CSWE Council on Accreditation Updates on Employment Based Field Education (July 2022) can be found in the 2022 EPAS (https://www.cswe.org/accreditation/policies-process/2022epas/ ).

Accreditation Standard 3.3.7 The program has a policy documenting whether it permits field placements in an organization in which the student is also employed. If permitted, student assignments and employee tasks may qualify as field hours when directly linked to the nine social work competencies (and any additional competencies added by the program) and level of practice (generalist or specialized). Field education supervision may be provided by the same supervisor if field education supervision is distinct from employment supervision and the supervisor meets the requirements of Accreditation Standard 3.3.6. The policy documents how the program assists students with field education continuation or change in situations where a student becomes unemployed in an organization where field education has co-occurred with employment.

The Employment based field application and guidelines can be obtained through the field application process.

The relationship between education and employment is central to the evaluation of an employment-based field placement proposal. The achievement of learning and educational objectives is the central focus involved in the consideration of an employment-based field placement proposal. Students in employment-based field placements may not count more work hours than the number of credits they are registered for, irrespective of the actual number of hours they work weekly. In addition, the Council on Social Work Education competencies must be included and the focus of the field education experience at all times. The employment-based field placement proposal must demonstrate that educational time will be protected and that the educational and learning objectives of the field placement will include educational supervision and be accomplished within the perimeters of the Office of Field Education policies and requirements.

If a student wishes to request a field placement in a field site in which they will be simultaneously employed, the student must specify the request in the field application. Students must be currently employed at the time of the field application process.

If the student becomes unemployed, the outcome will be dependent upon the reason for termination. A termination involving field performance concerns will result in an Unsatisfactory grade for the term. Please refer to Section 11.00 Field/Agency Concern(s). If the termination is unrelated to their field placement roles and responsibilities the student will need to withdraw from the course and complete a Field Success meeting. The Office of Field Education will work with the student to identify a non-employment-based field placement. Every effort will be made to assist the student in securing a new field placement as soon as possible; however, this situation could potentially delay the student’s progress through the MSW program.