Establishes a master of social work paid field work pilot program to provide a stipend to students who are enrolled in a master of social work program for the first 450 hours of field work completed towards such masters' degree; requires the office of mental health to complete a report making recommendations on how to expand the pilot program to increase the number of social workers in the state, improve representation in the field of social work, mitigate student debt and improve labor conditions for social workers upon graduation.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9379
SPONSOR: Simon TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing a
master of social work paid field work pilot program
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation creates a four-year pilot program to provide financial
stipends equal to $4,500 to Master of Social Work (MSW) student interns
attending Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)-accredited schools in
New York State for the first 450 hours of their internship or practicum.
The program aims to address the financial barriers faced by MSW students
during mandatory unpaid internship/practicum hours, with the goals of
increasing enrollment and retention, improving access to the profession,
diversifying the field, and reducing student debt.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new section 7.49 to Mental Hygiene Law with six subdi-
visions.
Subdivision (a) establishes that the Office of Mental Health shall
create and administer a Master of Social Work fieldwork pilot program to
provide stipends for students completing an internship or practicum at a
Council of Social Work-accredited school.
Subdivision (b) lays out the funding amount, $4,500 stipend for the
first 450 hours of a student's internship, as well as eligibility crite-
ria. Students must complete their internship in New York, and must agree
to work in New York in a social work capacity for at least one year
after graduation. For students already receiving funding for
internship/practicum hours exceeding $4,500 through grants, scholar-
ships, fellowships, or work-based placements will not be eligible for
the stipend. Students receiving less than $4,500 in such funding may
qualify for the difference between their existing funding and the
stipend amount.
Subdivision (c) requires the Office of Mental Health to provide informa-
tion about the program to eligible schools and requires the schools to
run a public awareness campaign about the stipend.
Subdivision (d) instructs the Office of Mental Health to collect data on
the program, including how the program impacted Master of Social Work
enrollment trends and demographic shifts; retention, attrition, degree
conferral, and dropout rates; student debt and post-graduate workforce
retention; and internship sites, student health, local economies, and
social work wages. They must also conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the
program and provide any policy recommendations to expand and improve the
program.
Subdivision (e) requires that the data collected be compiled into a
report submitted to the Governor, Legislature, and the public.
Subdivision (f) appropriates money for the program, which shall be
adjusted each year to provide funding to students enrolled in a qualify-
ing Master of Social Work programs.
Section 2 provides that this act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
JUSTIFICATION:
To earn a Master's degree in Social Work (MSW), students are required to
complete a minimum of 900 hours of internship, which are typically
unpaid. Unpaid internships create a significant financial barrier,
resulting in a social worker shortage, a lack of diversity in the field,
and increased student debt.
Social workers are essential in addressing New York's most pressing
challenges, such as the mental health crisis, the opioid epidemic, and
homelessness. However, New York faces a critical shortage of social
workers, limiting the state's ability to effectively address these
crises and provide necessary services. For example, 48 of New York's 62
counties have moderate to severe mental health service shortages', and
95% of the New York's school districts do not meet the recommended ratio
of one school social worker for every 250 students.(2)
These shortages do not affect everyone equally - they have grave conse-
quences, especially for the state's most vulnerable populations. Fund-
ing social work interns would be an investment in the health of the
state by creating a pipeline of new social workers to help build the
workforce to meet the state's most urgent needs.
For MSW students themselves, the stipend of $4,500 for the first 450
hours of their internship/practicum will provide much-needed financial
relief, enabling them to focus on their studies and internships. MSW
student debt has been steadily rising over the past decade. This debt is
closely tied to race and gender, with students of color and women accu-
mulating significantly higher levels of debt than white and/or male
students.(3)
States across the country including MiChigan, Massachusetts and others,
are introducing or implementing programs to fund social work interns as
a means of growing and diversifying their workforce. It is time for New
York to follow suit.
