(l-r) Robert Howden representing Governor Rick Perry, SFASU President Dr. Tito Guerrero, Dean James O. Standley and Dr. Michael Daley at the dedication of the School of Social Work Building

Poverty is widespread in northeast Texas. In the 36-county region, from one-third to one-half of the households are, at best, low-income. Poverty, along with a dearth of human service organizations beyond state-mandated agencies, pervades most of rural Texas. In response, Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) recently established the first and only master of social work (MSW) program in Texas that trains students to address the needs of disadvantaged people living in rural areas.

Dr. Mike Daley, who initiated the program, says, “Stephen F. Austin is in an area where we can see that the traditional training people receive in a school of social work does not prepare them to live and work in a rural environment. We made a conscious effort to explore our community, to understand the issues and to pinpoint ways to address them.”

Rural residents are isolated from helpful services because of distance, inadequate
transportation and suspicion. “In urban areas, people tend to focus more on a person’s
position or role within an agency. In rural communities, however, people are more
interested in who people are, who they know and how they happen to be there,” explains
Dr. Daley. “To establish a presence, it’s important to get an introduction of some kind, almost like an endorsement, from a member of the community. The other way is by spending time with people, and a great deal of time establishing who you are, the legitimacy of your concerns and your genuine interest in helping people overcome various problems.”

Stephen Cooper, who recently earned his MSW from SFASU and now serves as faculty, adds, “Social workers must behave and interact in certain ways to establish credibility in a rural community. Most people don’t know these ways unless they grew up in a rural environment. Our courses in the classroom and the community provide this kind of training.”

Students in the MSW program learn how to form relationships and how to create and
operate organizations. When School of Social Work faculty member Wilma Cordova was asked to help establish a resource center for Nacogdoches County’s Hispanic population, she realized it also was a great opportunity to provide training for MSW students. Ms. Cordova says, “The county was interested in developing a resource center where Hispanics could find job training, translation services and English classes. Because the language barrier has prevented many Hispanics from integrating into the community, they’ve become like a rural community within a rural community. Our MSW students now are performing research to determine what these people need, and then they will help establish the center and implement programs. They are learning exactly what it takes to get something started.”

She adds, “Our goal is to decrease high school drop out rates, teen pregnancies, unemployment, homelessness and crime. We want to teach students how to help clients change their lives and enhance life in rural communities. Through empowerment, we want clients, without the help of a social worker, to be able to deal with issues that come up. Ultimately, if we have our way, we’ll work ourselves out of our jobs.”

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