[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6131891,"mediaKeyId","5727736-c3e05b25d93b76ddb4ab838aa8031435","parentId",5727736,"title","New Mexico Highlands officials describe social work training, Native-focused institute and statewide workforce supports","audioSeconds",1452,"startMs",499000,"endMs",1951000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5727736-c3e05b25d93b76ddb4ab838aa8031435&start=499&end=1951","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5727736-c3e05b25d93b76ddb4ab838aa8031435/thumbnail_499000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6131891/New-Mexico/New-Mexico-Highlands-officials-describe-social-work-training-Native-focused-institute-and-statewide-workforce-supports","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6131891-e3c14296d225eacf4e59760928f81fe7/orig.mp4?Expires=1770559818&Signature=hV~N00YqAM7Mau0e0ALP7ImiBCkUR4hVG9hd9Crvrqo~e8d6GNhKWQvTZAFWZrI7Kz~fPs-4AkkhDl-L4qEpiTdua9Yf6cioEW4OhcUvzyv8Kl2rvOzjXZi4hIM0AwTYXgv5F-RyHeBdrb-8TpKtGIzJq-I4w3sovFg5~dxPIEhNLJlSiWg8eZxj5q3XkRIWQhAkuQdPUxZ-ZAncAnTjHTeMuXlgfp~3~fja1eFMT1w~LGy93e-hfBKJOCKHoLwprICI0gFwNAcOqmaBPOEJ0715lOaBe90hUDrgyOwjx7Wp~tu7KoE~7-lSK~gSqeg0IV5D04JPP2Pwpngi6ASJ7A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","New Mexico Legislature","date","2025-07-21T00:00:00Z","article","Leaders from New Mexico Highlands University told the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee on the Las Vegas campus that the Facundo Valdez School of Social Work and the university's Center for Excellence in Social Work expanded training, continuing education and tribal-focused programming in fiscal 2025 and are preparing new online and doctoral degree pathways.

The presentation summarized why the school and center say their work matters to New Mexico: they train people to provide behavioral-health and child-welfare services across rural and tribal communities and to lift licensure and workforce retention over time.

\"We place special emphasis on serving Hispanic Latino students, Native American students, and learners from rural communities,\" Anna Nelson, dean of the Facundo Valdez School of Social Work, told the committee. Nelson said Highlands served 522 students across its programs in the most recent academic year.

Nelson and Valerie Valles Pedrosa, interim director of the Center for Excellence in Social Work, described several programs and outcomes from fiscal year 2025. The Native American Social Work Studies Institute, or NASWSI, produced a new course titled Introduction to Social Work Practice with Tribal Communities, delivered four trainings on Native American child well-being to 71 participants and issued cultural continuing-education units, the presenters said. Valles Pedrosa said NASWSI is guided by tribal resolutions from the Pueblo Council of Governors and the Navajo Nation.

The center reported issuing 2,904 continuing education credits in fiscal 2025, of which 1,289 were cultural CEUs required in New Mexico, and said it engaged 1,270 community participants through professional development. Valles Pedrosa said the center's CYFD INSPIRE program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, enrolled 134 CYFD workers, awarded 45 certificates and delivered 720 continuing-education hours to strengthen child-protective-services practice.

The school highlighted a statewide growing-our-own initiative sometimes referenced in the presentation as Sui/Semillas programming that the presenters said reached more than 1,100 prospective students and supported advisement and retention for more than 500 students through community \"pl\u0000aticas\" (career talks). The school also reported an endowed scholarship fund valued at $538,000 and $20,000 prepared for distribution in 2025.

On licensure supports, Nelson and Valles Pedrosa described a free ASWB licensure-prep course launched in April 2025; they said 259 people were enrolled and 24 had completed a practice test with an average PRAS score of 90%. Nelson acknowledged persistent equity concerns around the Association of Social Work Boards national exam and told legislators that Highlands and the center have convened listening sessions across the state about testing and interstate licensure compacts.

The presenters also said the school is preparing an online BSW program and is on track to propose New Mexico's first Doctor of Social Work Practice program, with a potential 2027 target. They described ongoing research products, including a 2025 Social Work Students of New Mexico survey and policy/practice briefs that the center produces for state use.

Committee members asked detailed questions about licensure pass rates, cultural continuing education, tribal placements and the source and durability of grants and stipends. The presenters described a mix of state legislative funding, Department of Labor grants and other awards, and said they are seeking sustainability when federal funding is time-limited.

