The School of Social Work (SSW) is excited to open the call for applications to recruit HCAI fellows who are passionate and committed to serving underprivileged individuals, families, and communities challenged by behavioral health issues.
Supported by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) Social Work Education Capacity Expansion (SWECE) Grant Program, selected fellows will be awarded a stipend amount of $10,000 per academic year, pending meeting all the HCAI Fellowship requirements.
Please review the following details of the HCAI Fellowship information & Application Instructions.
Who Can Apply?
Newly admitted full-time fall 2024 MSW students entering the Advanced Standing Program (ASP) or the MSW 2-Yr program and;
Enrolled in social work practicum focusing on behavioral health (mental health and or substance use)
What is the HCAI Fellowship Award?
Stipend for those in behavioral health-focused practicum students ($10,000 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?
• MSW ASP students must maintain good academic standing, including practicum (GPA 3.0 or higher and pass Practicum SW 5950C and SW 5950D).
• MSW 2-year students must maintain good academic standing, including practicum (GPA 3.0 or higher and pass Practicum SW 5950A, SW 5950B, SW 5950C, and SW 5950D).
• Both MSW ASP and MSW 2-year students must meet and complete all the stipend requirements, including training and related events.
• Both MSW ASP and MSW 2-year students must be in a behavioral practicum setting during the entire MSW program.
• Both MSW ASP and MSW 2-year students must make and demonstrate a commitment to work in behavioral social work practice settings upon graduating from the Cal State LA MSW program.
• Both MSW ASP and MSW 2-year students must complete thesis/project in behavioral health (i.e., mental health and/or substance use).
• Both MSW ASP and MSW 2-year students 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)
How do I apply for the HCAI Fellowship?
Complete a short application online. Answer a few questions in the application and upload your resume in a PDF file.
The application site is currently open for MSW ASP students. The application period will close on May 19, 2024 (11:59 PM PST).
MSW ASP applications will be reviewed, and selected applicants will be invited to interview. [Tentative interview schedules: June 6 (Thursday), June (Friday), June 10 (Monday), June 11 (Tuesday), June 12 (Wednesday) and June 13 (Thursday)]
The application site is currently open for MSW 2-year students. The application period will close on June 10, 2024 (11:59 PM, PST).
MSW 2-year applications will be reviewed and selected applicants will be invited for interviews. [Tentative interview schedules: June 20 (Thursday), June 21 (Friday), June 24 (Monday), June 25 (Tuesday), and June 26 (Wednesday)]
Whom I contact if I have questions?
For the HCAI Fellowship Application, please get in touch with Ga-Young Choi, Ph.D., Professor & HCAI SWECE Project Coordinator, [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]
We look forward to hearing from many of you!
HCAI SWECE Team
Faculty Team Members
Siyon Rhee, Ph.D., Professor & Director of the SSW
Ga-Young Choi, Ph.D., Professor & HCAI SWECE Project Coordinator
Hermila Melero, LCSW, Director of the Social Work Practicum Education
Anh-Luu Huynh-Hohnbaum, Ph.D., Professor & MSW (2-Yr & 3-Yr) Program Director
Taqi Tirmazi, Ph.D., Associate Professor & ASP Director
Staff Team Members
Alba Galaviz, M.S.
Nelly Carrillo Barajas, M.S.
Michelle Lightburn, MSW
Important Documents and Links
MSW ASP HCAI Fellowship Announcement Flyer
MSW ASP HCAI Fellowship Q&A
MSW 2-Year HCAI Fellow Announcement Flyer
MSW 2-Year HCAI Fellowship Q&A
The California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) Title IV-E Program at CSULA’s School of Social Work began in 1999. CalSWEC is a partnership among the 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.
CalSWEC 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, CalSWEC 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.
Application and Admissions
Interested candidates must first apply to the CSULA MSW Program. A CalSWEC application will be sent to the MSW program upon acceptance.
Complete the “Application for Public Child Welfare Stipend Program” included in the acceptance packet.
CSULA School of Social Work offers a full-time/2-year CalSWEC IV-E program and a part-time/3-year CalSWEC Title IV-E program. The part-time/3-year CalSWEC program is for current county child welfare employees who are eligible for release time.
