We are proud to share that the Old Colony Planning Council’s Area Agency on Aging (OCPC AAA) has been honored with a national Aging Innovations Award (AIA) from USAging for its work with the South Shore Elder Mental Health Consortium’s (SSEMHC) Integrated Internship Program. This award was presented at the USAging Conference in Chicago, where agency staff representing the top programs were invited to receive recognition. OCPC-AAA Administrator, David Klein proudly attended the event to represent our agency as well as the other members of the consortium. The next day David facilitated a presentation about the program at a session that included audience members from AAAs that spanned the country.
As an innovative response to the behavioral health needs of older adults in our communities, the program brings Master of Social Work (MSW) students directly into our local senior centers as interns to complete their required field placement. The idea originated with local Council on Aging leaders Joanne Moore and Michelle Bratti, respectively from the towns of Duxbury and Plymouth. Their original goal was to bring licensed clinicians directly to our local Senior Centers and in doing so, eliminate or at least reduce any stigma that having discussions about one’s mental health may engender.
They contacted the OCPC AAA for a meeting regarding potential funding, and from that meeting the South Shore Elder Mental Health Consortium (SSEMHC) was formed, bringing OCPC together with our local COAs and community stakeholders to address shared goals. Recognizing the shortage of affordable, licensed behavioral health clinicians, the Consortium developed an updated model that partners with local colleges, most notably Bridgewater State University (BSU), to place the Master of Social Work (MSW) interns, on a part-time basis, directly in participating senior centers for an entire academic year.
These MSW interns, under licensed clinical supervision, provide individual and group counseling, deliver educational workshops such as “Live Your Life Well,” and respond to community needs through referrals to essential services like transportation, nutrition, and caregiver respite. A recent OCPC AAA Needs Assessment showed that nearly half of older adults in the community experience anxiety, depression, loneliness, or memory loss. By embedding social work interns in trusted community environments, the Integrated Internship Program offers person-centered, preventative support where it is most needed.
Funded through a combination of Title III grants and local contributions, the model has been not only impactful but cost-effective and scalable. Past and current internship sites include the COAs of Duxbury, Marshfield, Plymouth, Wareham, Bridgewater, Brockton, and East Bridgewater. This fall the Rockland Council on Aging will become the next local community to have one of these special interns as well.
This Aging Innovation Award celebrates the success of a collaborative, community-driven initiative that improves the lives of older adults and enriches the training of future social workers. Read the story below to hear about intern Andrew Sylvia’s experience applying social work theory to real-life situations at the Duxbury COA.
Intern Andrew’s Story: https://mcoaonline.org/bridging-theory-and-practice-how-social-work-interns-make-a-difference-at-the-coa/
Aging Innovations & Achievement Awards Showcase: https://www.usaging.org/Files/AIA%20Awards_2025_Final.pdf
View the Slides of the Conference Presentation: https://oldcolonyplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SSEMHC-Internship-Program-Presentation-AAA-1.pptx
