Child Welfare Education for Leadership

Child Welfare Education for Leadership (CWEL) and this program is also administered by the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work. The CWEL program is a cooperative effort among the United States Administration for Children and Families, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, the Pennsylvania Child and Youth Administrators and eleven accredited schools of social work in Pennsylvania. Its goal is to strengthen public child welfare services in Pennsylvania by providing educational opportunities at the graduate level for public child welfare personnel. Qualified persons who are admitted to any of the approved schools on either a full-time or part-time basis may receive substantial financial support in return for a contractual obligation to continue employment with the sponsoring agency following their studies.

Any employee of a Pennsylvania county child welfare agency may apply provided the applicant has the prerequisite academic degree from an accredited institution of higher education; has been employed by the same agency for at least one year; has at least satisfactory performance evaluations; and (if applying for full-time study) is granted an educational leave by the employing agency for the purpose of enrolling in the CWEL program. Those who have already started a graduate Social Work program in a CWEL school may also apply, so long as they are in good academic standing and they do not have any outstanding debts to school in which they are enrolled. Persons in default of federal educational loans are ineligible. Caseworkers, supervisors, and administrative personnel are all eligible to participate. 

For more information about how Shippensburg University participates in the CWEL program, please contact Dr. Marita Flagler by emailing mnflagler@ship.edu.