Back when Katy Armendariz, founder of Roots Wellness Center, was earning a master’s degree in social work, she nearly worked herself into the ground in order to complete her degree program’s unpaid field internship requirement.

“I did two nine-month unpaid internships — and I also worked three jobs,” Armendariz said. “It was a lot, to say the least.” 

Field internships, or time spent working directly with patients in a clinic or agency under supervision, is a key requirement in all masters in social work training programs (MSW) in Minnesota. To earn an MSW, schools require students to complete a minimum of 500 hours a year in an internship, an experience considered essential in the training of future mental health professionals.  

For MSW students with adequate resources, this requirement may not feel burdensome, but it can present a roadblock for those who are BIPOC, first-generation or low-income students. This complication partially explains why Minnesota has so few licensed mental health professionals of color. 

Armendariz, who built her clinic with the goal of creating a welcoming space where Black and brown people could seek mental health support from professionals with shared life experiences, wants to do whatever she can to support BIPOC graduate students through the process of earning their degrees. 

Her own experience — of having to work multiple jobs to support herself through graduate school — was tough. “I don’t want other people to have to work like I did just so they can complete their schooling,” she said. Too often, the daunting financial reality of having to complete an unpaid internship causes less financially-secure graduate students to drop out or delay completing their degree.  

Some social work internship programs — usually those offered by larger employers — offer funding to support students. But many programs, especially those at smaller agencies like Roots, do not. A few years ago, Armendariz was excited to learn about Minnesota’s Cultural and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure Grant (CEMIG), a program that provides funding to help recruit more BIPOC providers to work in health and substance-use disorder care. 

“The state Legislature approved this funding,” Armendariz explained. “The goal is to increase the ability of Black and brown trainees to become mental health professionals and clinical supervisors.” 

As soon as word got out about CEMIG, Armendariz applied for a grant to help fund potential interns and intern supervisors at Roots Wellness. Her first few applications to the state weren’t approved, but she kept at it.  

Rounding up money to pay BIPOC interns and supervisors is “something that’s been on my mind for a very long time,” Armendariz said. “I’m always looking for funding to help attract and retain interns.” This year, Armendariz applied for a CEMIG grant again. “I told myself, ‘We’re in a great position to apply,’” she said. Armendariz’ confidence turned out to be justified: “We finally got the grant,” she said. 

Paving the way for future therapists

Roots’ CEMIG grant — approximately $200,000 a year for three years — will go a long way to support Armendariz’ goal of helping to expand the number of Black and brown mental health professionals in her practice — and in the state.

“We are able to do a number of things with this grant,” she said. “We can offer diagnostic assessment and therapy services to people who don’t have insurance so that’s not a barrier. We can also pay $1,000 per month for BIPOC interns — with clinical supervision toward licensure provided by a BIPOC clinical supervisor.” 

Another potential roadblock for MSW candidates are the fees associated with state board exams. Roots’ CEMIG grant money will be used to subsidize those costs. “It’s a great equalizer,” Armendariz said of the grant. 

While the CEMIG money is only enough to sponsor four interns (“If we want to add another intern,” Armendariz said, “we would have to take from the uninsured grant pot or from the licensure pot”), it is an important start: “It will go a long way to making it possible for students to complete their MSWs. And it will help create a new crop of BIPOC therapists and clinical supervisors.” 

Programs like the CEMIG grant are key to supporting the education of today’s social work students, said Sharyn DeZelar, St. Catherine University MSW program director and assistant professor of social work. Compared to college students of the past, who usually had the time and resources needed to devote to a full-time education, DeZelar said the “profile of today’s college student is much more someone who needs to work, who has caregiving responsibilities and, with the rising costs of a college education, has many more barriers to completing their degree.” 

Add to that the complications baked into being  a student of color or someone who comes from a lower-income or first-generation college background, and, DeZelar continued, “the financial strain is just compounded.” The CEMIG grant gives clinics like Roots the opportunity to support students through internship placements so they don’t have to work full time while they are completing their degree. “They can really focus on their studies and get the most out of it. They can have a much more engaged experience because their basic needs are being met,” she said.

