UCLA

UCLA SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE Dear Student: Congratulations! You have been nominated to be considered for a Title IV-E Public Child Welfare stipend award through the UCLA Department of Social Welfare. Our Department offers two programs to prepare graduates for careers in Public Child Welfare. These are the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) Program and the Inter-University Consortium (IUC). You may apply for both programs if you wish. Current employees of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services may not apply for the IUC stipend. The California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) was created by the California Deans and Directors of Graduate Schools of Social Work and the California Welfare Directors Association to encourage Masters level social work graduates in the state to prepare for careers in Public Child Welfare. CalSWEC has developed a program of two-year stipends @ $18,500 per year for full-time students interested in a career in public child welfare, utilizing funds from Title IV-E, and linked to a curriculum developed jointly by educators and professionals in public child welfare practice. UCLA and the LA County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) have collaborated to operate a field unit for students interested in direct practice applications. LA County as well as Orange County Social Services also provide a wide variety of placements for students interested in specialized areas, including management. Upon graduation, students are required to work for two years at a Department of Children and Family Services within the state of California. The Inter-University Consortium is a partnership between the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and the four Universities offering graduate education in social work in Los Angeles County. The Consortium partners are California State University Long Beach, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, and California State University Los Angeles. The contract is funded by Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The stipend is $18,500 and involves University faculty and staff in student and employee training. Each University operates a student field unit that is a site for practice innovations designed to enhance DCFS’s capacity to provide protective, preventive foster care and adoptive services. Upon graduation, students are required to work for one year as a Children’s Social Worker in the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Students selected for these stipends will complete a specialized curriculum and a field placement focusing on Public Child Welfare. This specialized curriculum prepares the intern for working in a public child welfare setting. Note that this may require the taking of additional courses, beyond core requirements. SELECTION PROCESS For students applying for either or both stipends, please note that all four social work schools in the Los Angeles area will collaborate with an Awards Committee. The Awards Committee will also include representatives of public child welfare agencies. The Awards Committee will make its recommendations based on the review of this application soon after the interview process. Please note that the Committee will NOT be able to consider any of the following applicants: 1) applicants who have student visas; 2) persons convicted of a felony; or 3) persons with a conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) in the last 5 years. CalSWEC and IUC interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis. For interview dates and deadlines for completed applications, please go to the department website at http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/sw. Click on Academics, then Training Programs. After you submit your application, we will notify you if you have been selected for an interview in accordance with the dates listed on the department website, please be available at the contact numbers you list on your application. If you are applying for other financial aid through the University, you should make this stipend application known on your application for financial aid. Please note that you may apply for both the IUC and the CalSWEC stipend. Again, if you are a Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services employee, you may only apply for the CalSWEC stipend. In summary, the following is the Title IV-E stipend application process (for each ROUND): APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY FAX, E-MAIL* or MAILED TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: Ayanna Maharry CalSWEC UCLA School of Public Affairs 3250 Public Affairs Building/165606 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656 T: (310) 206-6048 F: (310) 825-1169 E-mail: maharry@spa.ucla.edu Application Deadline is April 18, 2008 We hope that you will give serious consideration to this opportunity and carefully evaluate the commitment it requires you to make. We are pleased that you will be attending UCLA in the Fall. We look forward to meeting you. Sincerely yours, Joycelyn M. Crumpton, MSW CalSWEC Project Coordinator Carole Bender, J.D., MSW Director, UCLA Center on Child Welfare I.U.C. Ted Benjamin, PhD Chair, Dept. of Social Welfare *Note: if you email your application, you must bring the signature page to the interview. UCLA School of Public Affairs DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE APPLICATION FOR PUBLIC CHILD WELFARE STIPEND Applying For: I. II.  