Paul Force-Emery Mackie

Is there really a problem with hiring rural social service staff? An exploratory study among social service supervisors in rural Minnesota.

A convenience sample of rural-based social service supervisors was surveyed using an exploratory design to investigate problems associated with hiring and retaining rural social service staff. Findings suggest that geographic distance from standard metropolitan statistical areas predicts an increase in difficulty of hiring. Evidence also suggests that there is a preference for hiring degreed social workers, and the educational level of staff hired differs significantly from the educational level of workers that supervisors stated they would prefer to hire. Additionally, supervisors were asked open-ended questions about successes and challenges of hiring workers. The responses suggested that supervisors prefer to hire employees who are familiar with rural environments. Hiring challenges cited were lack of qualified applicants, low wages, and rural agencies being used as employment “stepping stones.”

Understanding the Educational and Demographic Differences Between Rural and Urban Social Workers

Although research has been conducted concerning differences between rural and urban social work practice, less is known about differences between rural and urban social workers. Findings from this ...

Hiring Social Work Faculty: An Analysis of Employment Announcements with Special Focus on Rural and Urban Differences and 2008 EPAS Implications

An 11-month long analysis of social work faculty position advertisements examined differences in job descriptions between past and present findings, rural- and urban-located social work programs, doctorate and nondoctorate conferring institutions, and public and private institutions. Additionally, this investigation addressed 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards expectations of social work practice experiences. Findings suggest that degree-earned expectations are lower among rural-located institutions compared to urban institutions, service and student advising are more often identified as expectations of employment among rural institutions, and rural institutions are less likely to expect evidence of research and scholarship. Differences were also found between rural and urban institutions regarding post-MSW experience requirements, and 65% of all position announcements identified >2 years post-MSW experience as required.

Virtual Mentorship Network to Address the Rural Shortage of Mental Health Providers

INTRODUCTION The process of identifying effective responses to the challenges of placing and retaining a rural behavioral health workforce remains elusive. The Virtual Mentorship Network was developed to test the feasibility of using distance technology to connect rural students interested in mental health careers with mentors. METHODS In Year 1, college and high school students were virtually mentored using a near-peer approach both live and asynchronously as a cohort over 7 months. In Year 2, college students only were virtually intensely mentored live over 1 month. High school students were asynchronously provided with informational videos produced by mentors. Program benefits were measured using the Mentoring Functions Questionnaire, and an activity satisfaction survey captured student response to the content and delivery methods. Retrospective analysis of Years 1 and 2 mentoring and satisfaction variables mean differences was performed and overall feasibility assessed. RESULTS Mentoring Functions Questionnaire scores, overall interaction, and reported satisfaction significantly improved in Year 2 over Year 1. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that distance mentoring is a feasible option, but that the near-peer benefits of virtually mentoring high school and college students together are overshadowed by different mentoring needs expressed for each group. High school students expressed needs for basic information about career possibilities, whereas college student needs are specific to achieving career goals. Shorter mentoring sessions may be more sustainable long-term and focus limited mentoring resources. This project may serve as a professional pipeline model for others who face a critical shortage of mental health providers. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION This article is part of a supplement entitled The Behavioral Health Workforce: Planning, Practice, and Preparation, which is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.