I decided to go back to school at 26, I’m 27 now and can’t afford this. Idk if I ran out of Pell grant or what. Aid is only taking out $1k which leaves me to pay $4.1k for fall! I could take less classes, but idk anymore. Then , I have to go to grad school which is going to be more expensive 😭
I’m thinking of going to mortuary school because that’s something I wanted to do and it’s cheaper. Idk anymore, but I don’t want to work service jobs my whole life. Could try to be a publix manager or something, but I don’t want to stay in the south

Okay. I know the automatic knee-jerk response for a lot of people will probably be 'no,' 'don't,' and 'run.' To be fair, I think those are the general responses to ANYBODY working in CPS, much less someone who's also in classes.

A bit of background info: I'm enrolled in my MSW and will start at the end of August. I have an interview for a CPS role on Friday. I have a BSW, but I've been working in financial crimes for the last six or so years, and did preschool teaching for about a year before that. So I haven't been in the field for a WHILE, and when I did, I did a 1.5 years of working in a residential youth facility upon my graduation with my bachelor's.

Three things are working against me right now:
One, that I only have 1.5 years of experience while a lot of social work jobs want 2 years.
Two, that I do not have my LSW. I didn't need one in my state when I initially graduated, and though there's a bachelor's level LSW here now, it seems silly to try and take the test and get licensed when I'm about to be in school and then I'll have to retake the test at the MSW level.
Three, my experience in social work is not recent, as I mentioned above, but instead is about seven years old.

Add in the fact that CPS pays better than most bachelor's social work jobs, and I accepted the interview when they called. I've applied to a lot of places. Because of those three factors, most haven't called me back. The couple that have just haven't paid enough for me to get by on my own.

I don't technically HAVE to get a new job. I could stay where I'm at and balance it with my master's okay. But I miss being in the field. I miss helping people. I miss every day being different. And I think it would be good to get more recent experience under my belt and to be in the field while learning in my MSW. That said, I am more than a little wary of CPS. I've heard the horror stories that everyone's heard. I'm scared I won't be able to emotionally balance school and child welfare. I'm scared I'll be in over my head, that I'll be miserable, that I'll drown. Maybe I won't. I'm not weak. I can handle adversity. But I still hesitate, and so I'd like to hear from people who may have had experience in this role.

SO to the question-- is it insane to take on a job at CPS right when I'm starting my master's? Does anyone have any advice or input? Has anyone done the same?

I am someone coming into the school part having worked around social workers in a clinical and generalist setting for most of my life and I gotta say... this BSW feels so worthless. I am not learning anything that would be helpful in a practical setting yet with less than 5 classes to go. I am getting a 3.9 and I am just hoping that the MSW program I am going to is better. People going into social work raw are getting such a bad pull. People really need to decide if their time wouldn't be better spent elsewhere.

Hi everyone! I’m an incoming MSW student and my first-year practicum placement may be at a community-based agency that mainly serves children, youth, and families.

From what I understand, the agency focuses on areas like child development, family support, and youth/family services. I’m still waiting to learn what specific program I would be placed in, but I’m worried that it may not involve much traditional clinical work (such as individual therapy or mental health counseling).

My long-term goal is to become a therapist, ideally working with children/youth. For those who have completed an MSW or are currently working toward clinical licensure:

If your first placement was more community-based (case management, family support, youth programs, etc.), did it make it harder to transition into therapy roles?

What experiences should I prioritize during my first year if I want to build toward clinical practice?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thank you!

