A community college English assignment to write a poem about herself inspired Celine Gomez to pursue a career in social work and help her community.

Now, Gomez, a graduate of the University of California, Davis, is realizing her ambition through a program to professionalize and add to the corps of social workers at public child welfare agencies in California that, as of July 1, had nearly 65,000 cases.

On July 1, UC Davis and UCLA began administering the California Title IV-E Education program, which provides professional education and financial support to undergraduate and graduate social work students to pursue or continue a career in public child welfare.

UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education was awarded a two-year, $52.4 million contract from the California Department of Social Services to provide workforce development and training for social workers.

Title IV-E is a financial aid program of the federal government. In California, it receives matching state funds and is overseen by the Department of Social Services with the aim of increasing the number of public child welfare workers with undergraduate and master’s degrees in social work and have them reflect the diversity of the child welfare population.

More than 800 students

The program serves more than 800 full- and part-time students at 20 campuses, with stipends ranging from $12,162 a year for current employees studying part-time for associates degrees to $25,000 for full-time graduate students. Since the first cohort of students started in 1994, more than 10,800 have graduated, and about 96% have attained employment in public child welfare.

Gomez is in the second year of the Master of Social Work program at California State University, Northridge, in Los Angeles. Over her two-year academic program, the first-generation college student will receive $43,500 in stipends; get practical experience through two, 10-month internships; and benefit from additional educational experiences. In exchange, she has committed to work for a public child welfare agency for the same time for which she received stipends  —  two years.

After graduating from UC Davis in 2020 with a degree in sociology and a minor in Chicana/Chicano studies, Gomez worked as a support counselor for at-risk youth and as a social worker with families and children at nonprofit organizations. In a few years, she decided to pursue a master’s degree.

Gomez said she is grateful that the stipends cover not only her tuition but also some living expenses. Additional benefits include seminars and conferences — like one last year about the Indian Child Welfare Act — and job fairs. “Having that knowledge of working with a children’s welfare agency is going to set the foundation for work across the board,” she said.

Fostering a cohesive system

Under the agreement, UC Davis is focused on connecting social work curricula to workforce development; UCLA is focused on program evaluation. Each university is also supporting 10 participating universities as well as a distance education component serving current public social services employees in rural and remote regions and another component serving indigenous students and tribal agencies.

Alison Book, executive director of Human Services for Continuing and Professional Education, or CPE, is the principal investigator for the contract. She said UC Davis will work to foster a more cohesive social work education and workforce development system. It will:

• develop a strategic plan to integrate degree-level education with ongoing workforce development
• provide curriculum and resources for teaching the latest mandates and practices
• explore how student research can be leveraged to inform practice
• increase interest in social work as a career
• continue a pilot project to support alumni of the Title IV-E program

Book, who earned a master’s degree through the program in 2008, said UC Davis is hiring 10 employees to fulfill the agreement.

More than 40 years' experience

While UC Davis does not offer a degree in social work, CPE’s Human Services has built up more than 40 years of expertise serving the state’s human services agencies. Its Northern Academy provides training, research, evaluation and consultation services to child welfare agencies in 28 counties and three tribes. The Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice provides organizations with training, technical support and more to improve outcomes for children and families. And Human Services offers custom training, conferences, research, evaluation support and other workforce development services.

After earning an undergraduate degree in psychology and communications from UC Davis in 2018, Geraldin Bravo of Yuba City worked as a residential counselor and then a family resource specialist in nonprofit settings.

“The program does a good job supporting students who want to go back to school,” she said, adding that graduate school was a big leap for her as a first-generation student. “It really helped me make the decision to continue and further my education.”

Bravo earned her master’s degree in social work from Chico State University in May, and she is now a client services practitioner with child welfare services for a Northern California county.

“You walk away with a master’s degree and have support around you,” she said.