Stipend Programs

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

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 of $20,270 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 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.

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.

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 programs and Tribal/Urban Indian agencies providing 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 expenses, and the cost of required textbooks, travel for each day of class, or internship (up to $17,000 per year). A public child welfare employee who has received a letter of support and Employee Educational Work Release Program – EEWRP 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, 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

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

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.

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 Simon

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 Simon

James D. Simon, Ph.D., LCSW
Program Coordinator
[email protected]

LAC DMH Stipend:

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.

For AY '24-'25 the LAC DMH stipend online application will be available starting Wednesday, December 18 through Wednesday, February 12, 2025.