UC Davis to Become Sole Program Site for California Title IV-E Education Program

For more than 30 years, the California Title IV-E Education program has played a vital role in building our state’s public child welfare workforce. By providing dedicated students and practicing social workers with the financial support they need to access specialized child welfare training at 20 universities across California, Title IV-E helps emerging professionals build impactful careers that improve outcomes for children, youth and families.

In 2024, UC Davis became a central part of the Title IV-E story. Following the closure of the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) at UC Berkeley–Title IV-E’s first institutional home–UC Davis became one of two new administrative sites for the Title IV-E program, supporting program operations across 10 universities in Northern California. UCLA was simultaneously chosen as the program’s Southern regional administrative site, supporting another 10 universities with IV-E programs across Southern California.

Adapting to Changing Conditions:

Since coming together, Title IV-E staff at UC Davis and UCLA have worked to honor the program’s 30-year legacy of service. Now, facing a changing economic landscape, we are turning the page on a new chapter in the program’s history. Beginning July 1, 2026, UC Davis will become the sole program site for the California Title IV-E Education Program, supporting all 20 IV-E universities across the state. UCLA’s CalEval team will continue to support the Title IV-E Education Program’s student information system and program evaluation responsibilities. 

In partnership with our colleagues at UCLA, we have worked hard over the past two years to support aspiring child welfare workers in communities across California. Current statewide budget conditions have made it necessary to find new ways of supporting our students and partners. Consolidating our operations into a single program site will create efficiencies while setting the program up to thrive well into the future.

This transition will...ensure that the program continues to create meaningful career opportunities for those passionate about supporting California’s children and families

Alison Book, M.S.W., LCSW

Sustaining Impact:

“While this transition will help to bring Title IV-E into alignment with current financial realities, it will more importantly ensure that the program continues to create meaningful career opportunities for those passionate about supporting California’s children and families,” said Alison Book, M.S.W., LCSW, associate dean of Human Services at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education and Title IV-E principal investigator.

“Despite changing circumstances,” Book added, “we are fully committed to the mission of the Title IV-E Education Program and look forward to strengthening our relationships with students, educators and county and Tribal child welfare agencies in the years to come.”

Juliet Greenwood, Ph.D., dean of Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) at UC Davis added, “We are very pleased to be the official home of the California Title IV-E Education Program. Across our programs and areas of focus, CPE is committed above all to real-world, community-level impact. Title IV-E exemplifies this ethos, bridging the gap between learning and practice to build safer families and communities.”

Building for the Future:

Throughout this transition, we are committed to maintaining consistency in the student experience. Just as before, Title IV-E students will work closely with their university’s IV-E Project Coordinator to navigate their degree programs, internship placements and service requirements. The UCD Title IV-E team will continue to collaborate with partners across the state to design learning and development opportunities that help our students thrive.

Said Book, “While this transition marks a new chapter for Title IV-E, we remain as committed as ever to the work of creating a skilled, committed and resilient child welfare workforce.”

For more information about the California Title IV-E Education Program, please visit our homepage. If you have any questions or concerns about this transition, please contact the California Department of Social Services at [email protected].