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Executive Pathways Student Guide

History and purpose

The Executive Pathways Internship Program began as a pilot project in 1995 to meet the challenge of providing qualified protected group candidates to begin correcting the disparity in the department’s work force, particularly in higher level management and supervisory positions. The program has developed numerous internships over the years and several students have gone on to fill positions in their chosen field within the department. It has become a continuing activity administered by the Office of Equity, Performance and Development Equal Opportunity and Access.

The internships are designed to focus on the professional development of students majoring in the areas of public policy, social work, law and related fields. The goal is for students to have the opportunity to work and learn in a large government management system and to be a part of policy-making decisions that impact the lives of many Minnesotans.

Executive Pathways Internship Program Information (DOC)

Executive Pathways Internship Application (DOC)

Executive Pathways Internship Information and Application (PDF)

Executive Pathways goals are to:

Provide students the opportunity to impact human services policies. Contribute to the development of the students’ talents. Begin to open doors for participants to become permanent employees of the department. Give students the opportunity to learn the complexities of intergovernmental relationships. Give students some insight into the process for obtaining employment within the state system.

Minimum student criteria

Students must:

All students interested in an internship must submit an application with two letters of recommendation, an unofficial transcript and a resume. Students applying for internships that require a law degree must submit a legal writing sample.

2016 Executive Pathways Internship Descriptions

(All students should be proficient with MS Office)

Community Supports

Administration Operations

In this position, the intern will collaborate with staff to increase the availability of data/information and appropriate measures of effectiveness of adult mental health programs and grants; develop reports, methods and tools to provide information for decision making purposes; conduct analysis of existing data and generate reports that are useful to leadership; recommend methods to improve data analysis and improve information availability; assess program goals and effectiveness, recommending possible changes to data collection methods as necessary, and assist with the exploration of legislative concepts, data, and measures in preparation for the next legislative session.

Preferred Education Qualifications: Undergraduate or graduate student in Business Administration, Human Services, Public Administration/Policy, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology

Skills: Quantitative and report writing, analytical, data collection and/or analysis, evaluation

Community Supports

Adult Mental Health

The intern will work closely with Adult Mental Health division staff, work within community provider settings and meet with individuals and in focus group settings with Intensive Residential Treatment Services (IRTS) recipients; perform qualitative research on recovery outcomes focusing on the experiences of individuals who receive IRTS; interview IRTS recipients in person to learn how IRTS supported their recovery goals, and discover how recipients identify their own recovery; collect recipients’ ideas about problems with the IRTS service model; develop a summary report; will travel to metro and to greater Minnesota IRTS programs sites.

Preferred Education Qualifications: Undergraduate or graduate student in Human Services, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration/Policy, Public Health, Social Work

Skills: Qualitative and report writing, analytical skills, evaluation, writing

Travel: Travel to locations outside of St. Paul

Health Care Administration

Member Provider Services/Benefit Recovery Section

The Benefit Recovery Section (BRS) is a section that is entrenched in the law. The intern working in BRS will work with Tort Recovery, Special Recovery and Health Insurance Recovery units. The intern will perform file audits for open case files in the area of personal injury and tort to determine next steps of the file In the Tort Recovery unit; will review trusts in the Special Recovery Unit (SRU) and audit county recovery policies to ensure compliance with the law and SRU expectations; will perform legal research in areas of Medicaid and Medicare, and statutes that affect Health Insurance Recovery Unit (HIRU) programming; will perform legal writing, drafting legal memorandum and letters that may be utilized for communications with health insurance carriers.

Preferred Education Qualifications: Law student

Skills: Legal research and writing, analytical skills

Health Care Administration

Office of Medical Director

The intern will assist and support the activities of several newly formed integrated perinatal care collaborative for high-risk pregnant women; located in areas of the state where there are significantly elevated rates of adverse birth outcomes including substance-exposed and low birth-weight newborns; be involved in activities to assist members of the collaborative in reaching consensus on a desired model of integrated care, identify gaps in communication and coordination, and establish best practices for service delivery; such efforts will focus on planning and implementing systematized screening, collaborative care planning, referral, and follow up for behavioral and social risks known to be associated with poor birth outcomes; when appropriate, this will include integration of medical, chemical dependency, public health nursing, and social services including supportive child protection processes and activities; assist the collaborative with capacity to measure their activities to track improvement and report outcomes.

Preferred Education Qualifications: Graduate student in Human Services, Political Science, Public Administration/Policy; Public Health; Social Work; sociology

Skills: Preferred ability to communicate in different languages such as Ojibwe/Anishinaabe

Community and Partner Relations

Office of Equity, Performance and Development, Agency and County Performance

The goal of this project is to quantitatively measure predictors of successful outcomes, and identify strategies that Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) can adopt to assist children that are homeless. The intern will work closely with coordinator to assist in evaluating the effectiveness of programs and services; help plan, develop and implement program evaluations across many programs at the DHS; perform an analysis of homeless children served by DHS; review DHS programs serving children that are homeless, and data DHS received from the Minnesota Department of Education to better understand the impact DHS services have on the outcomes of children that are homeless; to assist in measuring the outcomes, the intern will analyze data from DHS, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and Minnesota Department of Education; and conduct qualitative analysis of key staff at DHS; summarize the project in a report that can act as a guide for DHS staff on the issue of childhood homelessness.

Preferred Education Qualifications: Graduate student in Business Administration, Human Services, Law, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration/Policy, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology

Skills: Quantitative and report writing, evaluation, analytical skills, writing

Children and Family Services

Community Partnerships and Child Care Services, Office of Economic Opportunity

Make a significant contribution to DHS’s effort to make Family Assets for Independence in Minnesota (FAIM) an inclusive program that has measurable impacts on participant’s asset development, and is open and accessible to all potentially eligible participants. The purpose of FAIM is to help low-income working Minnesotans increase savings, build financial assets and enter the financial mainstream. While working with DHS staff and FAIM leaders, the intern will conduct in-depth analysis of key areas of the FAIM program including: helping identify and gather best practices of financial coaching within the program; research implementation of State grant funds supporting financial coaching, and identify best practices, and update an evaluation of the return on investment of the FAIM program; travel to FAIM program sites throughout the state to meet with financial coaches, observe financial literacy classes, and attend FAIM practitioner work groups and council meetings; create a document FAIM practitioners can use to leverage private funds and improve program implementation – helping FAIM savers be as successful as possible.

Preferred Education Qualifications: Undergraduate or graduate student in Human Services, Psychology, Public Administration/Policy, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology

Skills: Quantitative and report writing, evaluation, analytical skills, writing

Travel Required: Travel required