The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced on Monday they will be partnering with five universities to provide stipends to social workers.
The initiative is part of the Title IV-E education programs, a federally-funded program that provides administrative and training funds to universities and child welfare workers.
According to the news release, students pursuing social work and child welfare work can receive $5,000 per semester of their studies, which in some instances can total $30,000 over the course of their education. But the funds come with a catch.
Ted Jay is the state administrative manager for the Federal Compliance Division at MDHHS, which, he said, handles most child welfare funding and payments. He said that for each semester students receive the funds, they have to pledge to work for four months in the field. For those who get the full six semesters of funds, that can total up to two years of work in child welfare.
“We think that this is going to provide students the necessary financial support, at least part of it, towards their education while they continue to grow and learn the skills necessary to do this important work,” Jay said.
He said this stipend program has been a topic of discussion since 2021, but is just now getting implemented. He said this program differs from other Title IV-E education programs the department has offered.
“We’ve had other training partnerships where we’ve been able to pass through some federal funding to universities through Title IV-E to pay for specific classes or specific coursework,” Jay said. “But it was not as robust as this program. This program is actually prioritizing the students … This is the first attempt at growing something really large that will actually support students while they’re in school financially.”
Western Michigan University is one of the five that will be participating in the program. Anna Yelick is an associate professor and the Child Welfare Program Director at Western. She said the goal of this initiative is to entice more students into child welfare.
“We need a pretty robust system of workers to take care of all of the family needs that we have,” she said. “Right now, that system is a bit thin.”
Yelick said the demand for social workers is high, as the state is experiencing a shortage. She said the shortage is likely due to burnout, overworking, and low pay.
“A lot of our service industry jobs don’t help the people put on their own oxygen masks,” she said. “They’re trying to help everybody else, and that really creates this system of scarcity. It creates a system of overworking under-appreciation, and it impacts the workforce for sure.”
Yelick said she hopes to see more students enrolling in the program at Western, and she hopes to see the child welfare field itself improve, too.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity to impart knowledge into the next generation of child welfare professionals,” she said. “And to really kind of see it (the field) adjust its way of thinking so that we’re not just focusing on the well-being of children, which is important, but we also need to focus on the well-being of families and the well-being of communities When we do that, we’re going to have a much stronger system as a whole.”
Both Jay and Yelick said they would like to see this program expand to other universities across the state.
“We think it’s going to have a big impact on recruitment efforts and getting more seasoned social workers into child welfare positions,” he said. “It’s (also) an opportunity for current welfare professionals to go back to school and further their education.”
The University of Michigan, Central Michigan University, Michigan State University and Wayne State University are among the other universities participating in the program.
