LA County DMH Graduate Student Stipends
2024-25 STIPEND APPLICATION LINK
FOR THE
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH
WILL BE OPEN FROM
DECEMBER 18, 2024 TO
FEBRUARY 12, 2025
LA County DMH Graduate Student Stipends
Introduction
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LAC DMH) Stipend Program is a workforce initiative funded through the Mental Health Services Act for five fiscal years, 2022-23 thru 2026-27. Campbellsville University – Los Angeles Education Center at Encino, CA, is the fiscal entity and administrator of the LAC DMH Stipend Program.
What is the Purpose of the LAC DMH Stipend Program?
The purpose of the LAC DMH Stipend Program is to recruit and grow the public mental health workforce with qualified clinical professionals completing their mental health-related degrees.
Eligibility Requirements
- Students who are currently participating in their final year of clinical field placement (traineeship, internship, or practicum)
- Students enrolled in an academic program that leads to a mental health-related degree (See list below)
- Students who are in good standing in their academic program
- Students who do not have any existing service obligation with other entities, including other HCAI or county workforce incentive programs that require a post-degree service obligation
What Degrees are Eligible?
- Master’s degree from an accredited School of Social Work (MSW)
- Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in marriage, family and child counseling, marital and family therapy, psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, or counseling with an emphasis in either marriage, family, and child counseling or marriage and family therapy (MFT)
- Doctorate from an accredited college or university in psychology, educational psychology, education with the field of specialization in counseling psychology, or in a discipline deemed equivalent by the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs, Board of Psychology (Ph.D./Psy.D.)
- Approved Master’s level Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner’s Program issued by an accredited college or university (PNP)
How Many Stipends are Awarded?
Each year 144 graduate students enrolled in a Master’s or Doctoral program in the following disciplines will be awarded a stipend of $18,500. The number of stipends designated to each discipline is as follows: MSW (60 stipends), MFT (60 stipends), Ph.D./Psy.D. (20 stipends), PNP (4 stipends). LA County has the option to amend the number of allocated stipends between disciplines based on the number of qualifying applicants.
12-month Employment Obligation
Students awarded a stipend will need to commit to one year of full-time, paid employment post-degree in a clinical capacity at either a directly-operated LAC DMH facility or an agency that’s contracted by LAC DMH.
Objectives of the LAC DMH Stipend Program
The objectives of the LAC DMH Stipend Program are to:
- Contribute to the public mental health workforce with newly qualified clinical professionals
- Provide a financial incentive to attract well-trained, linguistically and culturally competent students that will serve communities and clients who have been historically underserved due to geographic location and cultural and linguistic barriers
- Recruit students with experience in the LAC DMH mental health delivery system through practicum training
- Recruit students with the linguistic capacity to provide services in one of the threshold languages
Threshold Languages
The county has identified the following as threshold languages:
- Arabic
- Armenian
- Cambodian
- Cantonese, Mandarin, and additional Chinese dialects
- Farsi
- Japanese
- Korean
- