Community Engagement

Supporting Programs that Better Our Communities

Community is a cornerstone of the Alliant Educational Foundation. By working collectively we can make meaningful, sustainable and impactful change to strengthen our communities. Our work is about building relationships – understanding the specific needs of our communities by actively engaging and participating in them.

At AEF, we have a unique opportunity to leverage the strengths of both students and faculty to make a compelling impact in underserved communities where we live and work.

Regional Children’s Mental Health Consortium

A deepening mental health crisis looms large amidst today’s youth. Without proper intervention, students with mental health disorders are more likely to drop out of school, have learning difficulties, and experience behavioral problems.

Working closely with Alliant International University’s California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) in San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area, AEF is building new bridges to improve the mental health of underserved children and their families. We’ve partnered with a variety of non-profit organizations that work with infants, children, and young adults and their families to provide vital resources and treatments in mental health.

By placing CSPP clinical psychology graduate students at youth-serving agencies, we’re helping them provide high-quality mental health support to vulnerable families who most desperately need it at no-cost, while also providing invaluable training opportunities for these doctoral students. Most of these agencies would not be able to provide mental health counseling without this partnership.

We are increasing access and destigmatizing care while helping fill the gap in the mental health workforce (which is expected to reach a staggering deficit of 18,500 professionals by 2027 in San Diego County alone).

THE NEEDS ARE GREAT.

43rd out of 50. That’s the economic well-being ranking nationwide for families in California.

Research also reveals that children living in poverty are up to 3x more likely to suffer from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) – traumas that can interfere with proper brain development and learning if left untreated.

Our efforts are expanding to the San Francisco Bay Area

In 2023, AEF completed a listening tour to better understand the unmet mental health needs in the San Francisco Bay Area. Input from 17 funders, direct-service providers, and CSPP faculty members helped shape the direction of the Bay Area Regional Children’s Mental Health Consortium – focusing on supporting the mental health of under-resourced children and youth.

Alliant International University Sacramento Psychological Services

Following the success of the Regional Children’s Mental Health Consortium program, AEF helped launch the Alliant University Sacramento Psychological Services, which is now accepting clients.

As a new model based on the community’s needs, the virtual clinic provides high quality, affordable mental health services to adults anywhere in California with mild to moderate issues related to anxiety, depression, trauma, stress, grief, and other concerns.

Low-cost fees for all individuals ensure services are accessible, with individual therapy and six-week period group therapy sessions.

Your donation provides the support and resources that make our programs a success