is unpredictable.
When grants do fall through, having this funding helps SWORPS maintain continuity in its workforce and services so that the work they do for the state of Tennessee doesn’t come to a halt.
“The enrichment fund provides essential gap funding when indirect funding doesn’t fully cover our expenses,” says Chansuthus. “It’s critical to our ability to sustain services across the state.”
Having that additional funding also makes it possible for SWORPS to have flexibility and step into projects that might need its help.
The enrichment fund provides essential gap funding when indirect funding doesn’t fully cover our expenses. It’s critical to our ability to sustain services across the state.”
Daryl Chansuthus
SWORPS Director
Small nonprofits with missions critical to the success of Tennessee communities will sometimes reach out to SWORPS for partnering on new grant applications, which requires time and resources. If it weren’t for their enrichment fund, they may not be able to offer the necessary support to local organizations that are also helping build bridges.
“Donor support has been critical for us to be able to say to nonprofits, ‘Yes, we can support you through this,’” says Sissie Hadjiharalambous, SWORPS assistant director.
That support positions SWORPS to scale its impact beyond Tennessee. As its statewide work continues to drive meaningful change, SWORPS is also emerging as a national resource, bringing new partnerships, funding, and innovation back to Tennessee.
“One of our goals is becoming a national resource,” Chansuthus says. “By building upon our expertise and relationships—both in Tennessee and with partners across the country—we can attract larger investments, generate nationally recognized initiatives, and share proven approaches that keep Tennessee at the center of the conversation.”
