Finding the Heart of Title IV-E With Dean Miller – Part 2 (Episode 87)

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"At the end of the day, I hope folks understand the potential and promise of stipend programming. . .there are very few programs like it." —Dean Justin Miller, University of Kentucky

Successful Title IV-E Prevention Services Programs begin with a determined agency, ready to overcome the challenges of marketing stipend programs and supporting young adults through all levels of their education. Building buy-in for supporting postsecondary education within the workforce not only increases passion for driving title IV-E programs in the short term—it also builds a culture that welcomes lived experts as they begin their own social work careers.

Those were the takeaways from the second episode in a two-part series focused on Kentucky's Child Welfare PREP program. The University of Kentucky's College of Social Work developed pathways to careers in social work for young adults in the child welfare system as well as a workforce ready to support them. These innovative approaches market stipend programs to eligible youth and deploy modernized trainings—even a virtual reality investigator simulation—to make sure new staff are well-equipped and well-deployed when they begin their careers. 

The following individuals are featured in this episode:

• Dr. Justin Miller, dean of the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky, founder of the Jefferson County Foster Care Peer Support Program and the Kentucky Chapter of the Foster Care Alumni of America, cofounder of the Louisville Association of Social Workers, and a proud foster and kinship care alum.

Topics discussed include the following:

• How Kentucky is innovatively approaching staff retention and turnover on the back of a growing title IV-E stipend program.
• How to build organizational buy-in and readiness to build and grow stipend programs.
• The long-term benefits of meaningfully engaging lived experience in the construction and maintenance of services and programs focused on transition-age youth.