What is the HCAI Fellowship Award?
The Cal State LA MSW Health Care Access and Information Social Work Education Capacity Expansion (HCAI SWECE) Behavioral Health Training Fellowship is for students interested in and committed to working in the fields of behavioral health (mental health and/or substance use) as clinical social workers, serving children and youth through age up to 25 years old and their caregivers in underserved/unserved communities.
Who Can Apply?
In the upcoming academic year (2026), incoming Advanced Standing MSW Program (ASP) students are eligible to apply.
Selected fellows will receive $15,000 per academic year during their program length, in addition to attending behavioral health training sessions.
What is the HCAI Fellowship Award?
Stipend for those in behavioral health-focused practicum students ($15,000 per academic year).
An effort to increase the behavioral health workforce upon graduation from the MSW program.
What are the requirements to maintain the HCAI Fellow status?
The HCAI Fellowship requirements for the Fellows include the following:
1) Maintain a good academic standing, including practicum (GPA 3.0 or higher and pass Practicum-SW 5950A, SW 5950B, SW 5950C, and SW 5950D);
2) Meet and complete all the stipend requirements, including training and related events;
3) Be in a behavioral practicum setting during the entire MSW program;
4) Make and demonstrate a commitment to work in behavioral social work practice settings upon graduating from the Cal State LA MSW program;
5) Complete thesis/project in the areas of behavioral health (i.e., mental health and or substance use); and
6) Must take two elective courses directly relating to behavioral health as the required elective course (SW 5802: Empowerment and Recovery in Mental Health and SW 5804: Trauma, Substance Abuse & Violence).
Employment Obligation: There is no payback obligation. There is also no obligation to work in a specific behavioral health setting. However, HCAI Fellows are expected to work in underserved communities in the fields of behavioral health for 5 years, providing direct services to children and youth age up to 25 years old after graduating from the program. Behavioral health in the SSW HCAI SWECE Fellowship includes mental health and substance use.
How do I apply for the HCAI Fellowship?
Students admitted to the Advanced Standing MSW Program (ASP) will receive application instructions in the Spring 2026 semester. Students will complete a short application online. Answer a few questions in the application and upload your resume in a PDF file.
Applications will be reviewed, and selected applicants will be invited to an interview.
Whom do I contact if I have questions?
For the HCAI Fellowship Application, please get in touch with Ga-Young Choi, Ph.D., Professor, Associate Director, & HCAI SWECE Project Coordinator, at [email protected].
For the MSW Practicum within the HCAI Fellowship Program, please get in touch with Hermila Melero, LCSW, the Director of the Social Work Practicum Education, at [email protected].
California Title IV-E Education Program (formerly CalSWEC)
The California Title IV-E Education Program (CA Title IV-E) at CSULA’s School of Social Work began as CalSWEC in 1999. CA Title IV-E is a partnership among Schools of Social Work, public human services agencies, and other related professional organizations that facilitates the integration of education and practice to assure effective, culturally responsive service delivery to the people of California.
CA Title IV-E provides professional education and monetary support to social work students who intend to pursue or continue a career in public child welfare upon graduation. Funded through Title IV-E monies from the federal government, CA Title IV-E provides stipends to MSW students in exchange for a commitment to work in a public child welfare agency within the State of California for a minimum of two years and the opportunity for a fulfilling lifelong career in public child welfare.
Stipends may be available to BASW students, depending upon overall grant funding. BASW stipend recipients commit to a minimum of one year of public child welfare employment after graduation.
Application and Admissions
Interested candidates must first apply to the CSULA MSW Program. A CA Title IV-E application will be sent upon acceptance to the MSW program.
CSULA School of Social Work offers a 2-year CA Title IV-E program and a 3-year CA Title IV-E program. The 3-year CA Title IV-E reimbursement program is for current county child welfare employees who are eligible for the DCFS Employee Educational Work Release Program (EEWRP). Stipends may be available to other students in the 3-year MSW program (non-county child welfare employees) during their 2nd and 3rd year of the program.
