The Steve Hicks School of Social Work offers opportunities for student funding through the following field-related training programs:
ADDICTION AND RECOVERY SCHOLARS PROGRAM (A&R)
- Focus: Interprofessional health education with a focus on substance use disorders
- Who: MSSW clinical students
- Requirements: A & R extended field placement, approximately 30 training hours
- Funding: $10,000 award
- Contact: professor Robin Smith, robinsmith@austin.utexas.edu
BUILDING RELATED SERVICE CAPACITY THROUGH INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE SCHOLARS PROGRAM (BRIDGE)
BRIDGE is a partnership between Steve Hicks School of Social Work, the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the Department of Special Education, and Texas Center for Disability Studies.
- Focus: Middle and high school students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), often those with intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Who: MSSW final field students in 2020/2021; must be eligible for federal financial aid
- Requirements: BRIDGE field placement; agree with the U.S. Department of Education payback service requirements of 2 years of employment with children with disabilities post-graduation.
- Funding: Tuition (12hrs Fall, 12hrs Spring and 6hrs Summer) and a $6,000 stipend divided over Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021. The program provides up to two awards per year.
- Contact: professor Sandy Magaña, smagana@austin.utexas.edu
CapCityKids (CCK) Scholars Program
The CCK Scholars Program is a joint effort of CapCityKids (a nonprofit 501c3 organization), the Austin Independent School District (AISD), and the Steve Hicks School of Social Work to provide preventative services to AISD students at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The program maintains a field unit within AISD with an internship coordinator and field instructor dedicated full-time to supervise CCK Scholars.
- Focus: School-based services
- Who: MSSW Students
- Requirements: CCK field placement
- Funding: $1,500 award. The program provides 10 + awards annually. Most awards go to first-field interns; final-field interns interview competitively.
- Contact: professor Tanya Voss, tmvoss@mail.utexas.edu
Child Welfare Education Collaboration (CWEC)
CWEC is a partnership between the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) that prepares students for child welfare practice.
- Focus: Child welfare
- Who: BSW, MSSW first field and clinical students
- Requirements: Child welfare field placement, work for CPS for a certain amount of time after graduation
- Funding: $7,000 per semester, up to one BSW semester and four MSSW semesters
- Contact: professor Chris Johnson, cmj1230@mail.utexas.edu, for more information visit the CWEC page.
EARL Maxwell Scholars Program
This program funds up to MSSW students placed in agencies that don’t have a social worker on staff to serve as field instructor. The program also funds a Steve Hicks School faculty member who serves as field instructor. This program is supported by the St. David’s Foundation.
- Focus: Social services
- Who: MSSW students
- Funding: $10,000 award. The program offers 10 awards each year.
Fernandez International Field Award
This award provides financial support for students who are selected for international field placements with the goal of making international field more accessible to a wider range of students.
- Focus: International social work
- Who: MSSW students
- Requirements: International field placement.
- Award: Up to $5,000 award to two MSSW students, based on financial need. Students apply for this award when they submit their applications for international field in August. The assistant deans for field education and master’s programs select awardees based on presented financial need. Awards are offered at the same time that international field placements are offered, allowing awardees to factor the funding into their decision. Awards are granted at the end of the fall semester upon successful completion of the fall international field seminar.
- Contact: professor Tanya Voss, tmvoss@mail.utexas.edu.
Gerontology Resources and the Aging Community in Education program (GRACE)
The GRACE Program, which is supported by the St. David’s Foundation, prepares students to work with older adults.
- Focus: Geriatric social work
- Who: MSSW students
- Requirements: GRACE field placement, five GRACE workshops
- Funding: $7,500 award. The GRACE Program provides 24 awards per year. Funding is divided equally between students in first field and final field. Students may do both field placements in GRACE settings and apply for funding each time. GRACE students may apply for an all-expenses paid trip to the Aging in America Conference, which occurs each spring. At commencement, students receive the designation of “GRACE Scholar.
- Contact: professor Sarah Swords, saswords@mail.utexas.edu, download this document (pdf).
Integrated Behavioral Health Scholars Program (IBHS)
The IBHS Program, which is funded through a HRSA grant, is a collaboration between multiple colleges at The University of Texas at Austin, and is administered through the Dell Medical School Department of Psychiatry. The program’s goal is to build a diverse and culturally competent behavioral health workforce with expertise in delivering integrated behavioral health care, particularly to underserved populations in Texas.
- Focus: Interprofessional health education
- Who: MSSW clinical students
- Requirements: IBHS extended field placement, approximately 30 training hours. Scholars are placed at IBHS field sites in the spring prior to final field. The Office of Field Education provides more information about the early selection interview process at the February orientation to final field, 11 months prior to the spring internship start.
- Funding: $10,000 award.The IBHS Program provides 12 awards each year.
- Contact: professor Robin Smith at robinsmith@austin.utexas.edu.
Leben Play therapy Scholars Program
This program is funded through the Norma and Clay Leben Endowment for Excellence in Play Therapy Methods, which seeks to enhance educational opportunities for social workers in the area of play therapy.
- Focus: Play therapy methods
- Who: MSSW clinical students
- Requirements: Extended field placement in setting that provides significant play therapy opportunities, attend three training events. Students are required to attend the following professional development events for free: Norma Leben Play Therapy Workshop, Texas School Social Work Conference, and Annual Leben Play Therapy Symposium.
- Funding: $2,000 award
- Contact: professor Sarah Sloan at ssloan@austin.utexas.edu
St. David’s Foundation Bilingual Social Work Scholars program
The program aims to prepare social workers that provide culturally competent health and mental health services to Spanish-speaking clients in Central Texas.
- Focus: Bilingual clinical social work
- Who: MSSW clinical students
- Requirements: Spanish and English fluency, field placement that requires bilingual skills. Applicants must be newly admitted, be fluent in Spanish and English, and submit an application that includes a two-page essay and resume. Finalists are interviewed to assess Spanish fluency; both native and non-native Spanish speakers are encouraged to apply.
- Funding: $10,000 award.The program offers up to 10 awards for one or two years, depending on the program of work.
- Contact: Ramón Gómez at ramon-gomez@austin.utexas.edu.