Catholic Charities Fellowship Program established at Cal State San Bernardino

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A three-year partnership to help train graduate and undergraduate social work students at Cal State San Bernardino through the region's nonprofit organizations has been established between the university's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Catholic Charities San Bernardino/Riverside.

Ken Sawa, Catholic Charities' CEO and executive vice president, on Oct. 7 presented the first of three installments to fund the Catholic Charities Fellowship Program for more than $36,000 to Jamal Nassar, dean of the college; Laurie Smith, director of the college's School of Social Work; and Enrique Gonzalez-Salgado, director of development for the college.

"This effort is in line with our University Strategic Plan to expand our role as a regional center," Nassar said. "The college is proud to partner with Catholic Charities in a way that empowers our students to engage in the nonprofit community."

"Our intent is to do our part in increasing the capacity of nonprofits, which play a vital role in providing community services," said Sawa, who earned his master's degree in social work at CSUSB and was one of the first inductees to the college's Hall of Fame last spring.

"An important way to do that is to support the education and training of students and to provide them an opportunity to get a taste of the important work that happens in the neighborhoods and communities, with the hope that they will take their education and experience from Cal State San Bernardino and stay in our local communities to help the families that live there," he said.

Specifically, the program will pay for 50 percent of a participating student's fees while he or she is in the program. Two undergraduate and two graduate social work students will be selected for "field placements" in nonprofit organizations in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Smith described the yearlong assignments as very intensive and closely supervised. It will provide the students the opportunity to take what they are learning in the classroom into the communities, while also serving those communities through the nonprofit organizations.

A study by the James Irvine Foundation in March 2009 determined that while the inland counties of San Bernardino and Riverside were among the fastest growing in California, the growth of nonprofit organizations - moreover, those which offer human services - were not keeping pace. The new program, Sawa, Smith and Nassar said, will help meet that growing need.

And, Sawa said, they see this as just the beginning of an effort to encourage other foundations and nonprofits with enough resources to get involved in the effort.

"My hope is that Catholic Charities' contribution is essentially seed money for a much larger pot of money that can provide additional support to even more students," he said. "I think we have a very strong case for a model program that can do that through a partnership between a local university."

About CSUSB'S School of Social Work

Cal State San Bernardino's School of Social Work, housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has been serving the Inland Empire and Southern California since 1989. The school has 17 full-time faculty members and currently enrolls more than 260 students.

With strong connections to local government and nonprofit public and nonprofit social service organizations, the school leverages partnerships to offer students fieldwork opportunities in a variety of disciplines. The school also offers contract training to local social work agencies at an off campus training site.

The site offers the continuing education unit designation for licensed clinical social workers and marriage family therapists. More than 900 students have completed the school's master of arts in social work and bachelor of arts in social work degree programs. Both d

From left, Laurie Smith, director of CSUSB's School of Social Work; Ken Sawa, CEO/executive vice president, Catholic Charites San Bernardino/Riverside.; and Jamal Nassar, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences,