|
|
About Us Through an interagency agreement with the California Department of Mental Health (DMH), the Mental Health Program (MHP) provides funding to schools of social work in California for stipends for graduate students planning careers in the mental health system, as well as support for programmatic and administrative activities. Through a competitive process, each school selects MSW students to receive stipends in their final year of training. MHP recipients have a stipend payback obligation to work for one year in a county-operated or contract community-based mental health agency. MHP also requires that each school implement an adaptable curriculum to teach core competencies for careers in the public mental health sector, and provides training for faculty, curriculum development, and technical assistance. MHP has implemented program evaluation mechanisms to ensure that the program is progressing toward the goal of preparing a diverse workforce of social workers for a rapidly changing, recovery-oriented system. In its first five years of operation (2005 - 2010), nearly 1,000 MHP students graduated from MSW programs. Each cohort of graduates is ethnically and linguistically diverse. Ninety-four (94%) percent have completed their payback obligation, and over 90% of the first three cohorts have continued to work at a publicly funded mental health agency. Each participating school of social work has addressed the core competencies in academic and field education through specialized seminars, incorporation of competencies into foundation and advanced social work courses, tailored field work experiences, and modules that have been specifically written for the program. Goals and Objectives The primary goals are to support a sustainable continuum of social work education and training programs to prepare a culturally competent core of social workers in response to the mental health workforce crisis in California, and to collaborate with stakeholders in the transformation of the mental health system in California. The objectives are: 1. The development of core skills and competencies in mental health practice that will guide the curriculum in schools/departments of social work in California to produce a cadre of MSW-level graduates for employment in the public mental health arena. 2. The creation of a partnership between the education and provider community for the planning, coordination, and development of Mental Health Workforce Development Projects which recruit and deploy more social workers into the mental health system. The partnership also strives to support the principles of the Mental Health Services Act and the transformation of mental health services to reflect principles of recovery, resiliency, and consumer- and family-driven services. 3. A collaborative effort to seek funding from private and public resources to support the implementation of a training and educational continuum for social workers in public mental health services. History and Background The CalSWEC Board of Directors launched the Mental Health Initiative (MHI) in 2003, forming a committee that functions as an ongoing collaboration among faculty at schools of social work, county mental health service leaders, and state partners such as the California Department of Mental Health (DMH), the Mental Health Planning Council, the Board of Behavioral Sciences, and the California Mental Health Directors Association. The Mental Health Initiative Committee (MHIC) developed a set of core competencies designed to prepare an MSW-level workforce for public mental health agencies to effectively provide culturally competent, mental health services to children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. MHIC members were also instrumental in the development of interagency agreements with the California DMH to provide stipends for students, funded through the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). The passage of the Mental Health Services Act/Proposition 63 (MHSA), a 2004 ballot initiative, offered unique opportunities for CalSWEC to disseminate these core competencies through a flexible curriculum for schools of social work and to provide financial support for graduate students. The Mental Health Program is the result of the vision and persistence of the MHI Committee. |
