Premium
Utah social work master's program to address workforce shortages
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
mental health weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7583
pISSN - 1058-1103
DOI - 10.1002/mhw.32562
Subject(s) - workforce , social work , mental health , human services , state (computer science) , work (physics) , sociology , psychology , medical education , public relations , gerontology , management , political science , medicine , engineering , psychiatry , law , mechanical engineering , computer science , algorithm , economics
After multiple reports on the shortage of social workers in Utah and a push from community health organizations, Weber State University will welcome its first social work graduate cohort in 2021, the Standard‐Examiner reported Oct. 17. Social workers at Weber Human Services, who help clients address mental health problems and substance addiction, are currently shouldering caseloads in the 60s and 80s as clients wait 60–90 days between visits, according to Weber Human Services Executive Director Kevin Eastman. A 2016 report from the Utah Medical Education Council noted that Utah has 209 mental health providers per 100,000 people — approximately two‐thirds of the 311 national average. The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah said in a 2019 report that the state needs to double its mental health workforce in the next 15 years to close gaps and keep up with demand. This is the fourth public Master of Social Work to be established in the state. At Weber State, students will focus on clinical social work practice, whereas “the other three programs in the state of Utah take a generalist practice approach,” WSU Department of Social Work and Gerontology Chair Mark Bigler said. “The focus (in Weber State's program) will really be on those skills that are essential for behavior change, behavior modification,” he said. “The other important piece is looking at evidence‐based models and strategies that have empirical support.”