No MSW, No Problem - Expanding Field Placement Opportunities

Overview: Social work schools are under pressure to find quality field placements for a growing number of students at a time when social work agencies are dealing with limited resources. This presentation will discuss the opportunities and challenges of providing off-site MSW field instructors to meet the demand for field placements.Proposal text: Social work schools are under increasing pressure to find quality field placements for a growing number of social work students, at the same time many social work agencies are dealing with loss of revenue and limited ability to provide quality social work supervision. The off-site MSW supervision arrangement has often been used for placements in under-resourced agencies in rural areas, and schools are now adopting these off-site arrangements to accommodate growing enrollments at a time when social work agency resources are increasingly limited (Sankar 2013).

Nontraditional placements offer another opportunity to meet the increasing demand for quality placements with the support of an off-site MSW field instructor. According to Abram et. al (2008), placing social work students in nontraditional placements “affords students unique opportunities for multi-disciplinary work and comparisons, enables students to illustrate the value of social work knowledge and skills to these settings, and increases the visibility of social workers as candidates for permanent positions.”

Wiebe (2010) noted that nontraditional agencies may not have a social worker on staff, “yet they have many community experts from different disciplines and are proactive in trying to empower their constituents, who are often oppressed or marginalized, and these nontraditional agencies may promote a wider variety of learning opportunities for social work students, especially those that promote social and economic justice.”

This presentation will have us consider the idea that placing social work students in social work agencies with limited resources and nontraditional internship settings with the support of off-site MSW field instructors is expanding the breadth of depth of quality social work field education, while also building social capital and influencing important social justice movements. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in facilitated discussion and activities in order to identify strategies for integrating quality off-site MSW instruction into a variety of placement settings.

This presentation will walk through several considerations from off-site MSW field instructor hiring, training, matching, agency partnership, collaboration, and more. Participants will also have the opportunity to share successes and challenges and learn from each other as we navigate the increasing pressure to build quality field placements for a growing number of students.

Participants will explore the following questions in a roundtable format where interactive engagement is supported by the presenters:

1) How have your schools utilized off-site MSW field instructors to support students in a variety of settings?
2) What are some key considerations in ensuring quality off-site MSW field instruction for students placed in nontraditional agencies?
3) What are the essential elements for effective off-site MSW field instruction with students?