To be eligible for CalSWEC, 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.
CalSWEC Internships
For their first year of internship, students are placed in a community-based organization that serves Title IV-E 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 CalSWEC IV-E Stipend Program (2-year students only)
Stipend Recipients receive $25,000 per academic year (totaling $50,000). Upon graduation, must obtain a position in public child welfare for at least one year for each year of financial support received. This employment obligation must be fulfilled within the state of California at a county public child welfare agency (including LA County) for two (2) years.
Part-time CalSWEC IV-E Stipend Program (3-year students who are current employees of a county Public Child Welfare Agency)
Recipients receive reimbursement for tuition and fees and the cost of required textbooks, travel for each day of class, or fieldwork (up to $17,000 per year). A public child welfare employee who has received a letter of support and release time agrees to return to the agency of employment immediately after MSW graduation and render two years of continuous and satisfactory full-time job in a position that is at least at a level appropriate to a new MSW in child welfare services.
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 and current automobile insurance, and secure car use as required by field work.
Completion of a Child Welfare elective course, which takes place in the concentration year.
Undergo pre-screening for county employment, including fingerprinting, psychological examination, and medical examination.
The LA County MSW DCFS Stipend Program is a federally funded program and partnership between the County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and seven MSW programs in Southern California. Under the Title IV-E provision of the Social Security Act, the goal is to improve the professional preparation of public child welfare workers. The collaborative offers a DCFS Internship Program for MSW students. CSULA provides up to eight stipends annually. The DCFS Internship is a one-year stipend program offered in the second year of the field (2nd year in the 2-year program and 3rd year in the 3-year program). MSW students receive a stipend of $18,500. Upon graduation, students must work at L.A. County DCFS for one year. The goal is to have students commit to a career with DCFS.
Who may apply?
Eligible students must submit a DCFS Stipend application.
The application and instructions are sent in the admissions packet for 2-year program students. Applications for 3-year students are made available at the 1st-year placement orientation. Selected students will be invited for an interview.
Please click here to view our Info Sheet 2024
For more information, please contact:
Lisa Valenzuela, MSW
LA DCFS Stipend Coordinator
[email protected]
Geriatric Social Work Education Consortium
The Southern California Geriatric Social Work Education Consortium (GSWEC) is the nation's first major regional consortium consisting of GSWEC-accredited graduate social work programs, geriatric social work agencies, and various health and social aging service providers. Funding for student stipends comes from private foundations with the goal of creating a replicable and sustainable model for integrated field and academic graduate geriatric social work education. The goal is to advance the preparation of geriatric social workers to strengthen the quality of care available to older populations.
Stipend: Students are selected directly through GSWEC and receive a stipend varying from $4,000 to $6,000. A primary field placement is customized to students' geriatric practice interests. A secondary case-based experience complements the continuum of care and offers opportunities for specialized learning needs and a macro project. Students receive competency-based training and a certificate upon program completion and participate in a special graduation program at the end of the year.
Admission: Students must be in the Aging and Family Concentration to apply. The application process starts every January during the 2nd year field education placement process (during the first year of field education). Students are selected and matched with a GSWEC agency through the 2nd year interview process.
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 CalSWEC, 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]
CalSWEC’s Adults and Aging Program has launched the statewide Adult Protective Services MSW Training Program for MSW Students to address the workforce development needs of California’s county and Tribal APS programs. Funded by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and administered by CalSWEC, the APS MSW Training Program will build on the work of the pilot San Francisco Bay Area APS Training Program that was implemented from 2019 to 2021. The program’s central goal is to increase the number of MSWs working in county and Tribal APS units across the state by providing selected MSW students with specialized training and stipend support.
MSW students receive a stipend of $20,000 and must complete additional APS training requirement during their studies. In addition, they must be placed in an agency that that delivers services to older adults during their foundation year or in an adult protective services agency during their advanced year. Upon graduation, students must fulfill a one-year work commitment though the goal is for students to commit to a career in adult protective services.
Who may apply?
Eligible students in an eligible field placement during their foundation or advanced year must submit an APS 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]