Graduate Educational  Stipend Program 2022-23

 

Educational Stipends for Qualifying Students

The Graduate Stipend Program of the Southern Counties Regional Partnership (SCRP) intends to award educational stipends to students training in their final year in a treatment facility operated by a county-run or county-contracted mental health/behavioral health agency, excluding programs administered in or by an adult correctional facility. The program will recruit students in the fields of clinical psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy, professional counseling, and psychiatric nurse practitioner with the goal of addressing the workforce needs of the SCRP counties: Imperial, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tri-Cities (Claremont, La Verne, Pomona) and Ventura.

  Objectives of the Graduate Stipend Program

  1. Expand the capacity of the southern counties’ current public mental health workforce to meet the needs of its underserved/underrepresented communities;
  2. Recruit students with field practicum experience in a public behavioral health facility;
  3. Recruit students with a commitment to serve in a post-degree public behavioral health facility in the county that awarded the stipend;
  4. Recruit students with linguistic capacity to provide services in the threshold languages of the communities served by the allocating county;
  5. Recruit students with personal experience with mental illness and public mental health care;

Student Eligibility Requirements

  1. Students currently enrolled in a graduate academic program that leads to the practice or clinical psychology, marriage and family therapy, social work, professional counselor, or psychiatric nurse practitioner;
  2. Students who are in good standing in their academic program;
  3. Students who are currently participating in their final year of clinical field placement (traineeship, internship or practicum) located in an outpatient county facility or agency funded by a county, excluding programs administered in or by an adult correctional facility;
  4. Students completing their final year of clinical field placement. Dates vary depending on application cycle.
  5. Students with lived experience, second language capacity and diverse background will be prioritized applicants;
  6. Students who do not have any existing service obligation with other entities, including other HCAI or county programs;
  7. Students who are not in breach of any other health professional service obligation.              

Stipend Amount and Number of Stipends Awarded

The stipend amount will be $6,000 to offset the cost of the student’s graduate studies. In the Academic Year 2022-23, up to 162 stipends will be awarded. The number of stipends awarded are allocated per county related to the size of each county.

  Application Information

The student is applying to the county where current clinical field placement is located. Each SCRP member county will be fulfilling their own workforce needs when awarding the stipends allocated to that county. Application selection criteria may vary from county to county, so students are encouraged to be informed on their county’s recruitment endeavors. Each county will select student-applicants to award one of its stipends from their list of finalists.

The application process for all students regardless of county or discipline is the following:

  1. Complete the Regional Partnership Central Application through the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI): BHP Central Application 2022-23 OR https://oshpd.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eqByS1YOCV0dMii

Remember that you are applying for the Southern Region and that you are applying for the Clinical Master & Doctoral Graduate Educational Stipends. You will need to write Personal Statements on your experiences that qualify you as a candidate. Some application information requested is for data collection purposes and are not eligibility criteria. The application does not have to be completed in one seating, but it will need to be completed in one week or student will need to start over.

  1. HCAI will score applications on quantitative items.
  2. A Review Panel will score the qualitative Personal Statements.
  3. Qualitative and Quantitative scores will determine the final score for each applicant and it will be submitted to the county where the training program is located. Each county will award its stipends based on the applicants’ final scores and county priorities.

Students selected to receive a stipend will need to attend an orientation to sign the Stipend Program Agreement. The agreement is required to receive the stipend. Along with signing the agreement, you will need to complete and submit an IRS W-9 federal form.

For more information, please email the Clinical Training Director at dhart@fullerton.edu.