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New master’s degree program fills critical need

In today's job market it might seem odd that a posting for a social worker with a master’s degree would go unfilled for months. But that’s the reality in some of Northern California’s rural counties.
     
There is a chronic shortage of qualified social workers to help provide mental health services in the foothills, says Robin Carter, director of Sacramento State’s Division of Social Work.

“It’s difficult to get master’s prepared social workers to move to remote areas,” she says.
     
To address the need, Sacramento State will begin offering a new master’s degree in social work open only to residents of Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Tuolumne counties.  The goal, says Carter, is to produce professionals who are “committed to the region.” 

The new Rural Mountain County Master of Social Work program begins in the fall. Students will earn a master’s degree, with an emphasis in rural mental health, in three years. Applications for the program can be downloaded at http://www.hhs.csus.edu/sw/mswapplication.htm. The deadline to apply is March 20. 
        
Graduates will work in their county’s public health department during the week assisting “those most in need and unable to access services,” Carter says.
      
Rita Downs, behavioral health services director for Calaveras County, says she’s excited that people in outlying counties can attend the University and advance their careers while still living in the rural areas they love. 
        
Downs says the program draws on people with roots in the rural counties and who may have a better understanding of their neighbors’ needs. She points to the lack of adequate housing and transportation for many of their clients. Even reaching out can pose challenges because of the stigma still attached to mental health in some areas.          
       
The counties pay the faculty costs with funding from the Mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63) passed by California voters in 2004. Thirty graduate students will make up the inaugural class.  
       
For more information, contact Sacramento State’s Division of Social Work at 278-7181. For media assistance, contact Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.