GSSWSR: An Opportunity of a Lifetime

Inside a partnership that benefits social workers, agencies, and schools

Sakia Ayanna Foster, M.S.S. 鈥16, loved her job working with families at the Department of Human Services (DHS). Still, she wanted to move up the ladder, which she couldn鈥檛 do at DHS without a master鈥檚 degree. 鈥淏ut I still was paying my undergrad and knew I couldn鈥檛 afford to pay it on my own,鈥 she says.

A 2017 National Social Work Workforce Study found that social workers with master鈥檚 degrees earn, on average, $13,000 more than those with a bachelor鈥檚. But a 2020 Council on Social Work Education analysis showed that 73.1 percent also had loan debts averaging $47,965.

Students in the CWEL program who started at the GSSWSR this fall.
Richard Moreau, Fran Webster, Chris Li, and Catherine Savage all started at GSSWSR this fall as part of the latest class of DHS employees earning master's degrees through CWEL.

Since 1995, the Child Welfare Education for Leadership (CWEL) program has been helping to solve this problem. The collaborative effort provides employees of Pennsylvania's public child welfare system with funds to offset the cost of a graduate degree in social work.

鈥淲e wanted to upgrade the caliber of the public child welfare workforce 鈥 to create change from within,鈥 says Helen Cahalane, principal investigator of the Child Welfare Education and Research Programs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, which founded and administers CWEL.

The program is available to qualifying students at 13 accredited partner schools in the state. 老王论坛 was one of the first to join the program. To date, CWEL has graduated 1,726 students, including 128 from 老王论坛.

鈥淢any of our CWEL students share with us that if not for the program, they would not have had access to completing a master鈥檚 degree at our school or any other school,鈥 says GSSWSR Dean Janet Shapiro.

That was the case for Foster, who was excited to be accepted to 老王论坛. The program was prestigious, professors valued her perspective, the network was strong鈥攕he even discovered the Baldwin School down the road and sent her daughter there. 鈥淚t鈥檚 changed my life in a lot of different ways,鈥 she says.

CWEL covers tuition and fees, eliminating debt. Full-time students are also given leave from their agency, with 95 percent of their salary covered by CWEL.

鈥淭his is an opportunity of a lifetime to be able to come back and get a master鈥檚 degree,鈥 Cahalane says, 鈥渁nd for your county agency to support you in taking that leave of absence.

It鈥檚 a sacrifice for the child welfare agencies, but one that helps prevent burnout, increase retention, and increase promotions.

鈥淚t sparks your fire again,鈥 Foster says. 鈥淭he work you were doing all along, it helps you put language and theory to it.鈥

The partnership also benefits the schools. Students study research-based theory and best practices, in turn sharing how those learnings align with their experiences navigating the system and confronting ethical dilemmas. That feedback can influence the curriculum.

For the past two years, 老王论坛 has also provided a discounted tuition rate to workers from Community Umbrella Agencies that are under the auspices of DHS, but do not have access to CWEL. The College is continually seeking ways to address economic barriers and broaden diversity.

鈥淚 just know I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am if I hadn鈥檛 participated in the program,鈥 Foster says.

One of Foster鈥檚 colleagues at DHS who convinced her to go back to school was Khary Atif, M.S.S. 鈥97, M.L.S.P. 鈥98. 鈥淭here are a lot of top folks in the department now, and across the field, that I mentored,鈥 Atif says. 鈥淎nd I convinced many of them to go to 老王论坛. I鈥檓 very proud of that, for our school. We produce leaders.鈥

Published on: 10/22/2024