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MSW Title IV-E Child Welfare Program

CalSWEC Mission Statement

CalSWEC is a partnership between the School of Social Work, public human services agencies, and other related and professional organizations that facilitates the integration of Social Work Education, practice and values to assure effective, culturally competent service delivery and leadership to alleviate negative human conditions such as racism and poverty for people in California.

Goals of the Child Welfare Social Work Curriculum in California

  1. Recruiting, preparing and retaining a diverse population of social workers in public human service and special emphasis on child welfare;
  2. Defining and operationalizing a continuum of Social Work Education and training;
  3. Engaging in research and evaluation of best practices in social work;
  4. Advocating for responsive social policies and appropriate resources ;and
  5. Exploring organizational model, which provide maximum opportunity for achieving goals one through four.

CalSWEC Objectives

  1. The administration of a stipend program for students linked with employment requirements in public child welfare services.
  2. The development, by educators and agency personnel, of a competency-based curriculum directed toward child welfare in publicly supported social services.
  3. Statewide implementation of the curriculum competencies.
  4. The facilitation of collaborative agency-school evaluation of social services programs.
  5. Joint agency-school efforts to encourage the retention of professional in public agencies.

Title IV-E Child Welfare program have been implemented in social work programs around the country to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for work in public child welfare.

The purpose of the Child Welfare Social Work Curriculum Development Project of the California Social Work Education Center was to establish new educational objectives for social workers who aid poor and minority families, and publicly supported public child welfare services. Curriculum development in Social Work Education is needed because the field of child welfare is changing rapidly. For example, P.L. 96-272 (1980) established a focus on keeping children in their homes and on permanency planning, in an effort to break the cycle of multiple foster homes for dependent children.

Participant requirement at t are as as follows::"'"

components involving both academic and field preparation. In addition to the internship in a public child welfare setting, the following is required of all selected Title IV-E students.

  1. Attendance and participation at Title IV-E Integrative Seminars (4 hours)
  2. Completion of a thesis/project relating to child welfare practice.
  3. Enrollment in SW 278 Advanced Child Welfare course.
  4. Attendance and participation in Child Welfare Symposium.
  5. Attendance and participation in CalSWEC student focus group.
  6. Maintenance of "good standing" in the MSW Program (3.0 GPA)

Applying to the Title IV-E Program

All interested applicants must first apply to CSU, Fresno and the MSW Program at CSU Mentor by, the deadline date in order to be eligible to apply to the Title IV-E Program. All existing university and MSW Program admissions requirements still apply to all applicants interested in the Title IV-E Program. Students may apply for the Title IV-E Program by completing the application which will be provided to you here once it has been updated. Awards are granted by a committee consisting of faculty, administration and agency representatives from County Child Welfare Service Agencies. Priority is given to current employees of county child welfare agencies and to applicants who reflect the diverse populations currently served by child welfare agencies in California.

Applicants who apply to the program "full-time" and who are current employees must have a "Leave of Absence" (LOA) from their agency director. Applicants who apply to the program "part-time" must provide a "Letter of Support" (LOS) from their agency director. All program participants must agree to attend the Integrative Seminars and Field Internship, complete a Thesis/Project, have a valid driver's license and secured use of a car as required for field internship, and must undergo pre-screening for county internship. Upon graduation they will work in a public child welfare agency for a period of time equal to the period which they received support from the program.

• Fall 2009 IV-E MSW Application

Title IV-E MSW Application Deadline re-opened:


Please send your completed applications to:

********California State University, Fresno******** Department of Social Work - Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Program

5310 N. Campus Drive, Fresno, CA 93740-8019




If you would like additional information or for any questions, please contact the Title IV-E Program:


Phone: (559) 278-3076

Fax: (559) 278-6600