Applicants must complete the CWSP online application form and submit all required documents by the application deadline. Learn more about how to prepare the required documents to apply.

Required documents include: 

• A professional reflection
• A current resume

Application packets for the CWSP at VCU must be submitted by the appropriate deadline in order to be considered.

The CWSP team at VCU and advisory committee members review and screen application packets. Once admission to the M.S.W. Program or B.S.W. status is confirmed, applicants selected for the next stage of the process are scheduled for a required face-to-face interview in person or virtually. During the interview, applicants are asked a series of questions and are informed in more detail of the postgraduation commitment. Applicants are selected for the program based on a thorough review of application materials and the face-to-face interview. Following the interview, CWSP applicants will be asked to provide two professional references.

Applicants will be notified in writing via email about the award decision in a timely manner after interviews are completed and references submitted for each group of applicants. Applicants who are offered a spot in the CWSP and choose to accept the financial award will be required to sign the Child Welfare Stipend Program Student Agreement, a legally binding contractual agreement obligating them to seek and obtain employment in a local department of social services in Virginia postgraduation in family preservation, foster care and/or adoption services. Applicants who choose to accept the stipend must also submit other documents required by the state.

• Financial awards are communicated to the VCU Financial Aid Office and disbursed to student aid accounts. Acceptance of this stipend may affect other financial aid that you receive. Applicants must contact the VCU Financial Aid Office to determine the impact of the award upon eligibility for other financial aid awards. 
• Monies awarded to student accounts are to be used to cover tuition first. If any monies remain in the student account, they may be used to cover applicable fees and books.
• Your application will be reviewed fully by the CWSP team and community partners tasked with making a recommendation about your admittance to the program. 
• Stipend recipients must have and maintain employment eligibility in the United States.   
• Stipend recipients must submit required documentation to the Child Welfare Stipend Program coordinator at VCU as part of the admissions process prior to or at the time of signing the contractual agreement.
• Stipend recipients also are required to submit a copy of their valid driver’s license.
• If you are selected for an award, you will be required to complete a Request for a Search of the Child Protective Services Central Registry, a Criminal History Record Request and an Information Request for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles upon entering your field placement and upon obtaining employment in a state or local department of social services. A history of founded CPS complaints, criminal convictions or poor driving record may be a barrier to field placement and employment in Virginia’s state or local departments of social services and thus may make you ineligible to receive the award if you are not accepted for a placement by a local department of social services.
• If you have concerns about your eligibility, please email the CWSP team at cwstipend@vcu.edu for more information. Failure to disclose this information or to report any change of status relative to conviction of a crime, any moving traffic violations or a founded complaint of child abuse/neglect may result in dismissal from the Child Welfare Stipend Program and require your repayment of the financial award.

Please review and reflect on the following:

• Read: "How the child welfare system works”
• Watch:
  • A Realistic Job Preview of Child Welfare Work in Charlottesville
  • Informational video about the CWSP from Virginia DSS
  • Listen to the podcast Casework: What It Really Takes
  • The Power of Being Seen: We Can Transform the Child Welfare System
  • Podcast: Pathways to Child Welfare Careers
• Reflect: Take some time to reflect on the strengths and goals that you have that would make you a good fit for this area of social work practice.

After you have reflected on the material above, please submit your responses to the following questions. Responses should be a maximum length of 2-3 three pages in total for all five questions. Responses will be evaluated on quality of substance and writing skills; be thorough, yet concise. 

Note: While we are not picky when it comes to text size, font or spacing, we are looking for content that reflects appropriateness of fit for the program. However for clarity, please use the questions as headings for your responses.

1. Why are you interested in working with families in the public child welfare system, specifically in family preservation, foster care and/or adoption services?
2. What experience have you had in public or private child welfare, as a volunteer, student or employee? How has that experience influenced you? If you do not have experience in child welfare, tell us more about what you understand to be the focus and importance of child welfare work. 
3. Describe your immediate career goals. How will a social work education with a focus in public child welfare help you obtain these goals?
4. Working in public child welfare often means you are working in situations that will challenge you personally and professionally. Tell us about a time when you encountered a challenge where there was no way out but through. How did you work through that experience? 
5. The commonwealth of Virginia is investing significant resources to prepare its future child welfare workforce through this program. Tell us what strengths you will add to the child welfare workforce if chosen to participate in this program.

Please submit your professional reflection and current resume to cwstipend@vcu.edu. Your current resume should include education, employment, volunteer and field/internship experience.

To complete your application, fill out and submit the CWSP application form. All application materials must be submitted by the application deadline in order for your application packet to be reviewed and considered.

Following the interview, applicants chosen to move forward in the selection process will be required to submit two professional references. Both references must be from professionals who have worked with you, preferably one from someone who has supervised you in some capacity. Further instructions will be provided.