Paid Social Work Internships Part 1 Payment 4 Placements – Matt Dargay, MSW & Arie Davey, LLMSW

Episode 61
Guests: Matt Dargay, MSW & Arie Davey, LLMSW
Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW

Matt Dargay and Arie Davey, co-founders of Payment 4 Placements, discuss their national campaign to secure paid internships for social work students. As former MSW students at the University of Michigan, they highlight the financial burdens of unpaid placements—including the cost of internship credits—and the inequities this system creates, especially for Black students. They share successful organizing efforts at the university and state levels, including legislation to fund paid internships in Michigan schools. This episode offers strategies and inspiration for challenging the status quo and building a more equitable path into the profession.

In this episode:

• The financial burden of unpaid internships, including paying for internship credits
• How the unpaid internship system creates inequities in who gets to become a social worker
• CSWE research on the disproportionate cost of a social work degree for Black students
• Organizing strategies at the university and state levels, including graduate union work
• Legislation passed in Michigan to fund paid internships in school mental health settings

Part 2 Paid Social Work Internships Part 2: FED UP – Beth Wagner, Claire Mancuso, Natalia Norzagaray & Parham Daghighi
Instagram p4pumich
Facebook Payment for Placements at the University of Michigan
Email p4p.national@gmail.com   p4p.umich@gmail.com

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Music credit
"District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/