Alliant Educational Foundation-Funded Program Provides Much Needed Mental Health Services to Underserved Children
SAN DIEGO Rapidly expanding its outreach, San Diego Mental Health Consortium (SDMHC) – a program launched by Alliant Educational Foundation (AEF) to provide mental health services to underserved children and youth – will serve over 150 individuals and their families in the coming school year.
Partnering with a number of high-profile area nonprofit agencies as well as Alliant International University (AIU) and Alliant’s California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP), the AEF-funded consortium helps support children’s mental health and strengthen positive parenting by providing quality mental health services, including group and supportive therapy. CSPP graduate students are assigned to participating agencies with a site supervisor and a licensed clinical psychologist supervisor – providing clinical assessment and therapy for children and their families.
According to Valin Brown, AEF’s CEO, since its inception in 2020, SDMHC has tripled its initial partners – expanding from 3 to 9 nonprofit agencies and will now provide high quality mental health support and resources to more individuals and their families.
“By placing CSPP clinical psychology graduate students at participating agencies, we’re bolstering their ability to provide high-quality mental health support to populations who most desperately need it, making a difference for some of our most vulnerable populations.” Brown said. “We’re also increasing the capacity of existing non-profits rather than recreating ‘the wheel’ by paying for clinical supervision to enable this new program to flourish – building bridges between AIU and agencies to provide better access to mental health assessment and treatment for communities in need.”
Current youth-serving partners include:
- Father Joe’s Villages Programs
- Interfaith Community Services
- Mental Health Systems, STEPS program
- Neighborhood House Association
- San Diego Center for Children
- San Diego Unified School District (Canyon Hills High School)
- SAY San Diego
- SBCS/South Bay Community Services
- YMCA Behavioral Health
ABOUT ALLIANT EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
The Alliant Educational Foundation (AEF) was established in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. AEF partners with Alliant International University and other institutions of higher education to provide a steady stream of funding and resources dedicated to supporting student scholarships, faculty research grants, and broader community impacts. AEF’s mission is to build bridges between Alliant International University, other institutions, and under-resourced communities to create a more equitable and just society.
Media Contacts: Sandy Young / Jean Walcher, J. Walcher Communications sandy@jwalcher.com / jean@jwalcher.com, 619-295-7140