Nelson and Valles Pedrosa said many of the center's programs are explicitly designed to improve access to culturally grounded practice and to grow New Mexico's behavioral-health workforce, but they cautioned that funding uncertainty and the need for paid practicum placements remain barriers.

The presentation materials and the speakers' remarks are available in the committee record; presenters invited follow-up questions and offered to provide specific partner lists and financial-detail breakdowns to committee members on request.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Legislative Health and Human Services Committee Jul 21, 2025 9:10 AM - 11:58 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Leaders from New Mexico Highlands University told the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee on the Las Vegas campus that the Facundo Valdez School of Social Work and the university's Center for Excellence in Social Work expanded training, continuing education and tribal-focused programming in fiscal 2025 and are preparing new online and doctoral degree pathways.","taxTitle","Legislative Health & Human Services, Interim, Committees, Legislative, New Mexico","taxId",65389,"location","New Mexico","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6131882,"Presenters tell committee school-based health centers, 'Semillas de Salud' and hub-and-spoke model expanded access and created training slots",2120,5403000,7523000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5727736-c3e05b25d93b76ddb4ab838aa8031435&start=5403&end=7523","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5727736-c3e05b25d93b76ddb4ab838aa8031435/thumbnail_5403000.jpg","/articles/6131882/New-Mexico/Presenters-tell-committee-school-based-health-centers-Semillas-de-Salud-and-hub-and-spoke-model-expanded-access-and-created-training-slots","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6131882-db19a6bc8335c6a714514006c14f53e6/orig.mp4?Expires=1770559818&Signature=XlZgxcgGqTBpXd-wM0tGUIwL-6sxaVUoMTnjT-R6mKqgM1Jwom0K7CzKYQNMkWj4CJKuM-t~CYLvbmkj0oaG3mV33RJ-2lJZnxy7GnJ4yG8ttXbMPEgSm648lVbkbNAm~Zl-uJHDxMgy3OyFqci7f6Z5fqt9GqNfqUhsroNDs5Y40WjFswk7QY2BnpUOpDAzfmJQTDmajDQy6T2YoIYM9Do9jFqGQ~n3WiTOvh6Uqt~-P6JU3Bfam38FHG8hkZ~W0U4iz4NJc1hDWc8APNGaF6pOwdd7UW6FFCWAeacZkt8gMQQhOrp1w~ik41eqxbQIsmSGl7zKXzK5CgUJ051iSw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Representatives from the University of New Mexico Office for Community Health, the New Mexico Department of Health School-Based Health Center Program, and Sunrise Clinics told the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee that school-based health centers, a hub-and-spoke model and a \"Semillas de Salud\" workforce pipeline have expanded access and clinical-rotation opportunities across northern New Mexico.

\"Every student in Las Vegas, New Mexico has access to a health career club. Every student in San Miguel County has access to a school-based health center,\" said Matt Probst, director of rural engagement at the UNM Office for Community Health, describing the local pipeline and prevention-focused activities that feed clinical training opportunities.

Probst said those youth activities are intended to create a funnel of learners: health career clubs, health career classrooms and dual-enrollment Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways that can produce graduates with entry-level credentials (EMT, phlebotomy, community-health worker certificates) and direct access to clinical rotations.

Kristen Oreskovich, clinical operations manager for the DOH School-Based Health Center Program, described workforce shortages that complicate expansion: she cited a Canal (Kresge) Foundation estimate (February 2023) that New Mexico was short roughly 800 primary-care providers, about 250 behavioral-health providers and over 1,000 nurses. Oreskovich said DOH will match learners (nursing, advanced-practice nursing, counseling, social work) to clinical rotations in school-based health centers and can provide small stipends to students in some placements.

Tim Dodge of Sunrise Clinics discussed community-school integration in Santa Rosa, where he said school-based services were used to identify needs and to place certified students into local hospitals and clinics for work. He described an example of a student who had left school and returned to earn a community-health-worker certification and later filled a local vacancy.

Matt Probst and Kristen Oreskovich said school-based health centers bill Medicaid and other payers to sustain services; Probst reported about 56,000 visits in the previous year for roughly 20,000 students through the school-based program and said the number of clinics in recent years expanded from a handful to dozens in the hub-and-spoke rollout. Presenters acknowledged federal and state funding uncertainty and encouraged local collaboration, preceptor incentives and partnerships to house more clinical rotations.

