Stories from Social WorkersBelow you'll find stories from social workers and social work students about their own experiences around labor in the field of social work. While this movement started at the University of Michigan, we are hoping to collect stories from people all across the nation.
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Being a 16 month student with her BSW (I have already completed a 500 hour field placement) but because I took a scholarship (which I needed to attend this university) I had to extend to 16 months (which adds another semesters worth of tuition). 16 month students (because they are assumed to not have their BSW ) are required to do 32 hours of field a week which is absurd for us folks who are working 20(+) hours a week to support themselves (which is astronomical especially if you are an out of state student, don't have family nearby, are of low SES to begin with, etc.) (all of these which are me). Not being paid for field means that a job with at least 20 hours a week is necessary--this leaves me living from paycheck to paycheck, feeling burnt out because there is no time for self care, and unable to dedicate the time I would like to my academic schoolwork (can't read articles, can't proof or put as much time into papers, etc.). Never in my life has my spirit in this field been so low and I feel as though I can directly correlate this to my field experience (being overworked with no pay--even though the tasks I'm assigned are the roles of a salary position they aren't filling because I'm doing it for free). I worry this is setting the stage for my career in this profession and my mental health.
Anonymous, University of Michigan MSW Student
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I am an out of state student and had attend UM as an undergraduate. Despite being here and working here for 4 years, they would not grant me instate tuition. I was also led to believe I would get a similar financial aid package as my undergrad since I was an independent as an undergrad so my parents income was never a factor, but this did not happen. Now I am graduating with nearly 90,000 in debt from a 2 year program where I am only getting interviews for jobs where the salary is 30,000-35,000 dollars. I feel my degree was a waste and I could have gotten the same positions with my bachelors.
Anonymous, University of Michigan MSW Student I am an out of state student who was convinced that attending the #1 School of Social Work would be the right life move for me. I left my family and friends in an attempt to pursue this dream--what I have received instead is a deeply unhealthy relationship with my education. I am taking out the minimal amount of loans for school, and instead live paycheck to paycheck. I have taken on significant credit card debt after needing to buy snow tires in order to make the drive to my field placement. I receive no funding for said placement, other than a single $250 travel stipend (which only covers two and a half months of gas). I am currently applying for food stamps, and looking to add another job (which would mean I work seven days a week, most days juggling responsibilities from 6am-8pm.) My health has suffered. I no longer have time to exercise, and sleep an average of 4-5 hours per night. I do not have time to receive the necessary mental health counseling I require. This is unsustainable.
Anonymous, University of Michigan MSW Student As an out of state student with zero contribution from family, I have felt extremely stressed navigating the finances of this program. It's extremely expensive. I will graduate with debt 3x the average yearly salary of a social worker not including my debt from undergrad. The burden of loans on my mental health is intense. On top of my internship, I also have a work study. I am in class Monday 9-12, have meeting as a peer facilitator from 1-2, break from 2-6, class from 6-9. Tuesday I am in class 9-12, seminar (every week because I am a peer) from 12-2, class 2-5. Wednesday and Thursday I have field, and on top of that commute 6-6.5 hours per week because my placement is in Lansing. Friday and Saturday I work a total of 12 hours. I barely have enough time to breath let alone engage in self care or do homework. I promised myself before coming that I would try to find a way to not work and just go to school to truly focus on my graduate career. The cost of this program has made that impossible. If I had the energy, I would work more, but then I would probably be struggling in classes and falling apart more than I already am.
Anonymous, University of Michigan MSW Student My field practicum during my first year of social work school was with an organization that worked to prevent and respond to the needs of individuals and families who were experiencing housing instability or homelessness. My role at the organization was to work with community members who were at risk of becoming homeless to try and prevent them from having to enter the shelter system. This could include things like paying for a deposit and first month's rent for new housing units, paying back-rent if families faced evictions, etc.
