Field Directors

Good Afternoon!  Employment-based placements are becoming more popular, and I was wondering if anyone had a policy on what to do if a student gets fired from their employment-based placement. 

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Natalie Yates
Co-Field Director/Assistant Professor
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro NC
336-285-2050
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Hi Natalie, we've dealt with this a few times over the past couple of years. Our policy is pretty generalized as we find it best to deal with these on a case by case scenario. The language in our field handbook reads: "If a student is an employer-based placement and their employment ends for reasons beyond the student's control, they must notify their field faculty liaison promptly. The field office will assess the circumstances and work to find a resolution which may include continuing the placement while no longer an employee, changing placements, or an academic review, depending on circumstances leading to this change."

In practice, we've done a couple of things. For one, we were surprised to find that sometimes this would happen and the agency would not communicate with us at all. In an attempt to remedy that, we now include as part of our process for approving an employer based placement, that we meet with the employer to discuss the placement and also have a conversation about what would happen if the employment relationship ended for any reason. We explain that while we would not need to know about HR related deatils, we would need to know if there were reasons that the student's educational opportunity at the agency would come to and end. That does seem to make some lightbulbs go off. 

Then, assuming we are notified promptly, by either the student or agency, we would assess what we know of the situation. If there are reasons to consider a serious ethical violation or other reason that we may have concern about replacing the student elsewhere, we would refer to an academic review with our full MSW committee to determine next steps for the student. If it seems the issue is not to the scale that we necessarily have that concern, we would attempt to replace that student, but this sometimes would disrupt the course progression, depending on the timing. If it happens near a semester break and we are able to get the agency to complete a midterm assessment for example, we may be able to find a new placement, get a new learning contract in place and have the student continue, but the timing can also be more unfortunate, leading to a pause in field, or possibly needing to take an incomplete or withdraw and repeat field. We have really tried to emphasize to our students that there is inherent risk in employer based placements and they should give this serious consideration when making the decision to tie their employment so closely to their education, and then also that communicating with us is essential if there are any concerns about any changes to their employment scenario as we are much better equipped to help them through if we know what is going on.

I hope this helps!

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Lindsey Rinehart
Field Education Director & Clinical Instructor
West Virginia University
Morgantown WV
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Original Message:
Sent: Dec 04, 2023 13:10
From: Natalie Yates
Subject: Employment Based Placements

Good Afternoon!  Employment-based placements are becoming more popular, and I was wondering if anyone had a policy on what to do if a student gets fired from their employment-based placement. 

------------------------------
Natalie Yates
Co-Field Director/Assistant Professor
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro NC
336-285-2050
------------------------------

Hello! This was very helpful!! I was reading over the EPAS yesterday and they specified that there needs to be a policy for that situation. I never thought that a student would be in that situation but I guess anything is possible. This gives me some good ideas of what we could develop. 

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Natalie Yates
Co-Field Director/Assistant Professor
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro NC
336-285-2050
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 05, 2023 09:29
From: Lindsey Rinehart
Subject: Employment Based Placements

Hi Natalie, we've dealt with this a few times over the past couple of years. Our policy is pretty generalized as we find it best to deal with these on a case by case scenario. The language in our field handbook reads: "If a student is an employer-based placement and their employment ends for reasons beyond the student's control, they must notify their field faculty liaison promptly. The field office will assess the circumstances and work to find a resolution which may include continuing the placement while no longer an employee, changing placements, or an academic review, depending on circumstances leading to this change."

In practice, we've done a couple of things. For one, we were surprised to find that sometimes this would happen and the agency would not communicate with us at all. In an attempt to remedy that, we now include as part of our process for approving an employer based placement, that we meet with the employer to discuss the placement and also have a conversation about what would happen if the employment relationship ended for any reason. We explain that while we would not need to know about HR related deatils, we would need to know if there were reasons that the student's educational opportunity at the agency would come to and end. That does seem to make some lightbulbs go off. 

