Opinion: Social Work Students Are Required to Work Thousands of Hours for Free. We Demand Change.
The San Diego Union-Tribune • By Elana B. Metz and Sarah K. Fox • March 21, 2022
“Each year, hundreds of social work students enter the front lines of San Diego County’s mental health crisis, providing vital services for the area’s most vulnerable residents in schools, prisons, hospitals and outpatient facilities and on our streets. We provide direct therapy and case management for children, youth and adults with severe mental illnesses and substance-use disorders. We counsel family members with loved ones in hospice, connect homeless community members to resources, and do so much more. This army of unpaid workers fills the gaps in the social service sector at our own financial expense. This is not a sustainable or ethical approach to meeting the needs of our community.
The Council of Social Work Education requires students to complete what it refers to as field education. To earn a degree, undergraduate students need to complete a minimum of 400 hours — and master’s students need to complete a minimum of 900 hours of field work. At many schools, the requirement is even higher. At San Diego State University, for example, students must complete 480 and 1,050 hours, respectively. This field work is predominantly uncompensated, and essentially amounts to an “unpaid internship.”
