5 DCS Scholarship students receive annual stipends, tuition
Short-staffed and overworked, Tennessees Department of Childrens Services (DCS) has turned to Austin Peay State University for help in securing well-trained caseworkers who are social work majors.This spring, five APSU students received DCS Scholarships. They are Shamilya Mitchell, Sara Simpkins, Shelley White, Kim Smith and Yuricka Rice.
Short-staffed and overworked, Tennessee's Department of Children's Services (DCS) has turned to Austin Peay State University for help in securing well-trained caseworkers who are social work majors.
This spring, five APSU students received DCS Scholarships. They are Shamilya Mitchell, Sara Simpkins, Shelley White, Kim Smith and Yuricka Rice.
The DCS Scholarship provides tuition for four semesters and pays a stipend of about $2,900 per semester for each recipient. In return, the scholarship recipients must take two child welfare classes in the APSU Department of Social Work and complete their field placement with DCS within the Mid-Cumberland Region.
Then, according to Professor of Social Work Glenn Carter, each scholarship recipient is guaranteed a job with DCS with $4,000 above the salaries of other beginning caseworkers. That equates to a starting annual salary of about $33,000.
As long as he/she has three or four semesters left prior to graduation, any social work major can apply for the scholarship, according to Carter, who indicated four more scholarships will be awarded starting with the 2007 Spring Semester.
鈥淭his is a great deal for both DCS and our social work majors,鈥 Carter said. 鈥淒CS will receive more caseworkers with social work degrees and our students will receive about $20,000 in scholarships and stipends.鈥
For more information about DCS Scholarships, contact Carter by telephone at (931) 221-7728. 鈥 Dennie B. Burke