Published on : May 16, 2025
On May 12-13, 2025, at its third-annual Fellows Forum, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) hosted dozens of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students for seminars on disability justice and substance abuse in social work research and practice. Students then joined CSWE staff on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to meet with congressional offices about those and other related issues related to social work education.
The goal was to engage social work students on issues that are of critical importance to the profession, and to ensure that education resources and funding remain available to them and future social work students.
“We are lucky to have funding through the government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) for our Minority Fellowship Program (MFP), as well as a SAMHSA Opioid Response Network (ORN) subaward via the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry for our Substance Abuse Education and Leadership Scholars (SUDEALS) program,” said CSWE’s Director of Initiatives and Professional Development Maisaloon Dias. “All of our students are CSWE fellows, and the stipends we provide them through the fellowships help supplement their education and cost of living so that they can achieve their degree, join the workforce, and serve their communities.”
The fellows represented 28 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The Fellows Forum provides a valuable opportunity to meet in person and build professional networks for shared knowledge and support.
The forum’s plenary speaker, Shelly Weizman, JD, of Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, updated attendees on the ongoing national opioid overdose crisis and how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) could be leveraged to combat it. Students also attended breakout sessions on the theme of disability justice led by Dr. Gloria Cain of Howard University and Dr. Grace L. Francis of George Mason University.
Students then traveled from CSWE’s headquarters in Alexandria, Va., across the Potomac River into Washington, D.C., for meetings with their local congressional offices to press the importance of maintaining funding for social work education and programs.
“We advocated on behalf of continued funding for education programming and initiatives under SAMHSA, including the MFP, which has been a crucial resource for communities for over 50 years,” said Heather Donahue, CSWE’s Director of Grants and Special Projects. “We also stressed the importance of the government’s Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) program and advocated for continued funding for the Opioid Response Network.”
An Opioid Response Network subaward funds the SUDEALS program. SUDEALS offers students and programs opportunities to train social workers in areas such as substance abuse and mental health, providing an invaluable resource for communities nationwide.
“Social workers are the number one provider of behavioral health services in our country,” Donahue said.
Students embraced the opportunity to meet with local representatives and learn firsthand how Congress turns constituent priorities into legislation. Many of them advocated on behalf of continued funding for programs like SUDEALS.
“Mental health and substance abuse have long been interests of mine, and I’m thankful for SUDEALS and CSWE to have the opportunity to explore that further,” said Javiance Wideman, a fellow who participated in meetings with offices representing her home state of South Carolina.
“In South Carolina, we have a large homeless population,” Wideman said. I interned at a homeless shelter and witnessed substance abuse and mental health issues firsthand. Participating in the SUDEALS scholarship gave me the tools that I needed to better serve my community. If we continue to promote SUDEALS so that others have the opportunity to participate, then we can shape a better world.”
Support for the CSWE Fellows Forum was provided by Preferra Insurance Company.
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The CSWE Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The purpose of the program is to reduce health disparities and improve health-care outcomes of racially and ethnically diverse populations by increasing the number of culturally competent behavioral health professionals available to underserved populations with or at risk for substance use and/or mental health disorders in the public and private nonprofit sectors.
The SUDEALS program is funded by a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Opioid Response Network (ORN) subaward via the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. The goal of ORN is to ensure enhancement and expansion of evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery support programs/services. For more information and resources on ORN, click here.