RACIAL JUSTICE AND GENDER JUSTICE IMPACT:
Funding social work interns isn't just about increasing the number of
social workers; it is also essential to recruit social workers that
reflect the communities they serve. Unpaid internships disproportionate-
ly impact students with the strongest demonstrated financial need,
thereby contributing to a lack of representation in the field. The
majority of new social workers are white,(4) while most of the clients
they serve are people of color.
This demographic mismatch is detrimental to the communities that rely on
the services social workers provide. Having social workers that accu-
rately understand the struggles the community they are serving face
because they themselves have faced the same struggle will only improve
their ability to serve their clients well. Funding social work intern-
ships reduces the barrier of entry for students of color and working-
class students, helping to ensure that the field better represents the
communities served. Furthermore, since over 80% of social work students
identify as female,(5) paying interns would represent a historic invest-
ment in the fight for gender and pay equity.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Program costs will be adjusted based on MSW enrollment trends, with a
projected initial annual cost of $12 million per year.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025 and be implemented for
internships beginning in the Fall 2025 academic semester.
1. HPSA Find. (n.d.). HRSA Data Warehouse.
https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area/hpsa-find il 0 2. Miller, A.,
Kim, T., & Shulman, K. (2022, April). Oversight of Mental Health Educa-
tion in Schools. New York State Comptroller.
HTTPS://WWW.OSC.NY.GOV/FILES/STATE- AGENCIES/AUDITS/PDF/SGA-2022-
20S63.PDF
3. Council on Social Work Education. (2023). 2022-2023 statistics on
social work education in the United States.
HTTPS://WWW.CSWE.ORG/RESEARCH-
STATISTICS/RESEARCH-BRIEFSANDPUBLICATIONS/2022-2023- ANNUAL-STATISTICS-
ON-SOCIAL-WORK-EDUCATION
4. Council on Social Work Education. (2023). 2022-2023 statistics on
social work education in the United States.
HTTPS://WWW.CSWE.ORG/
RESEARCH-STATISTICS/RESEARCH-BRIEFSANDPUBLICATIONS/
2022-2023-ANNUAL-STATISTICS-ON-SOCIAL- WORK-EDUCATION
5. Council on Social Work Education. (2023). 2022-2023 statistics on
social work education in the United States.
HTTPS://WWW.CSWE.
ORG/RESEARCH-STATISTICS/RESEARCH-BRIEFS
ANDPUBLICATIONS/2022-2023-ANNUAL- STATISTICS-ON-SOCIAL-WORK-EDUCATION
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9379
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
December 19, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Mental Health
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing a
master of social work paid field work pilot program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section
2 7.49 to read as follows:
3 § 7.49 Master of social work paid field work pilot program.
4 (a) The office shall establish and administer a master of social work
5 paid field work pilot program to provide stipends, within appropriations
6 therefor, to students who are enrolled in a master of social work
7 program of study at a program registered by the department of education
8 and accredited by the Council of Social Work Education, or determined by
9 the department of education to be the substantial equivalent of such a
10 program, and who are required to perform services as part of the field
11 work component of such program.
12 (b) Commencing with the fall two thousand twenty-five semester, the
13 pilot program shall provide stipends for field work during the first
14 four hundred fifty hours of field work for students completing a
15 required field work component as part of their course of study in a
16 master of social work program of study.
17 (1) Such pilot program shall be available to all students who:
18 (i) are enrolled in a master of social work program of study at a
19 program registered by the department of education and accredited by the
20 Council of Social Work Education, or determined by the department of
21 education to be the substantial equivalent of such a program, and who
22 are required to perform services as part of the field work component of
23 such program; and
24 (ii) perform their field work in New York state.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10427-02-5
A. 9379 2
1 (2) Students who are eligible for this pilot program shall receive a
2 stipend of four thousand five hundred dollars, at a rate of ten dollars
3 per hour, while completing their first four hundred fifty hours of field
4 work as part of their required field work component. Such stipend shall
5 be distributed monthly and shall automatically renew annually until
6 either the student completes four hundred fifty hours of field work or
7 the end of the spring semester in two thousand twenty-nine, whichever
8 occurs first. Students who receive such funding shall agree to work in
9 New York state in a social work capacity for one year upon graduating.
10 (i) Students who receive funding of four thousand five hundred dollars
11 or more relating to the completion of such field work from any other
12 source, including, but not limited to, grants, scholarships, fellow-
13 ships, or work-based placements, shall be ineligible for a stipend
14 pursuant to this program.