At the time, I was spending 14 or 15 hours a week in the classroom, 20 hours a week at my internship (not counting the hour-long commute each way to and from my placement) and 15-20 hours a week working an $8.50/hr. retail job at the local mall. Towards the end of my internship, I remember my constant state of anxiety as I realized that I didn't have enough money to pay for a deposit and first month's rent for an apartment. I was living with high school friends who had also moved to the area, but the landlord was taking possession of the apartment back, which meant we had to move at the end of our lease. I seriously considered applying to the very program that I was administering because I, soon, wouldn't have the means to continue stably housing myself. I ended up taking out an additional PLUS loan to cover the additional expenses I was incurring. I left social work school with $60,000 in student loans. I was living on less than $20,000 a year, most of which came from student loans which, with interest, will cost me a lot more in the long-run. Critics may argue that I made an active decision participate in a graduate program that had a required unpaid field practicum. I don't disagree; however, I think it is irresponsible of social work professionals to think of this as acceptable or normal. Many other sectors have completely moved away from unpaid internships; it is disheartening to know that social work schools are still participating in this unethical practice. Moving forward, this is especially important for future social work students. As of this moment in time, I am still eligible for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program which will forgive the remainder of my student debt after 10 years of successful payments. As we have seen, though, the current administration is looking to cut or limit the program for new enrollees. This program was the only way I could consider attending graduate school. How many incredible social work professionals are we going to lose because of this outdated expectation of free labor? Paige Allmendinger, MSW George Mason, c/o 2012 While there were many things that I really did appreciate and learn as I continue to process my field experience at the SSW, there are some glaring areas of concern that I cannot overlook. I read the article that the admin attached to their original email stating the intent and purpose of field placements. I know that ultimately, it is the CSWE (Council for Social Work Education) that creates the mandates and sets the rules that schools have to meet to keep their accreditation. The over 1,000 hours of field are apart of that. That totally makes sense (although I would be curious to see if that is exactly the same across all SW programs). But I think that the U-M SSW needs to take more ownership of the quality of field placements provided. The agency I worked at violated the clause of interns not replacing full time workers. Interns should almost slow down the work process of the agency in some ways as they are there to learn and grow. The agency I worked at always had more than 10 interns during the Fall and Winter Semesters. We were in charge of facilitating programs and providing transportation to the youth involved. That in theory is not a bad thing, however, I know that the programs and initiatives seemed to only grow and be added to the intern's plate; and most certainly would fall apart without the 10+ interns being involved. The consistent reliance on interns I observed stands in direct opposition to the points the article admin emailed out which quotes the 6 points of the Fair Labor Standards Act:
While at first, having responsibility for programs is an exciting opportunity, it is unfair for interns to be expected and treated as full time employees. At those moments of coming up and running programs repeatedly, we were working for the benefit of the agency and not for our learning. At the agency where I interned, we absolutely replaced the roles of full time employees. I cannot say that enough. On a more personal note, interns were not acknowledged during fundraising event as being apart of the workforce that provided the programming to clients. I understand that a lot of this is tied to the work culture and environment of the agency, but the SSW should exercise more oversight on behalf of the intent the organization has with constructing an internship environment for students. I would have loved to seen some sort of feedback survey/ratings of internships to keep field sites accountable. I also have heard of instances of other students who drive over an hour to field being inadequately compensated for gas. The school does provide an amount per month for gas for these students, however, the amount remains consistent regardless of field days increasing during subsequent semesters (winter- 2 days per week which goes up to 4 days per week in Spring/Summer semester). I know the non-profit sector is messy, and that not every organization is ideal, and yes, those things can be learned from. However, to perpetuate this system and expecting us to graduate from the program and fix what we have experienced without any practical support from the administration in how our field experience is constructed is an inadequate request/expectation. I sincerely hope that the [University of Michigan] SSW can take a hard look and not just maintain the status quo of a broken system. The SSW program is very expensive- especially for out of state students and requires a demanding schedule, therefore some compensation is needed. With the current system, we are paying for our internships, and although perfection is unattainable, we expect excellent opportunities which will lead to healthy overall professional growth. In solidarity Anonymous, University of Michigan MSW Student As a first generation college student, I have had to take 100% responsibility to afford paying for my education. I have never received financial assistance from family or others, and worked above and beyond to secure scholarships in my Undergraduate degree to ensure my tuition would be paid. I relied on work during this time as well to pay for housing and other costs. As an out of state student, my tuition is already higher than many others, and I was not given the ability to apply for specific scholarships at this University that were geared towards my interest or were need-based. Due to this, I was forced to have a work-study position for two semesters this past year, working 12 hours a week at $10/hour. This resulted in working a total of 28 hours EACH WEEK (16 hours field placement and 12 hours work study) that was not spent on school assignments, homework, studying, or reading for my classes. To think that I had to work part time each week, taking away time that could be spent on school work, just to get by and hope that I could afford a plane ticket home to visit family.
Not only do I face financial hardships due to not being compensated, the reality is that we are paying for each credit earned to work for free. To know that I am paying to be at an internship to work, whereas I can barely afford food each week or the cost of a plane ticket to see my family and friends. The loneliness on top of the constant financial stress are factors that caused me to reach out to your cause. Many students are in my situation, and are left to choose between healthy meals, the cost of visiting loved ones, or the ability to self-care due to the lack of time and ability to work if needed to compensate for the difference in finances. This results in larger amounts of PLUS loans taken out, which ultimately accumulates to more debt in the long run. So this is the short version of my story, and I hope it helps. Anonymous, University of Michigan Student I returned to graduate school to get my MSW after years working in nonprofits. By the time I went back to school, I had a director-level position at my organization. The transition to unpaid field work was very difficult. The financial sacrifices, forgoing income and taking on significant student debt, have frequently made me doubt my decision to choose social work over the other degree paths I considered, like business or public administration.
While the professional staff at my macro field placement location were kind and helpful, much of the work consisted of projects I had previously been paid for in past positions -- and that staff would otherwise have to do if social work interns weren’t around. I noticed most other interns filled much of their time with data entry, simple research projects or administrative tasks with clients, like administering phone surveys. I remain unconvinced that the field practicum experience was worth its immense cost to me as an out-of-state student, though I know the work I did for my field site had specific value for the organization. I try not to think too much about the financial investment I’ve made in the program because it makes me so anxious. I’ve already made so many sacrifices to be in this program that there’s no turning back at this point. --Anonymous, University of Michigan Student |