IUC (1 year)  CalSWEC (2 years)  Both Name: ___________________________________________________ Gender: M F Address: ____________________________________________________________________________ Mailing Address: _____________________________________________________________________ Home Phone ( ) _____________________ Work Phone ( ) _____________________________ III. IV. V. VI. Birth date: _________________ SSN (last 4 digits) ________Email:_______________________________ Language(s) Spoken Fluently (other than English): _________________ Ethnicity:__________________ Education: Univ. _______________________ Degree/Major(s) ____________ Year _______ Are you currently a County employee applying for on educational leave? Yes _____No_____ If yes, Name of Agency: __________________________________________________________ Agency Address: ________________________________________________________________ Job Title: ______________________ Supervisor=s Name: ____________________________ Year Employed: From ________________________ To _______________________________ Job Duties: ____________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ VII. List any previous related work experiences, including name(s) of agency(ies) in which you were employed. Attach an additional page or resume, if necessary. Agency Job Titles/Responsibilities Date of Employment ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ VIII. List related internships, volunteer experiences, and research duties. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ IX. List academic awards and/or publications: ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ X. Directions: Please write no more than two (8 1/2 x 11) pages responding to all the following questions separately, in the following order: (1) What influences or experiences have led you to choose a career in social work? (2) What is it about child welfare or child protective services that attracts you? (4) What are the personal strengths that you might bring to this training opportunity? (4) Are there any personal/family issues (religious beliefs, time commitments) or circumstances that might be obstacles to successfully completing this demanding fieldwork placement or work commitment? (5) What is your understanding of the commitment involved in accepting a CalSWEC or IUC/DCFS stipend award? (6) What is your understanding of the duties and responsibilities of a public child welfare worker? Please provide no more than a one-page response to the following vignette and question. Lopez Family: mother, father and three children; the oldest is Eduardo, a 10 year old male. Suspected child abuse report alleges that Eduardo was severely physically abused, because he got bad grades on his report card. When you get to the home, the mother tells you that her husband beats Eduardo, but she can=t say anything because she is afraid of him. You had done a criminal records check and found out that he was convicted of an assault charge, related to domestic violence, two years ago. As a public child welfare worker, what would be your goal here? Tell us three things you would do to address your goal. If you are a current employee in a county agency, please provide us with a statement of support from your agency administrator in order to qualify for preference in stipend assignment. I understand this award requires that I maintain full-time enrollment in the MSW program and that I will be placed in a public child welfare agency or child welfare and/or a public agency serving child welfare clients for my fieldwork courses; and that I am obligated to pay back this award through a one- or two-year work commitment in a public child welfare agency. XI. ______________________________________ Signature ______________________________ Date Return Application To: Public Child Welfare Stipends ATTN: Ayanna Maharry UCLA School of Public Affairs Department of Social Welfare 3250 Public Policy Building Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656 Fax: (310) 825-1169 E-mail: maharry@spa.ucla.edu CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE IV-E CALIFORNIA SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION CENTER (CalSWEC) STIPEND * 1. Nature of Stipend: The CalSWEC IV-E Stipends provide for two years of support of $18,500 per year for students in the MSW program. This stipend and the MSW training program are designed to prepare students for careers in public child welfare. One field placement is a county child welfare service agency and the second placement is in a private non-profit or mental health agency serving child welfare clients. An MSW student intern unit is available at the Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services; however, some students choose to be placed in neighboring counties or at individual public child welfare placements. Work Requirements: Students must sign a contract agreeing to pay back this award by securing employment in a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) agency within six months of graduation. They must work one year for each year of aid awarded (with CalSWEC, this is typically two years). During this payback period, salary and benefits are received. Students who are public child welfare employees on educational leave from their agency must return to work in their home county upon graduation. All other students are encouraged to seek employment first within a 75-mile radius of their home. Sudents may also exercise their option to work in a PCW agency anywhere in the state of California. The vast majority of our CalSWEC graduates were able to obtain employment in the county of their first choice. CalSWEC hosts an employment faire in the spring quarter of your second year, so you can be apprised of all your options. A student may be released from the payback requirements under certain Ahardship@ conditions. Work Interruption: A graduate who terminates employment before the payback requirement is completed must repay the full stipend. Waivers of repayment may be made in case of permanent disability or death. If a graduate is laid off because of county budget cuts, he/she will not be penalized. However, he/she must participate in an active job search again. Payback Requirements: Students are responsible for payback of stipends and any costs of collection under the following circumstances: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) failure to complete the MSW within the normative two-year period (unless a hardship extension is granted); failure to accept appropriate employment at a Public Child Welfare agency within California; failure to qualify for any public child welfare agency employment, as a result of failing interviews, medical or psychological exams, or criminal clearance; failure to disclose a past or subsequent conviction for a felony or a crime involving harm to children; driving under the influence conviction within the last 5 years; voluntary termination of employment before completion of the work requirement (unless a hardship extension is granted); termination of employment before completion of the work requirement due to poor or improper conduct; and violation of the NASW Code of Ethics. 2. 3. 4. * Please note that the IV-E stipend award is contingent upon continued provision of IV-E funds at current levels. Initial:_______ CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE IV-E INTER-UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM (IUC) STIPENDS 1. Nature of Stipend: The IUC IV-E Stipends provide for one year of support of $18,500 for students in the MSW program. This stipend and MSW training program are designed to prepare students for a career in public child welfare. The field placement will be in a UCLA MSW intern unit within the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Students have the option of applying for the one-year stipend during either their first or second year of study. Work Requirement: Students must sign a contract agreeing to pay back this award by securing employment in the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services agency within two months of graduation. They must work one year for the year of aid awarded. During this year of service as an employee, you will receive full salary and benefits. Work Interruption: A graduate who terminates employment before the payback requirement is completed must repay the full stipend. Hardship extensions may be sought, but they only postpone the work requirement for one year. Waivers of repayment may be made in case of permanent disability or death. If a graduate is laid off because of county budget cuts, payback may be waived. Payback Requirements: Students are responsible for payback of stipends and any costs of collection under the following circumstances: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) failure to complete the MSW within the normative two-year period (unless a hardship extension is granted); failure to accept appropriate employment; failure to qualify for employment, as a result of failing an interview, medical or psychological exam, or criminal clearance; failure to disclose a past or subsequent conviction for a felony or a crime involving harm to children; driving under the influence conviction within the last 5 years; voluntary termination of employment before completion of the work requirement (unless a hardship extension is granted); termination of employment before completion of the work requirement due to poor or improper conduct; and violation of the NASW Code of Ethics. 2. 3. 4. * Please note that the IV-E stipend award is contingent upon continued provision of IV-E funds at current levels. Initial:_______ UCLA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE School of Public Affairs PREPARATION FOR CAREERS IN PUBLIC CHILD WELFARE (PCW) Inter-University Consortium on Child Welfare IUC/DCFS Stipend ** 1-Year Stipend--$18,500 for the year. ** The one year option can be done during the 1st or 2nd year. ** Payback is accomplished by 1 year post MSW service to LA County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). ** LA County DCFS employees are not eligible while an employee. ** Children & Youth Services specialization is required during MSW. ** Specialized Internship Units are utilized. More info available at: More info available at: California Social Work Education Center CalSWEC Stipend ** 2-Year Stipend--$18,500 for each year. ** Payback is accomplished by 2 years post MSW service to PCW agency within the state of California. ** LA County or other DCFS employees are eligible. Some MSW programs have part-time options. Letter of approval is needed from employer. ** Children & Youth Services specialization is required during MSW. ** Specialized Internship Units/Programs are utilized. http://www.sppsr.ucla.edu/acad/sw/ccw/Education.htm http://www.spa.ucla.edu/dept.cfm?d=sw&s=academic&f=trai ning.cfm&sf=calswec_home.cfm COMMON QUESTIONS * What are the reasons to pursue an MSW degree and training? * How do I apply? * How much does it cost? * Is other financial aid available? * Are there any priorities in recruitment? * How do I get a leave of absence? What are my options otherwise? If you have questions, please contact: Michelle Talley, LCSW IUC Field Consultant (310) 206-2697 talley@spa.ucla.edu Larthia Dunham, MSW IUC Field Consultant (310) 825-5810 dunham@spa.ucla.edu Laura Alongi, LCSW CalSWEC Field Consultant (310) 206-9201 alongi@spa.ucla.edu Mary Kay Oliveri, LCSW CalSWEC Field Consultant (310) 206-6282 mko@ucla.edu Joycelyn Crumpton, MSW CalSWEC Project Coordinator (310) 206-6048 crumpton@spa.ucla.edu