15 (ii) Students who receive funding of less than four thousand five
16 hundred dollars relating to the completion of such field work from any
17 other source, including, but not limited to, grants, scholarships,
18 fellowships, or work-based placements shall be eligible for a stipend
19 for the difference between their existing funding and four thousand five
20 hundred dollars.
21 (c) The office shall provide informational materials about the pilot
22 program to schools in the state who offer a master of social work
23 program of study that are registered by the department of education and
24 accredited by the Council of Social Work Education, or determined by the
25 department of education to be the substantial equivalent of such a
26 program. Such schools shall conduct a public awareness campaign inform-
27 ing students and prospective students that their first four hundred
28 fifty hours of required field work in a master of social work program of
29 study will be compensated. Monies for the public awareness campaign
30 shall not be deducted from monies designated for student interns pursu-
31 ant to this section.
32 (d) The office shall collect data annually and make such data public
33 on their website to assess:
34 (1) changes in the number of licensed master social worker applica-
35 tions during the pilot program compared to before the pilot program;
36 (2) statewide enrollment trends in master of social work programs
37 during the pilot program compared to before the pilot program;
38 (3) changes in demographics of students enrolled in master of social
39 work programs, including age, race, socioeconomic status, gender identi-
40 ty, sexual orientation, ability, geographic, religion, representation,
41 and any other demographic factor that the office deems relevant;
42 (4) changes in master of social work programs' retention, attrition,
43 dropout rates, and degree conferral rates. For the purposes of this
44 paragraph:
45 (i) "retention rate" means the number of students who continue enroll-
46 ment in their program between specified terms;
47 (ii) "attrition rate" means the number of students who leave enroll-
48 ment between specified points in time;
49 (iii) "dropout rate" means the number of students who discontinue
50 their master of social work program without earning a degree; and
51 (iv) "degree conferral rate" means the number of students who complete
52 their master of social work program;
53 (5) the impact on matriculation rates and enrollment status;
54 (6) the impact on student debt by evaluating how stipend funding
55 affected master of social work student debt levels;
A. 9379 3
1 (7) the impact field work funding has on social work wages and work-
2 force retention after graduation;
3 (8) the impact on field work sites by assessing how funding stipends
4 influenced field work sites' ability to provide services to clients and
5 communities;
6 (9) impacts on students' mental, emotional, physical and financial
7 health;
8 (10) cost-benefit analysis of field work funding relative to services
9 provided and preventative measures implemented, which shall include, but
10 is not limited to, the economic value of services performed by interns
11 (e.g., based on market rates for similar services);
12 (11) the impact field work funding has on local economies and economic
13 development; and
14 (12) any other metric or area of study the office deems relevant.
15 (e) The office shall conduct a study and produce a report on the effi-
16 cacy of the pilot program based on the data collected pursuant to subdi-
17 vision (d) of this section and shall submit such report to the governor
18 and the legislature, and be made public, no later than December first,
19 two thousand twenty-nine. Such report shall include recommendations on
20 how to expand the pilot program to increase the number of social workers
21 in the state, improve representation in the field of social work, miti-
22 gate student debt and improve labor conditions for social workers upon
23 graduation.
24 (f) Amounts made available to the master of social work paid field
25 work pilot program shall be subject to annual appropriations therefor.
26 Such appropriations shall be adjusted each fiscal year to provide fund-
27 ing to students enrolled in a qualifying master of social work program
28 pursuant to this section and to reflect the variance between current
29 enrollment numbers for master of social work programs and enrollment in
30 the previous fiscal year.
31 § 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. Effective immediately,
32 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
33 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
34 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
