California State Stipend Program  -  Qualifying Schools for Educational Stipends


Since 2005 the Los Angeles County’s Department of Mental Health (County) has partnered with the MFT Consortium of Greater Los Angeles (formerly, the Southern California MFT Consortium) and Phillips Graduate Institute in recruiting MFT students for employment in the County’s mental health delivery system. The County awarded educational stipends to graduating MFT students. Stipend recipients were obligated to work for one year at a mental health agency operated or contracted by the Department of Mental Health as an MFT Intern. In the fourth year of this partnership (2008-09) the County awarded 72 educational stipends to MFT students from sixteen different MFT academic schools.

County Stipends Address Workforce Needs
The County stipend program for MFTs addressed the workforce need for practitioners who could provide services in a language other than English. In the last four years the percentage of stipend recipients with bilingual capacity ranged from 56 to 75. In addition, all of the stipend recipients had personal and work experience in the underserved communities of the county. “[T]his partnership has made considerable strides in addressing the need for diversity in mental health workforce as outlined in the LAC DMH Internal Inventory” according to a May 2008 report. For a copy of the full report click here.

Recruitment of Eligible Students for LA County Stipend Program 2009-10
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health will be awarding educational stipends to MFT students for the 2009-2010 academic year. Students will be recruited from the MFT schools that participate in the MFT Consortium of Greater Los Angeles Consortium. A list of the qualifying schools is listed at http://pgi.edu/ca_205.aspx. The County has partnered with the MFT Consortium to address the county’s shortage of qualified mental health practitioners capable of providing culturally and linguistically competent services in certain geographic areas or specialized treatment programs.  Administration of the stipend program on behalf of this partnership is provided by Phillips Graduate Institute in Encino, CA.

Stipend Goal and Objectives
The goal of the LA County DMH Stipend Program is to increase the public mental health workforce with qualified individuals committed to providing services in high need areas. The objectives of the program are:

1. To recruit graduate students who have capacity to provide services in one of the threshold languages in areas identified as high need. The threshold languages include Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Farsi, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and additional Chinese dialects.

2.  To recruit graduate students who have cultural competency and the capacity to provide culturally appropriate and sensitive services to consumers in areas identified as high need.

3. To recruit graduate students who would be employed to serve in areas the County has designated as a workforce priority. These areas are currently identified as Service Area 1 (Antelope Valley), Service Area 6 (South Los Angeles), services in juvenile justice programs and the jail system throughout the county, Specialized Foster Care (Katie A), and programs funded through the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA).

4. To recruit graduate students who have prior experience in the mental health delivery system of the LAC DMH through previous or current employment or through practicum (traineeship) training.

Stipend Amount and Commitment

LAC DMH will be awarding educational stipends of $18,500 to eligible graduates. Up to 36 stipends will be awarded. Stipend recipients will need to be employed for one year as an MFT Intern in a public mental health agency, either directly operated by or contracted with LAC DMH.

Eligibility for LAC DMH Stipends

Students in the last year of pursuing their graduate degree who will be graduating between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010, may be eligible for these stipends. In addition, students need to meet the following criteria:

-         Must be in a regionally accredited school which is a member of the MFT Consortium of Greater Los Angeles

-         Must pass a criminal record background check (Live Scan prints will be required when applying for employment)

-         Must be able to legally work in the United States

-         Must be willing to commit to one year of full time work at a DMH  funded agency after graduating

-         Must be eligible to register as a MFT Intern upon graduation

Recommendation by Applicant’s School

Applicants (current students or recent graduates) must be recommended by their schools to apply for the county stipends. School representatives for the county stipends will recommend applicants who have graduated or will graduate (degree posted) between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010, who have contacted the school representatives to declare interest in applying, and who have received advisement regarding the application process and the applicant’s capacity to provide mental health services in the designated high need areas and programs.

Answers to Anticipated Questions

If I am not bilingual do I qualify for the county stipends? Yes. Language capacity in one of the threshold languages is one of four priorities in the selection of stipend recipients. The other three are multicultural capacity, willingness to accept employment in a high need regional area, and willingness to accept employment in a high need service program anywhere in the county.

If I applied to the state stipends can I also apply to the county stipends? Yes, if you were NOT selected as a state stipend recipient. However, you will need to submit the County stipend application by February 12, 2010.

Can the stipend application I submitted for the state stipends be used for the county stipends? No, you need to submit the County application, using its application form, essay questions and criteria. Your school needs to recommend you for the county stipend program.

If my school is not in Los Angeles County can I still apply? Yes, with these two conditions: 1. you will need to secure employment in Los Angeles County with an agency operated or contracted by the county’s department of mental health; and 2. you need to attend a school that is a member of the MFT Consortium of Greater Los Angeles. See the list of qualifying schools at http://pgi.edu/ca_205.aspx.

If I have already received a county stipend, can I apply for another one? No, stipends are for graduate students. This year’s stipends apply to students who will complete their degree from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. However, you may qualify to apply for a loan assumption offered through the Health Professions Education Foundation. Go to their website under “Licensed (and pre-licensed) Mental Health Services Provider Education Program” at www.healthprofessions.ca.gov. Due to the availability of funds, the deadline for application materials has been extended and application materials must be postmarked by March 16, 2010.

2009-10 Los Angeles County Stipend Award Timeline

February 12, 2010    Stipend Application postmark deadline
The LAC DMH Stipend Program Announcement and County Stipend Application 2009-10 can be downloaded here. The form needs to be completed and mailed as indicated in the announcement and application form. No electronic submissions will be accepted. Original signatures on the County Stipend Application 2009-10 form and W-9 Federal Tax Form are required. 

February 16-20    Notification of Applications Received
133 applications were received for the LA County stipends. 6 of these applications were disqualified because the graduation date was not within the allowed timeframe or the application was submitted incomplete.

Number of stipends per school: Pepperdine U (41), Antioch U (18), Phillips Graduate Institute (14), Pacific Oaks College (13), Fuller Seminary (11), CSU-Fullerton (6), CSU-Northridge (6), U of La Verne (5), USC (4), Azusa Pacific U (3), CSU-Long Beach (2), CSU-Dominguez Hills (2), Cal Poly (2), U of Phoenix (2), Loyola Marymount U (2), Alliant U (1), and Mount St. Mary’s College (1)

February 23       Stipend Applications Reviewed and Scored
The Los Angeles County stipend applications were read and scored by a panel that included agency members of the MFT Consortium of Greater Los Angeles and county personnel. The panel did not include educators from MFT schools. Members of the panel were Sherry Brill, MFT-The Center for Individual & Family Counseling, Jim Carter, MFT-Kaiser Permanente-Addiction Medicine Dept., Luis Escalante, MSW-LA County Dept. of Mental Health, Dominique Eugene, MFT-Pacific Asian Counseling Services, Jeff Gorsuch, Psy.D.- LA County Dept. of Mental Health, Sister Carmel Somers, M.Ed.- Valley Family Center, and Stephanie Thal, MFT-Former CAMFT President. Qualifying applications were given an ID number and each were read and scored by the panel. 19 applications received the maximum points of 22, 8 applications received 21 points, 25 applications received 20 points, and the remaining applications received 19 points or less. LA County Dept. of Mental Health personnel received scoring sheets with only ID numbers (applicant’s name and school affiliation omitted) and made the final selection of stipend recipients.