Mental Health Stipend Program

Julia Poirier, MSW
Project Coordinator, Mental Health Stipend Program
jpoirier@csusb.edu

Welcome to the Mental Health Stipend Program website! We hope you will find the following information useful and relevant. The School of Social Work at California State University , San Bernardino is pleased to offer the Mental Health Stipend to second year, full-time Master of Social Work students who have a desire to pursue a Social Work career in the Mental Health field upon graduation.

Background

The School of Social Work at California State University, San Bernardino is pleased to announce its participation in the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) II, Mental Health Initiative. Anchored in the philosophy of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Initiative (Proposition 63), the workforce training components
…provide a unique opportunity to fundamentally transform how mental health care is conceptualized and delivered in California. This transformation will include a move toward a state-of-the-art culturally competent system that promotes recovery/wellness through independence, hope, personal empowerment, and resiliency for adults and seniors with severe mental illness and for children with serious emotional disorders and their families (CalSWEC II, Mental Health Initiative, pp. 4-5).
The current workforce initiative provides a training stipend of $18,500 per year for second year graduate level social work students who are selected into the Mental Health Stipend Program (MHSP). The MHSP is currently funded as a year to year contract with California Department of Mental Health. Funding levels and programmatic specifications may vary as contractual obligations are negotiated year to year.

General Curriculum Requirements

In addition to the regular academic schedule of courses for the Advanced Year (SW613, SW 645, SW655, SW608) students must take an additional seminar, (SW618). Additional trainings through internships that are outside of field hours may be required. Some placements require an early start date or late end date.