Then, assuming we are notified promptly, by either the student or agency, we would assess what we know of the situation. If there are reasons to consider a serious ethical violation or other reason that we may have concern about replacing the student elsewhere, we would refer to an academic review with our full MSW committee to determine next steps for the student. If it seems the issue is not to the scale that we necessarily have that concern, we would attempt to replace that student, but this sometimes would disrupt the course progression, depending on the timing. If it happens near a semester break and we are able to get the agency to complete a midterm assessment for example, we may be able to find a new placement, get a new learning contract in place and have the student continue, but the timing can also be more unfortunate, leading to a pause in field, or possibly needing to take an incomplete or withdraw and repeat field. We have really tried to emphasize to our students that there is inherent risk in employer based placements and they should give this serious consideration when making the decision to tie their employment so closely to their education, and then also that communicating with us is essential if there are any concerns about any changes to their employment scenario as we are much better equipped to help them through if we know what is going on.

I hope this helps!

------------------------------
Lindsey Rinehart
Field Education Director & Clinical Instructor
West Virginia University
Morgantown WV

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 04, 2023 13:10
From: Natalie Yates
Subject: Employment Based Placements

Good Afternoon!  Employment-based placements are becoming more popular, and I was wondering if anyone had a policy on what to do if a student gets fired from their employment-based placement. 

------------------------------
Natalie Yates
Co-Field Director/Assistant Professor
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro NC
336-285-2050
------------------------------

Hi Natalie - we have a policy in place that outlines this as a potential risk to employment-based practicums (though it is true that students could be terminated at a non-employment related site). We ask that the agency consider continuing the student in an internship capacity if terminated from the agency unless this would be deemed inappropriate (often if there are ethical issues). We tell students that they may also want to change jobs, but once they commit to an agency for their internship, they have to finish there (so they can't jump to another agency and enter into a new employment-based agreement). For the most part this has worked well. When it hasn't, we address the issue. I have only had a few students terminated from their employment and subsequently their internship - all issues revolved around inappropriate/unethical behavior on the part of the student where the agency has felt they cannot continue working with them as an intern. We respect the agency's decision and the termination from the placement necessitates an academic review. We meet with the student and discuss the incident and next steps (i.e. whether the issue impacts their standing in the program, replacement, etc.).

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Dana Holcomb, DSW, LMSW-Clinical
Associate Professor and Director of Field
Ferris State University
Big Rapids, MI 49307
231-591-2763
danaholcomb@ferris.edu
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Original Message:
Sent: Dec 04, 2023 13:10
From: Natalie Yates
Subject: Employment Based Placements

Good Afternoon!  Employment-based placements are becoming more popular, and I was wondering if anyone had a policy on what to do if a student gets fired from their employment-based placement. 

------------------------------
Natalie Yates
Co-Field Director/Assistant Professor
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro NC
336-285-2050
------------------------------

Hi Natalie and colleagues,

Our policy is very similar to what Dana and Lindsey have outlined. I am attaching a copy of what we provide to the students and to the employment site. Frankly, this is still a work in progress for us. I dealt with a situation earlier this semester where the student was fired by the director, without knowledge from their field instructor, for not lighting the cigarette of a client. I know a lot to unpack there. The director fired the student and terminated them from the field placement. The student has been reassigned, but it has created undue stress with respect to ensuring that they will be able to successfully complete the semester at another site. In a current situation, the student's agency requires separate field and employment hours. The student's work relationship has grown strained because they are understaffed. Again, layered. The student wants to quit, but without regard to having some intervention from our Office in an attempt to intervene with regard to the field aspect only, not the employment piece. Yet, what I am seeing and continue to see is that the lines between the two are often blurred leaving students and field instructors uncertain how to navigate troubling situations without jeopardizing the student's employment. I hope this helps! Let me know if you want to connect!

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Shenita Williams
Director of Field Education
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA
804-828-0708
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Original Message:
Sent: Dec 04, 2023 13:10
From: Natalie Yates
Subject: Employment Based Placements

Good Afternoon!  Employment-based placements are becoming more popular, and I was wondering if anyone had a policy on what to do if a student gets fired from their employment-based placement. 

------------------------------
Natalie Yates
Co-Field Director/Assistant Professor
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro NC
336-285-2050
------------------------------