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Easing the Burden Houston’s Menninger Scholars program sets a lead
Concerned about the debt that its students carry, SSW launched the Menninger Scholars Program, an innovative partnership with the renowned Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas. The new program is the brainchild of Dean Marianne Yoshioka, M.S.W., MBA, Ph.D., Associate Dean Irene Rodríguez-Martin, Ed.D., and Field Director Katelin Lewis-Kulin, M.S.W. ’00. “We are trying to be creative in helping our students to achieve their clinical goals,” said Rodríguez-Martin. “And we’ve been looking to address the fact that many of our students come here with a great amount of debt. The internships they do as part of the degree program are usually unpaid. On top of the thirty hours a week they work at their internships, about seventy percent of our students work part-time to support themselves. Many of them struggle with a big financial burden.” To ease that burden, SSW set out to find placement locations that offered exceptional learning opportunities, affordability and, when possible, diverse populations that would help students feel safe and welcome in their placements. Houston, for example, has a cost of living that is lower than the national average, comparing very favorably to cities such as New York City and San Francisco. Menninger Scholars receive a generous package of support: a $3,000 merit scholarship, a living stipend of $300 a month
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during their placement, and up to $1,000 for travel between Northampton and Houston. There is also $500 allocated in support of conference attendance. The package is in addition to any financial aid the student is already receiving. In 2020–21 the School will select between two and five of its strongest second-year students to become Scholars. A similar arrangement will be set up in Austin, Texas; students doing placement there will each receive a living stipend, up to $1,000 for travel between Texas and Northampton and $500 in conference monies. The Menninger Clinic is also excited about the partnership. It has committed to contributing an additional $1,000 stipend for each student. The clinic has a storied history, pioneering treatments for mental illness since its founding in 1925. To cite just one example, after World War II, it trained hundreds of psychiatric residents at its facilities to work with veterans suffering from combat stress. Ranked among the top five psychiatric hospitals in the nation, the clinic continues to provide outstanding care to adolescents and adults with complex and difficult-to-treat disorders. With programs that treat clients who struggle with anxiety, PTSD, addiction, depression, personality disorders or other issues, the clinic is well positioned to help Scholars pursue their chosen area of specialization. The clinic also collaborates with Houston-based organizations to deliver mental health care to underserved areas of the city. The need for social services among the city’s poor and marginalized populations is real: according to a 2017 Mayoral Task Force on Equity report, nearly a quarter of the city’s residents live in poverty. Rodríguez-Martin hopes that this program is just the beginning of a rich, long-term relationship—and that similar arrangements with other leading institutions might be in the offing. SSW is hoping to develop partnerships in other cities such as Atlanta and Durham. “This kind of partnership is rare,” said Rodríguez-Martin. “We couldn’t do it without the generosity of the Mayer family. SSW is the very fortunate beneficiary of an endowment from their foundation to be used for the development of clinicians primarily in Texas, and also in Colorado.”—Faye Wolfe
We are trying to be creative in helping our students to achieve their clinical goals. —IRENE RODRÍGUEZ-MARTIN