To be eligible for CA Title IV-E, you must be able to pass a criminal background check. If you are unable to successfully complete any of the program requirements, you must repay the stipend.
CA Title IV-E Internships
For their first year of internship, students are placed in a community-based organization that serves Title IV-E eligible children and families. During their second year of internship, students are placed with Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services, where they have the opportunity to practice and develop skills and tasks consistent with those of Children’s Social Workers in public child welfare. Students who are LA County DCFS employees are assigned to a placement that is different from their assignments as employees.
Full-time CA Title IV-E Education Program (2- and 3-year program and ASP students)
Stipend recipients in the 2-year program receive $25,000 each academic year (totaling $50,000). 3-year program students may be eligible in their 2nd and 3rd year of the MSW program. Advanced Standing Program (ASP) students are eligible for a 1-year stipend of $25,000.
Upon graduation, recipients must obtain a position in a county public child welfare agency to fulfill their two (2) year employment obligation within the state of California. ASP graduates have a 1-year service requirement.
Graduates may apply to Los Angeles County DCFS (Department of Children & Family Services) or any county agency in California and are not limited to Los Angeles County DCFS. They may also apply to CDSS Children and Family Services Division, or Tribal/Urban Indian agencies in California that provide child welfare services.
Part-time CA Title IV-E Education Program (3-year program students who are current employees of a county Public Child Welfare Agency)
Recipients receive reimbursement for tuition, fees, educational supplies, the cost of required textbooks, and travel for each day of class or internship. A public child welfare employee agrees to return to public child welfare employment immediately after MSW graduation and render two years of continuous and satisfactory full-time employment.
Program Requirements:
- Maintain a B (3.0) average in all coursework.
- Successfully complete the first year of internship, placed in a non-profit agency serving IV-E eligible children.
- Successfully complete the second year of internship placed in a public child welfare agency.
- Have a valid driver’s license, current automobile insurance, and secure car use as required by practicum work.
- Completion of a Child Welfare elective course, which takes place in the concentration year.
- Undergo pre-screening for county employment, including fingerprinting. Employment screening for LA County DCFS after graduation includes a psychological evaluation and medical examination.
Please click here to view our brochure.
For additional information, please contact:
Carol Mroz, MSW
Program Coordinator
[email protected]
LADCFS + UCLA Academy of Workforce Excellence Child Welfare Internship Program
LADCFS + UCLA Academy of Workforce Excellence, Child Welfare Internship Program is offered under the Title IV-E provision of the Social Security Act, with the goal of strengthening professional social work practice in public child welfare agencies. This stipend opportunity is offered through a federally funded program in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and six other partnering Los Angeles-area MSW programs. This stipend provides financial support to MSW students interested in child welfare in exchange for a commitment to work with Los Angeles County DCFS after graduation.
This is a 2-year stipend program. The LA DCFS Internship provides a stipend of $26,000 per year for MSW students. Students in the 2-year program are eligible to apply once accepted into the MSW program. Students in the 3-year program are eligible to apply in the spring semester prior to their first year of practicum. ASP students are also eligible (internship and commitment will be one year). Information about this program will be shared at an orientation and through recruitment meetings. CSULA has 8 stipends to award annually.
If selected for the LA DCFS Internship, the student will intern with a community-based agency in the first year that works with DCFS clients or those at risk of abuse/neglect. In the second year, the student will be placed at a DCFS office. In return, stipend recipients agree to work for LA County DCFS for 2 years after graduation, with full salary and benefits.
MSW students who are interested in exploring a career in public child welfare are encouraged to apply. To learn more about program eligibility, application, program requirements, and internship please contact:
Lisa Valenzuela, MSW
LA DCFS Stipend Coordinator
[email protected]
*Final Title IV-E Stipend awards are contingent upon final funding of the Title IV-E Stipend UCLA Sub award Grant, anticipated July 1.
