New Fellowship Program Creates Stronger Pipeline for Behavioral Health Social Workers

To help address the nationwide shortage of licensed social workers, VNS Health is launching a Social Work Graduate Internship and Early Career Social Work Fellowship (ECSWF) Program. The program, which was the recent recipient of a three-year, $300,000 grant from the van Ameringen Foundation, includes three tracks: 1) a graduate internship program aligned with degree requirements, 2) a nine-month post-graduate fellowship that provides structured supervision, mentorship, and 3) licensure support for Behavioral Health social workers.

Through expanded school partnerships and standardized supervision protocols, the program aims to help more than 20 graduate interns per year transition to become licensed professionals while also enrolling 15–20 post-graduate fellows each year. Currently the Social Work Fellowship is available to VNS Health Behavioral Health team members only, and the first cohort is planned to start this September and go through May of next year. To learn more, please reach out to Lauren Hartman, Clinical Education Manager, Behavioral Health.