Robin Whitney

Robin Whitney, LMSW, BSW Assistant Field Coordinator

Robin Whitney, MSW, joined the faculty of the School of Social Work in summer 2020, in the newly created position of BSW Assistant Field Coordinator. Robin has primary responsibility for placing undergraduate social work students in their field practicums. She works with the Field Team in developing new field sites and providing training to field instructors. Robin brings to the position years of experience serving as a field instructor herself, as well as her extensive experience in child welfare.

In her 30 years at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Robin gained increasing responsibility with multiple promotions. She began as an Eligibility Specialist, followed by a Child Protective Social Worker, and then a Child and Family Services Supervisor. In her final 14 years at DHHS, she served first as the Assistant Child Welfare Program Administrator and finally as the Child Welfare Program Administrator out of the Bangor office. She retired from this position in 2019, the year she also received the School of Social Work Alumni of the Year Award.

Not only does Robin have deep knowledge regarding child welfare and what families need to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect, she also has extensive supervisory experience. For her final 14 years at DHHS, she had responsibility for the work of 80 employees serving children at risk for, or having been impacted by, child abuse and neglect. She has skills as a trainer on topics such as mandated reporting, child welfare reform, and issues impacting family functioning, and she served as the domestic violence liaison for Child Protective Services out of the Bangor DHHS office.

Robin teaches SWK 395, Junior Field Experience, the BSW course introducing students to hands on work in the field. Her vast experience as a practitioner offers students a chance to learn via real-life examples of social work on the ground.