KU SOCIAL WORKERS PROVIDE HELP & HOPE FOR WESTERN KANSAS
Born and raised in western Kansas, Christina Boyd loves her home on the plains, with its breathtaking sunsets and wide-open spaces. But it’s the hard-working, resilient people of the frontier she appreciates most. She likes how they look out for each other and lend a hand when someone’s in need. Boyd has also seen that living in this part of the state can come at a high cost when you need medical, mental, or behavioral health care. There are too few providers, too far away. This lack of access to care is taking its toll.
For example, Boyd sited the high teen suicide rate in Ford County, where Dodge City is located. More than a third of the
students in Ford County revealed in the 2019 Kansas Communities that Cares Student Survey* that they had felt so sad or hopeless, they had stopped doing their usual activities, up from 31 percent in 2018. In 2019, nearly 4 percent of students reported they had tried to kill themselves, up from 2.85 percent in 2018. The state average is 1.92 percent. “The need to address this is staggering,” says Boyd, LSCSW, LCAC. As the partnership sites director for the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare Western Kansas Master of Social Work program, she is working hard to increase the number of social workers in western Kansas who have the quality of education and experience required to serve the growing needs in the region.
SOCWEL.KU.EDU Christina Boyd, Partnership Sites Director christinab@ku.edu | 970-567-2722
Boyd has also seen that living in this part of the state can come at a high cost when you need medical, mental, or behavioral health care. There are too few providers, too far away. This lack of access to care is taking its toll.
“There is such a potential for social workers to touch people’s lives in profound ways. In a lot of cases, this is life or death,” says Boyd. “As a social worker, you can literally be the reason that someone has a whole, healthy, fulfilling life before them.”
Currently, of the 4,815 people who hold social work licenses in Kansas, fewer than 5 percent of them are working in western Kansas. KU’s program is changing that. Launched in 2013 with the goal of bringing more social workers to western Kansas, the program had awarded 92 master’s degrees by 2019, 87 percent of whom stay in central or western Kansas. Already, nearly 50 percent of the social workers in the region are alumni of the school. Now, the program is on target to boost the number of licensed social workers in the area by 10 percent per year. “I see this program as providing resources and clinicians that would not otherwise be available,” Boyd says. “A majority of the students will stay here -- they have roots out here. That gives me a lot of hope.” Through a blend of online learning and biweekly classes at Fort Hays State University and Garden City Community College, the program allows students to receive a top-flight KU education and practicum experience close to home in as little as one year. The 2019 US News and World Report ranked KU’s Master of Social Work program in the top 12 percent of public universities in the nation, making it the top ranked program in Kansas by far. The master’s program has been offered since 1947. There are lots of social work jobs waiting for the newly minted graduates, says Megan Garcia, the regional director for Compass Behavioral Health in Garden City, which provides therapy, case management, crisis services, and other services for 13 Kansas counties. “We have a large need for social workers -- there are not enough,” reports Garcia, LMSW, LSCSW, who is also an adjunct faculty member for the program. “We have seen massive growth in walk-in crisis and people wanting therapy.” In 2018, three program graduates joined Garcia’s team at Compass. Graduates go on to pursue social work careers in western Kansas in positions as diverse as direct practice, child welfare, community mental health, hospitals, schools, early childhood, and nursing homes. *The Kansas Communities that Care Student Survey is a voluntary survey for Kansas students in 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades.
JESSICA ALBIN, LMSW, LMAC “I love my job!” Jessica Albin, LMSW, LMAC, loves her job as a case manager, providing counseling, holistic interventions, and crisis management at the Kelly Center & Student Health Center at Fort Hays State University. This 2018 graduate of the KU School of Social Welfare western Kansas MSW program says, “I am really grateful KU valued this part of the state and our population so much that they would make a commitment to social work education in this area. I could not have chosen a master of social work if it had not been right here in western Kansas. I am so thankful I had an opportunity to access such a high-quality program.”
By 2019, the western Kansas program awarded 92 master’s degrees & 87% of the recipients stayed in central or western Kansas.
The University of Kansas is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action institution.
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WELFARE University of Kansas 1545 Lilac Lane Lawrence, KS 66045-3129 Phone: (785) 864-4720 Fax: (785) 864-5277 socwel.ku.edu connect.ku.edu
2019 September Child and Adolescent Mental Health