If you’re a School of Social Work student, or considering enrolling, you could receive up to $10,000 per academic year toward your tuition by participating in the Child Welfare Education Program (CWEP). This collaborative effort between the School and the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) assists students pursuing their Bachelor or Master of Social Work degree with a focus of study in child welfare by providing tuition assistance and educational support.
In a recently published video overview for the program, BSW and MSW graduate Maria Prado talked about her time in the program, “For me, my education has given me a platform and courage, the courage to speak my truth. My education has changed my life and it will yours. Savor it like you would that delicious meal that your mom made for you when you were a child.”
After graduating from the program, Prado became a Permanency Supervisor at the Gresham Child Welfare Office.
The Child Welfare Education Program’s mission is to improve outcomes for children and families involved with the Oregon state or tribal child welfare systems through advancing the social work education of child welfare employees and those aspiring to become employed in child welfare. Strong candidates for the program will have a desire to make a significant contribution to the field of public or tribal Child Welfare. They may also have experience working with children, youth and families, or a familiarity with Oregon's public or tribal Child Welfare system.
While receiving funding from the program, students must complete one of their internships in public or tribal Child Welfare. Upon acceptance into the program, students also sign an agreement with the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), agreeing to work for the Department of Human Services (DHS) in public Child Welfare or for tribal Child Welfare upon graduation from Portland State University’s BSW or MSW program.
“DHS and ODHS and Child Welfare need people with social work backgrounds and social work education,” said Prado, “We owe it to the people that we serve to be able to not only understand or say buzzwords, but to also be able to operationalize trauma informed culturally responsive exchange space. Our social work education helps us do that.”
Students accepted into the Child Welfare Education Program may also participate in the Culturally Responsive Leaders Program (CRL), which supports students from diverse cultural backgrounds who graduate with their MSW. This initiative of developing a highly skilled and supported, culturally aware workforce specifically addresses the challenges that may impede progress towards equitable outcomes for children, youth and families.
“Lived experience means so much to social work,” said MSW and CRL graduate LeMont Boyd, “We bring our lived experiences into this work, particularly in Child Welfare. We have to be aware of what our biases are. We have to be aware of where our blind spots are. We have to be aware of how policies and systems have impacted our personal journeys and our lives.”
Since its inception in 2009 through a five year grant from the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI), CRL has provided a specialized MSW pathway for culturally responsive students who are emerging leaders in Child Welfare. There is a continued need to develop a Child Welfare workforce that represents diversity. Child Welfare is committed to serving the overrepresentation of children, youth and families, such as LGBTQ, African American, Native American and linguistically diverse populations.
Boyd now serves as Race and Equity Transformation Manager with the Office of Equity and Multicultural services within ODHS. “CRL taught me how to really value human connection and relationships,” he said, “At the end of the day, folks in CRL, whether you’re from the LGBTQ community or the Black community, or the Latinx community, there’s this common thread of systems and oppression and marginalization. This can have a deep and rich impact in your ability to move forward in your life and in your career. And so for me, I found CRL as a place to really decompress and create space for shared learning.”
Since 2007, 253 School of Social Work students have received stipends from the Child Welfare Education Program, with 39 of them graduating from the Culturally Responsive Leaders Program.
Prado also graduated from the Culturally Responsive Leaders program and said, “CRL gave me the courage to lean in and be really open and to speak up and speak out about marginalization, about social justice. The CRL helped me hone that in. It also gave me the courage that people like me and people who look like me actually have a voice and have something to say, whether others want to hear it or not. We need to be at the table to speak about our community. We cannot have others talk about us and make decisions about us any longer. This causes way too much harm.”
Boyd agrees that CRL empowers its graduates, “Power is important. I heard a saying on a song once that said ‘Power is powerless if you do not acknowledge it.’ So we have to acknowledge the power that we do have and CRL is a perfect platform to do that.”
The Child Welfare Education Program will hold three live online Question and Answer Sessions before applications are due on February 15, 2022. These sessions will be held on Zoom at the following times: