Each year, Azusa Pacific University's Department of Social Work refers graduate students to the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (LA DCFS) to participate in the child welfare stipend program. Through a competitive application process, six candidates are selected to be a part of a paid two year program that leads to employment with the LA DCFS immediately after graduation.
Since 2014, APU has been one of seven universities participating in the LA county/university consortium. LA County provides APU with twelve $26,000 stipends annually. In previous years, the program has varied between one and two years in length. Currently offered as a two year program, half of the stipends are given to students in the second year of the program while the other half are awarded to first year students.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for students who feel called to this kind of work,” said Virginia Olivas, MSW, assistant professor, practicum faculty, and coordinator of the program. “It gives them social work experience, but it is also an invitation to partner with DCFS in an elevated program that is able to train students to contribute to the community and help children and families who find themselves in the public child welfare system.”
During their first year in the program, students intern at community based organizations that partner with DCFS. These include foster family agencies, short-term residential therapy programs, and school-based internships working with foster youth. In their second year, each student is assigned a practicum instructor in Emergency Response (ER) or Continuing Services (CS). A key component of the practicum experience, students shadow a seasoned social worker to learn the intricacies of the job including home visitations, crisis intervention, and resource mobilization. While they spend the academic year with the social worker, by the end of the program, students are conducting interviews, writing portions of court reports, and taking the lead in client-oriented tasks.
The DCFS program includes orientation and training about the public child welfare system, including service equity and access, in which students are hired immediately after graduation. Students are required to work with LA DCFS for at least two years as part of an employment payback period, which entails earning a competitive salary and excellent benefits. Many students end up staying with DCFS for longer than their payback period. “Our students want to work with DCFS to have a career where they can make an impact in the community,” said Kimberly Setterlund, MSW, LCSW, chair of the Department of Social Work, graduate program director, and principal investigator (PI) of the program. “Virginia has done a great job creating relationships with and selecting students who are genuinely interested in serving in this capacity, and that continues to show in our retention rates at DCFS.” The program has come full circle with several alumni becoming practicum instructors for current students. “When I reach out to alumni, some are no longer working in LA County, but they’re still working in child welfare, and that’s our goal when we interview applicants,” Olivas said. “We’re looking for people with a true calling to this field.”
In April, the Department of Social Work will celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the program’s first graduating cohort. Alumni, faculty, partners of DCFS, and others involved in the program will all be in attendance. “A lot has been invested in our students which has led to the program’s longevity,” Olivas said. “We hope to continue this valuable partnership because it’s an important part of having a graduate social work program that sets our students on an impactful career path.”