DeZelar said that St. Catherine has placed several of their MSW students in internships at Roots. The internship requirement of a social work degree has presented a roadblock to some of her students; knowing that Roots will now have funding to support interns is good news. 

“Having these grants can be a big attraction,” DeZelar said. “There are a lot of people who would like to do this kind of mental health work but they think, ‘I don’t have in my capacity to do all this free labor.’ Now, if they know they are going to get a stipend or a supplement, maybe they will feel they can go to grad school. It will attract a more diverse pool of students.”

Eli Wood, St. Catherine MSW field director, said that being able to pay interns will help Roots attract students who otherwise may feel like they have to select paid internship positions at larger agencies. He said that many of his program’s students agree with Roots’ mission and would like to support it, but because of their own financial situation, they may make their final decision based on the available funding. 

“A lot of our students tend to prioritize placements that are paid,” Wood said. “My concern is that if students are just focused on getting paid for the placement, they may pick one that doesn’t actually align with the work they want to engage with in their careers.” Because CEMIG funding can free up space and time that otherwise would have to be occupied by an extra job, he added, “These grants help students say, ‘I can now really prioritize my learning.’” 

Student social work interns are actually an important part of Minnesota’s mental health workforce, DeZelar said. Just like medical interns or residents, social work interns treat patients and provide important feedback and insight to their colleagues. It doesn’t seem fair to her that their work so often goes unpaid. 

“[Interns] should be paid because they are providing services,” DeZelar said. Because a lack of funding makes it harder for students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds to complete this degree requirement, she explained. “It’s a social justice issue,” she said. “In the medical field we pay resident doctors. So why in the mental health field are we expecting all this free labor from our students?”

The importance of shared experience

Diversifying Minnesota’s mental health workforce is essential to providing high-quality care for the state’s increasingly diverse population, Armendariz said. Being able to work with a mental health professional who looks like you or whose life mirrors your own makes seeking mental health care feel less intimidating. Schools and mental health care organizations like her own should do whatever they can to level the playing field, so that more people of color will be able to enter the profession.

“Research shows that people prefer working with someone they believe represents them and their experiences with systemic oppression,” Armendariz said. “Representation matters.” On the training end, it also matters that BIPOC student interns are able to work with clinical supervisors who understand their unique point of view or way of interacting with the world: “Too often, there are clinical supervisors who have a Black or brown intern who may say something like, ‘Are you sure?’ or ‘That seems overly sensitive.’ We need to work with people who get us.” 

For BIPOC patients, the feeling of somehow being on the outside of a white, American ideal can feel particularly disheartening, Armendariz said. During this particular moment in history, mental health care is essential to working through feelings of displacement, anger or fear. 

“These political times are incredibly scary,” she said. “We have culturally responsive therapists. People don’t always have access to that.” 

DeZelar said she and her colleagues at St. Catherine understand the importance of diversifying the mental health workforce. “There is a big call to get more BIPOC folks into the field so that the providers look more like the people they are serving and have that lived experience,” she said. “That’s what Roots and Katy are all about. It’s also what we’re about. That’s why we as a program like to partner with them.” 

The CEMIG grant is another feather in the cap for Armendariz and Roots. The organization has seen steady growth in the number of patients it serves and the providers it employs. Since its founding in 2013, Roots has expanded its offering to include culturally specific chemical health services, and, in January, it officially moved into its new headquarters, the former Keystone Community Services building at 1916 University Avenue W. in St. Paul. 

“It’s super exciting,” Armendariz said of the  move. “We closed on the building in December 2023 and spent a year getting ready.” Her vision is to one day turn the building into a community hub focused on Black and brown wellness.

Armendariz said she wants the new space to feel welcoming and safe, an island of mental wellness in what can sometimes feel like a rocky sea. “I would like this to be a place of help, where people can come and say, ‘I need help. I don’t know where to start,’” she said. “I want this to be the place where they know that help is there.”

Andy Steiner

Andy Steiner is a Twin Cities-based writer and editor. Before becoming a full-time freelancer, she worked as senior editor at Utne Reader and editor of the Minnesota Women’s Press. Email her at [email protected].

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