Legislators asked about telehealth, HIPAA/FERPA and summer service availability. Oreskovich and Probst said telehealth equipment is used to connect students and parents with remote clinicians and that some school-based health centers provide year-round services tied to community-school programs. Presenters also said they are coordinating with university partners (including Highlands and UNM) and with AHEC and Project ECHO to scale virtual learning and clinical-rotation capacity.

Presenters urged legislative support for preceptor incentives, sustained funding and cross-jurisdictional collaboration to keep rural clinics and training pathways open amid disaster impacts and federal funding threats.","University, Department of Health and clinic representatives described a hub-and-spoke school-based health center model, local 'Semillas de Salud' pipeline activities and plans to match learners with clinical rotations and stipends to address workforce shortages.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6131886,"Legislators press Highlands on paid practica, stipends and licensure barriers for social work and counseling students",1769,1100000,2869000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5727736-c3e05b25d93b76ddb4ab838aa8031435&start=1100&end=2869","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5727736-c3e05b25d93b76ddb4ab838aa8031435/thumbnail_1100000.jpg","/articles/6131886/New-Mexico/Legislators-press-Highlands-on-paid-practica-stipends-and-licensure-barriers-for-social-work-and-counseling-students","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6131886-236595f2cd1369a1ee445e421749f793/orig.mp4?Expires=1770559818&Signature=QhpWbXq86V1G1vNTgJ3qSECMsVdLcsL3k-LUdS4BD0IdBYmksubQXer-QUzVC1E6IZhvbuuOSwvDoF4C0KdjTlv8keyIF6VX0WX3FGvIgEk2yNLlXmVjZIAdWpvVbxCzigjnx1q7iG~gwE1K-JdlS7Z~~NbGKDe1WvkeqcSzA-d~HpvgxE-r4M9VfmH~Xyza1Zh8X-92NzOIVSGfyCGO-qU8bUxN3K7eexQXzQC1a5jRghd3BkgdVDFLxt2zJ1Wj3klKgqK-SqgkW1UZVuRB0IxfxhIMZtdVvxhkc8LInTCU78FZH0pMjrlOmrkuWFRRbShsQgJrTRMWFWR3ZMTc1Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","State legislators questioned university and center leaders about whether paid practica and stipends are reaching students and whether those payments improve recruitment and retention of social workers and counselors.

\"Anything that helps them to pay their rent and buy groceries, is helpful and essential,\" said Jerry Glover, interim dean for the School of Education and a licensed clinical counselor, answering a lawmaker who asked whether the stipend amounts cover student basic needs.

Highlands presenters described multiple short-term stipend sources. They told the committee that in academic year 2024'25 the GROW fund paid stipends to students doing practicum: 31 students received between $1,500 and $1,650 for an early placement and 66 students received stipends in the $3,350'4,500 range for later internships, according to the presentation. The presenters also said legislative funding provides approximately $6,000 per student per academic year in some supported placements.

\"Graduate students in New Mexico do not receive Pell grants or most state scholarships; they pay their way and rely on loans,\" Glover said. He and Dean Nelson argued that paid practica reduce the financial barrier created by unpaid 16-to-20-hour weekly placements that can span multiple semesters.

Committee members raised policy-level concerns: several legislators asked whether Medicaid billing rules, workforce-compact arrangements and the rural health practitioner tax credit expansion apply to student internships and to which providers might be eligible for stipends. Valles Pedrosa said Highlands is assessing program impact and that a 2025 Social Work Students of New Mexico survey will ask specific questions about the efficacy of paid practica.

During Q&A, committee members also discussed historical norms for unpaid internships and the potential for unintended consequences when clinics bill for intern services. Jerry Glover said the billing environment can create situations in which site administrators use interns as low-cost labor rather than as supervised learning opportunities; he urged careful design and oversight of paid placements.

Legislators asked Highlands and health-system presenters to provide follow-up data on how stipends affected students' persistence and whether stipend amounts reflected local cost-of-living realities. Presenters offered to provide partner lists, budget breakdowns and survey results to committee staff.","Committee members pressed Highlands presenters about the availability and effectiveness of paid practicum stipends, recent GROW fund stipends and lingering obstacles to recruiting and retaining behavioral-health workers in rural New Mexico.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

New Mexico Highlands officials describe social work training, Native-focused institute and statewide workforce supports

Presenters tell committee school-based health centers, 'Semillas de Salud' and hub-and-spoke model expanded access and created training slots

Legislators press Highlands on paid practica, stipends and licensure barriers for social work and counseling students