The Graduate Stipend Program

The Graduate Stipend Program

Campbellsville University’s Graduate Stipend Program at its campus in Encino intends to award educational stipends to students with clinical field placement (traineeship/internship/practicum) in an outpatient 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). In addressing the workforce needs of the SCRP counties, the program will recruit students in the fields of clinical psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy, professional counseling, and psychiatric nurse practitioner.

Stipend Amount and Number of Stipends Awarded

The Graduate Stipend Program is funded for four academic years: 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25. Approximately 455 stipends will be awarded over the four years. Each stipend is $6,000 and awarded to offset the cost of the student’s graduate studies. (See below for a report on the outcome of the 2021-22 stipends awarded.)

Eligibility Requirements – Academic Year 2023-24

Students completing their final year of clinical field placement between January 1, 2024 and September 30, 2024.

  1. Students enrolled in an academic program that leads to the practice of 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;
  4. Students with lived experience, second language capacity and diverse backgrounds will be prioritized applicants;
  5. Students who do not have any existing service obligation with other entities, including other HCAI or county workforce incentive programs;
  6. Students who are not in breach of any other health professional service obligation.

2023-24 Application Information

Each SCRP 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 allocated stipends from their list of finalists. The number of allocated stipends per county is related to the size of each county. ​

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

To apply, students must complete the Regional Partnership Central Application through the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI):

The application deadline is January 31, 2024.

HCAI will submit a list of applicants with their quantitative scores to the Stipend Program at Phillips. The quantitative score will be based on the information in the application that conveys the student’s eligibility and qualifications.

Application – Personal Statements (Each personal statement must be 500 words or less)

In the application, students will be asked to respond to two Personal Statements/Essays:

  • What interests you about pursuing a career in the Public Mental Health Care system and how does it fit into your long-term career goals?
  • California’s population comes from various cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientations, all ages, different levels of physical abilities and religions. Describe how your background, lived experience, education, internships and/or work experience have prepared you to serve linguistically or culturally unserved, underserved, or inappropriately served communities.

A review panel organized by the Stipend Program will score the two Personal Statements (each essay must be 500 words or less) to determine the applicants’ qualitative scores. The panel will consist of members of the California Consortium and will include administrators of public mental health agencies and professionals with familiarity with public mental health practice.

The Stipend Program will compile the quantitative scores with the qualitative scores to arrive at the final score for each applicant and will submit the final scores to their respective counties. Each county will then award its allocated stipends based on the applicants’ final scores and county priorities.

Student Stipend Program Agreement

Students who are awarded a stipend by their county will need to attend an orientation conducted by the Stipend Program to sign the Stipend Program Agreement. In addition to signing the Agreement, student will need to submit an IRS W-9 federal form and Direct Deposit form to receive the stipend. The orientation will inform students on the administrative role of the Stipend Program, the student’s responsibility for accepting the stipend and on the issuance of the stipend. Recipients of the Graduate Stipend Program will be expected to fulfill the completion of the pre-degree field placement based on the educational program requirements and the county’s requirements in which the student serves.

Important Dates

Applications will be accepted beginning December 6, 2023 and the link will be poste here.

Last day to submit applications is January 31, 2024.

Stipend Orientation for selected students is April 12, 2024, 11:30AM – 1:00PM.

Additional Information for Interested Students

All applications will be processed by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) and submitted to the Stipend Program of Campbellsville University on behalf of the Southern Counties Regional Partnership. HCAI will allocate each application a quantitative score based on the data (information) provided by the student in the application.

Campbellsville University’s Stipend Program will contact students by the email address included in the application. Students will be notified that their application was received and processed.

Campbellsville University’s Stipend Program will notify the students whose applications were determined to be ineligible. There cannot be any changes or additions to the information included in the application. In prior years, ineligible applications included those where the student provided no practicum site, or a practicum site in a non-qualifying county or non-qualifying training agency.

Scoring Personal Statements. The personal statements (essays) of eligible applications will be scored by members of the Review Panel and the applicant will receive a qualitative score. The panel will consist of mental health professionals with considerable experience in public mental health practice. Employees of Campbellsville University will not participate in the scoring of the essays.

The Review Panel will score each essay (personal statement) based only on the information provided in the essay. The panel will not have or see other information submitted as part of the application. The panel will only read up to 500 words.

Awarding of Stipends. The Stipend Program will combine each applicant’s quantitative and qualitative scores to determine the applicant’s final score, which will be submitted to the county representatives where the student’s training program is located. The county representatives will select which students are awarded a stipend based on final scores and county priorities. (Please note that scores will not be provided to students.)  The Stipend Program will notify each student by email if they were awarded or not awarded a stipend once the counties make their selection.

Signing of the Stipend Program Agreement. Students that have been selected to receive a stipend will need to attend the Stipend Orientation on April 12, 2024, 11:30AM – 1:00PM facilitated by the Stipend Program via Zoom. The orientation will inform students of their clinical placement obligations and on the distribution of the stipend check. The orientation will also review the Stipend Program Agreement that each stipend recipient will need to sign.

Updated 10/2/2023

 

REPORT ON THE 2021-22 GRADUATE STIPEND PROGRAM

There were 251 applications submitted from students receiving clinical training in mental health facilities in the counties of Imperial, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara.  Those applications that met the eligibility had their personal statements read and scored by the Review Panel. Each student’s quantitative application score and qualitative personal statement score were submitted to the applicants’ corresponding placement counties; thereafter, each county selected those applicants to be awarded a stipend. Overall, there were 80 applications selected to receive a stipend (see below for the number of stipends awarded by each county).

Phillips’ SCRP Stipend Program notified all student applicants of their selection status by using the email provided in the student’s application.

Students selected to receive a stipend attended The Stipend Orientation on April 8, 2021. The orientation reviewed the Graduate Stipend Program Agreement and the Clinical Field Placement Completion Form, provided information on the issuance of the stipend amount of $6,000, and responded to student questions.

In addition, selected students completed an IRS W-9 Federal Form and a Direct Deposit (ACH) Authorization for the electronic payment of $6,000 to the student’s financial account. The Stipend Orientation provided information on this as well as an explanation that educational stipends are not taxable income.

Number of Students Selected by County – 80

Imperial                           4                                         Kern                                  1

Orange                            14                                        Riverside                         9

San Bernardino             18                                        San Diego                        26

San Luis Obispo             2                                          Santa Barbara                6

Note: Ventura County did not participate in the 2021-22 stipend year.

Updated March 10, 2022

 

Number of Students Awarded by County – 64

Imperial                           3                           Kern                                 1

Orange                            10                         Riverside                         8

San Bernardino             15                          San Diego                        21

San Luis Obispo             1                           Santa Barbara                5

Updated August 31, 2022