Master’s students Isha Banerjea, Arnoldo Cantu, and Erica Heller at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work are among the forty students selected nation-wide by the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) inaugural Now Is the Time fellowships.
These fellowships are part of CSWE’s Minority Fellowship Program-Youth, which is designed to enhance the training of full-time, master’s-level minority students focused on direct practice with children, adolescents, and young adults.
“We are delighted that three of our students have been awarded this fellowship. This is an affirmation of them as persons and social workers, and of their capacities for providing and also improving mental health services to at-risk populations. We celebrate these students’ significant accomplishments and we are grateful that CSWE provides support for this important work,” said associate dean for academic affairs Allan Hugh Cole.
Applicants for this CSWE fellowship must be in their final year of study, identify mental health services delivery to at-risk children, adolescents, and young adults as the focus of their specialization, and be committed to seeking employment with this target population after graduation. The purpose of the program is to reduce health disparities and improve behavioral healthcare outcomes for racially and ethnically diverse populations by increasing the number of culturally competent behavioral health professionals.