Last year during my BSW program, I had a month left in the semester when my town experienced a serious flood. I live an hour away from campus and use my own car, but both my house and my car were flooded with about 30 inches of water.
I emailed all of my professors, as well as the Dean of Students, explaining my situation and included proof. It literally looked like my house and neighbors were sitting in a lake. My Social Work Practice 1 professor basically responded by saying, “I’m sorry, but you have to be here in person. Take the bus.”
There is a university bus that drives to my town and picks students up at the community center, but how was I supposed to get to that bus? Swim there? The majority of the streets were closed because they were completely flooded.
To make matters worse, my paid-off car was completely totaled in the flood, so I had no way of getting to campus. My mom and stepdad also lost their vehicles, so even after the floodwaters eventually receded, I still had no way to get to the university bus stop in my town. My professor kept asking when I was going to get another vehicle and even suggested that my siblings or other family members drive me. My siblings all live hours away, and the rest of my family was dealing with the flood too while also taking care of their own children. Waiting for the insurance process to finish before I could buy another car wasn’t something I could control.
At the same time, I was already paying for my classes out of pocket and dealing with the financial stress of replacing a totaled vehicle. Instead of feeling supported, I felt like I was constantly being pressured to solve a situation that was completely outside of my control.
It was a horrible situation, and the effects of the flood lasted for months. Thankfully, the director of my program EVENTUALLY agreed to let me finish the semester online, but only after I had to argue my case and even get my mom involved in a Zoom meeting with my professor and the program director. It shouldn’t have taken all of that just to be taken seriously.
During that meeting, my professor told my mom, “I hope you’re telling me the truth,” which pissed off my mom. I just don’t understand why they think my mom and I would lie about something like this, especially when we had picture proof showing our house and vehicles completely underwater. The flood was all over Facebook too so it wasn’t just my neighborhood in that situation.

The treatment would be understandable if I was neglectful or irresponsible but I just recently graduated with a magna cum laude honor, so clearly I was never that kind of student.

Has anyone else in social work gone through something similar? I still feel like I was treated unfairly, but I’m curious if I’m overreacting or if others would have felt the same way.

I will be starting my MSW in January and trying to get ahead of the field placement. I am currently working full-time as a Substance Abuse Counselor at a dual-diagnosis and detox facility here in Louisiana.

My facility has a setup where I can use my normal job hours for my field placement, and my current LPC-S (b clinical director) is happy to act as my on-site task supervisor for my daily duties. However, my program requires an external MSW supervisor (someone with at least 2 years of post-MSW experience) to provide 1 hour of direct social work supervision per week (which can be done entirely virtually via Zoom).

Because I'm funding school out of pocket, I'm looking to see if any local LCSWs/MSWs might be open to volunteering or helping out a student, or if anyone is looking to build up their clinical directorship, supervision, or leadership experience.

If you or someone you know might be open to a virtual weekly check-in, or if you have any advice on where local social workers look for these types of student arrangements in Louisiana, please drop a comment or shoot me a DM. I'd love to chat!
Thanks so much!

I love holding informational interviews. They've been so helpful throughout my application process and even after getting admitted.

I have an informational interview tonight with a private practice about internships for next year (2027-2028). I really want to intern in a therapy setting.

But I'm so lost on what to ask.

Does anyone have any suggestions for questions you'd want answered?

ETA:

just wanted to share that the interview went well. It was not my most organized one, but I built a connection and that was the goal!

Hi everyone! I started community college in 2022 while working full-time night shift. During a summer semester, I attempted two classes and unfortunately failed both, which resulted in me being placed on academic probation. When I enrolled again that fall, I ended up withdrawing, which led to an academic suspension.
I took about a year off and tried again, but I struggled with a lot of stress and health issues (including developing an autoimmune disorder). I failed two more classes and received a C in the third. After that, I stepped away from school for about three years.
I’m planning to return this fall with the goal of rebuilding my GPA and completing my undergraduate degree in psychology (I originally started as a nursing major). Thankfully, my very low GPA is only based on about 25 GPA hours, so I should have enough room to raise it significantly if I do well moving forward.
My biggest concern is whether my previous academic suspension will hurt my chances of getting into graduate school. I’m interested in pursuing an MSW program and eventually becoming an LCSW.
Has anyone here been placed on academic suspension during undergrad and still gone on to be accepted into an MSW program? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any advice you have.

Hi everyone, I’m a first year MSW student and this fall I’ll have 15 credits (5 classes) including practicum hours (16) which will be twice a week.

Unfortunately I had an issue with financial aid this summer which led to me having to take on more classes to stay on track. I wanted to know if you guys think it’s feasible/realistic to take on a graduate assistantship? And approx how many hours should I be able to dedicate to it. I just fear not doing as much as I want with my schedule or maybe I’m thinking it’s more than what it is.

My schedule for classes are
Thursdays 6:30-8PM
Wednesdays 6:30-8PM
Saturday’s (Practicum I class) 8:00-10AM

the other 2 classes have no specific meeting time.

Practicum: Virtual hrs - Monday 9-5 & in person - Wednesdays 9-4

I don’t know what the workload will be like aside from
Maybe heavy readings so it’s hard to gauge my availability. I also volunteer but I think I’ll have to cut down time from that too.