iv-e

From Powwow Princess to Child Welfare Social Worker: Chamese Dempsey’s Journey of Self-Discovery and Empowerment

March 26, 2024
Hawkin Chan

When Chamese Dempsey was an undergraduate at San Diego State University (SDSU), her mentor Tamara Strohauer encouraged her to apply for the Title IV-E Program. She hesitated. Memories of traumatic experiences surfaced from her childhood—many cousins and friends her age were rapidly being removed by the Child Protective Services and disappeared from the...

Justin Martinez: Always be open, honest, authentic, and proud to stand in your truth

October 1, 2023
Hawkin Chan

“I don't regret my past. I'm thankful for it and that's not all of who I am,” says Justin Martinez, a California native, born and raised in Sacramento. One night when Justin was 15, his mom had to take him and his brothers and sister to a WEAVE safe house after their neighbors called the cops on his father. 36 hours later, the Child Protective Services (CPS) placed all four children into foster care in a house two blocks away from their home for one...

A conversation with Dr. Jennifer Pabustan-Claar

May 12, 2023
Hawkin Chan

Dr. Jennifer Pabustan-Claar is currently the Managing Director for Riverside County’s Office of Integrated Services. She is responsible for coordinating the work of a multi-disciplinary leadership team to plan, implement, and evaluate the countywide Integrated Services Delivery Initiative for health and human services.

Previously, she was the Managing Director for the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) for three years, where she oversaw operations and planning for human services in the nation’s tenth largest county. Dr. Pabustan-Claar also headed Riverside County’s Adults...

The Indigenous Experience selected for special recognition

September 27, 2021
Hawkin Chan

The Indigenous Experience is an infographic presentation on the Indigenous people and their survival through historical trauma, marginalization, and systemic racism in the United States. Angelina Torres and Lucy Gahm have developed this project to bring awareness to the vibrant Native American culture and highlight the resiliency of Indigenous people, practicing...

A Conversation with Sheena Sanford, the 2021 Title IV-E Summit All-Star Student

May 18, 2021
Sheena Sanford, a Redding, CA native, is graduating from California State University, Chico, with her Bachelors in Social Work. As a single mother of a seven-year-old, the distributed learning (DL) program and Title IV-E program offered her an opportunity of a lifetime.

Title IV-E Retrospective Study

March 31, 2020

CalSWEC's Title IV-E Retrospective Study was released Jan 2020. Using over 1,650 Title IV-E graduate responses, this survey analyzes differences in program participants' demographics, previous child welfare experience, employment obligation, and career trajectories (across fields, positions, years worked, and employment transitions).

The full report can be found here: Title IV-E Retrospective Study - Full Report.

In Lieu of the 2020 Title IV-E Summit

April 23, 2020

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, CalSWEC's third annual Title IV-E Summit has been postponed. Under typical circumstances, this statewide event convenes 350 Title IV-E students, as well as university, Tribal, and county partners, around a pertinent child welfare theme. Even though in-person activities are limited across the state and the child welfare community continues to make adjustments in...

2019 Title IV-E Summit

The Title IV-E Summit is an event that convenes a diverse array of child welfare social work practitioners, educators, and CalSWEC Title IV-E students around relevant child welfare-related themes and goals.

2019 Title IV-E Summit THEME

Summit logo...

Melinda Iremonger’s Experiences Have Given Her Varied Lenses to View—and ‘Make Real Changes’ in—Child Welfare

December 2, 2019
Her career includes direct service, policy development, teaching, and statewide training coordination

As Social Worker and Advocate, Former Foster Youth Jessica Chandler Is Part of the Change She Wanted to See

October 29, 2019
‘Working at DCFS has made me a better mother, sister, neighbor, and member of our society’