The online program is part of the Title IV-E Pathway Project, which seeks not only to help people earn degrees, but to ensure quality service in rural, underserved areas.
To develop it, the HSU Social Work Department teamed up with programs at CSU Chico and CSU San Bernardino. The campuses are working with the California Social Work Education Center at UC Berkeley, the nation’s largest state coalition of social work educators and practitioners, which provided grants to develop the program.
For students who are already enrolled in the program, like Merris Obie, the chance to earn a degree online poses an opportunity and challenge.
“I’m a returning student and, after 20 years, this technology is new to me. I’ve never taken an online class before,” Obie says. “It’s uniquely challenging.”
For the past 15 years she has been doing substance abuse prevention programs, primarily with the Hoopa, Wiyot, Yurok and Karuk tribes.
“I have been doing social work for the past 15 years not knowing it was social work,” Obie says. “I was looking to go back to college and pursue a degree in social services, but I wasn’t sure what. When I heard about the program, I knew I wanted to get a degree in social work.”
Obie, who took time off school to raise her family, is now enrolled in college at the same time as her 20-year-old daughter and 23-year-old son. Her daughter is also majoring in Social Work. “I’ve always taught my children that if you’re not part of the solution in your community, you’re part of the problem,” Obie says.
“The program will make accessible higher education in social work, so that staff with years of experience can earn an academic degree. This degree also serves to bring up the level of professional practice in county and tribal programs serving children and families in the more isolated areas,” says Pamela Brown, an HSU Social Work professor and the Pathway Project Coordinator. “Studies have demonstrated that when we have degree-holding social workers in public child welfare, we tend to have fewer children taken away from their families.”
The initial cohort in the project consists of 22 students. Both CSU Chico and San Bernardino have six students each. HSU has 10 students enrolled: five county and five tribal social workers.
Despite the differences that these students have in age, region and culture, they all have one thing in common: They have serious barriers between them and their social work degrees.
“All of the students have families and are working full time,” Brown says. “They’re getting support so they don’t have to leave their jobs or their families to complete their degrees.” Having classes available online is key for these non-traditional students’ success.
Roy Jackson is a supervisor of Child Welfare Services of Del Norte County. For nearly a decade, he has worked his way into his current position. However, Jackson only has his associate’s degree.
“In an urban setting, you would never find a supervisor without a degree, because they have access to universities within a short geographic distance,” Brown says. “Usually, they’d have a Master’s.”
But for Jackson, distance, his job and his family life have all presented barriers. He lives in Crescent City, Calif., so before this project, attending classes at HSU would have meant finding time outside his full-time job for a three-hour commute, classes and family time.
“I have special needs children and I work, so without this it would probably be impossible for me to finish my degree
Although work and family life present hurdles, for most Pathway students, funding is also a big obstacle.
Ron Bates once worked as a youth substance abuse prevention counselor for the Yurok tribe. However, when he had another child he had to quit counseling and take a construction job. The Pathway project was Bates’s chance to get back into the profession he loves.
Through the project, students will have their tuition and textbooks paid for. They will also be provided with tutoring and a mentor. In exchange, students have signed a contract to work for county Child Welfare or Indian Child Welfare for six months for every 15 units they take.
“I want to work myself out of a job,” Bates says. “That means that everyone is doing good and there’s no need for social workers and substance abuse counseling.”