Support Page Content
Title IV-E Stipend Program
Title IV-E provides professional education and monetary support to undergraduate and graduate Social Work students who intend to pursue or continue a career in the field of public child welfare.
Title IV-E Program Goals
The goal of Child Welfare is to promote the well-being, permanency, and safety of children and families by helping families care for their children successfully or, when that is not possible, helping children find temporary foster homes or permanency with kin or with adoptive families.
Child welfare systems across the country serve some of the most vulnerable children, youth, and families. These systems are designed to support families and to protect children from harm through an array of prevention and intervention services; in particular, they are designed to support children who have been or are at risk of abuse or neglect. Child welfare is a continuum of services designed to ensure that children are kept safe.
The California Title IV-E Stipend Program is intended to increase the number of specially trained social workers in Public and Tribal child welfare agencies serving California’s most vulnerable children and families.
The Cal IV-E program provides monetary assistance in the form of stipends, educational support, competency-based curriculum with specialized placements to students who are interested in starting or continuing a career in Public Child Welfare in exchange for a post-graduation employment obligation in Public Child Welfare or a Tribal child welfare setting in the State of California.
Applying online to the Title IV-E application (Available October 1st, 2026)
THREE-STEP process:
1) Cal State Apply and MSW Supplemental Application, which is included in the Cal State Application (Same for applying to the MSW application if you haven’t already done it).
For more information on how to apply to the MSW Program, please visit the website.
2) Create or reactivate the SacLink Account.
3) Apply for Title IV-E Application (see the Title IV-E Application Information and Instructions 2026-2027 and the link to the Title IV-E Application below.) The Title IV-E application form MUST be finished within 20 minutes, and you MUST hit "Submit" when you finish.
Deadline: December 9, 2026.
Title IV-E Application Information and Instructions 2027-2028