The Public Behavioral Health MSW Training Program is part of a statewide behavioral health workforce development initiative to address California’s pressing public behavioral health workforce development needs. Funded by the California Office of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) and administered by San Jose State University (SJSU), this program expands on the work of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) MSW Training Program. Its central goal is to increase the employment and retention of MSWs in California’s publicly funded behavioral health programs and services by providing selected MSW students with specialized training and stipend support.
MSW students receive a stipend of $25,000 and must complete additional PBH training requirements during their studies. In addition, they must be placed in an agency that delivers publicly funded behavioral health care services, e.g., community-based behavioral health care clinics and agencies, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, schools, colleges, SELPAs, etc.
Upon graduation, students must fulfill a one-year work commitment though the goal is for students to commit to a career in public behavioral health.
Who may apply?
Eligible students in an eligible field placement during their foundation or advanced year must submit a PBH Stipend application online, and selected students will be invited for an interview.
For more information, please contact:
James D. Simon, Ph.D., LCSW
Program Coordinator
[email protected]
The AAS MSW Training Program is funded by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and reflects statewide workforce development goals prioritized in California’s Master Plan for Aging to:
1. To provide specialized education, training and stipend support for MSW students who are committed to careers providing social work services to aging and vulnerable adults through California’s public systems.
2. To better prepare new MSWs to provide effective, evidence-based professional social work services to meet the complex needs of aging and vulnerable adults served by California’s public Adult Services departments.
3. To enhance the hiring, retention and career development of MSWs in public Adult Services programs and further professionalize these services in all regions of the state.
MSW students receive a stipend of $25,000 and must complete additional AAS training requirements during their studies. In addition, they must be placed in an agency that delivers services to older adults during their foundation year and advanced year.
Upon graduation, students must fulfill a one-year work commitment, though the goal is for students to commit to a career in an eligible agency serving aging and/or vulnerable adults. Eligible placements include:
- Public (county and Tribal) Adult Protective Services, In Home Supportive Services, and Public Guardian/Public Conservator programs
- Area Agency on Aging programs funded by the California Department of Aging
- PACE Programs - Programs of All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly
- MSSPs - Multipurpose Senior Services Programs
- CBAS - Community-Based Adult Services
- Public behavioral health programs in public Adult Services and Behavioral Health departments designed to serve aging and vulnerable adults specifically
Who may apply?
Eligible students in an eligible field placement during their foundation or advanced year must submit an AAS Stipend application online, and selected students will be invited for an interview.
For more information, please contact:
James D. Simon, Ph.D., LCSW
Program Coordinator
[email protected]
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LAC DMH) Stipend Program is a workforce initiative funded through the Mental Health Services Act for five fiscal years, 2022-23 through 2026-27. Campbellsville University – Los Angeles Regional Center is the fiscal entity and administrator of the LAC DMH Stipend Program.
The purpose of the LAC DMH Stipend Program is to recruit and grow the public mental health workforce with qualified clinical professionals completing the following degrees:
- Master’s degree from an accredited School of Social Work (MSW)
- Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in marriage, family and child counseling, marital and family therapy, psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or counseling with an emphasis in either marriage, family, and child counseling or marriage and family therapy (MFT)
- Doctorate from an accredited college or university in psychology, educational psychology, education with the field of specialization in counseling psychology, or in a discipline deemed equivalent by the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs, Board of Psychology (Ph.D./Psy.D.)
- Approved master’s level Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner’s Program issued by an accredited college or university (PNP)
Each year 144 stipends will be awarded and allocated as follows: MSW (60), MFT (60), Ph.D./Psy.D. (20), and PNP (4). The County has the option to move stipends between disciplines based on the number of qualifying applicants. The amount per stipend regardless of discipline is $18,500. Students awarded a stipend will need to commit one-year employment post-degree in a clinical capacity at either a directly operated or agency contracted by LAC DMH.
The LAC DMH stipend application will become available at the end of the fall semester of your FINAL year of the MSW program. Students are not eligible to apply until they are in their final year of the MSW program. It’s an online application administered by Campbellsville University. You will receive an email when the online application becomes available, including the application deadline.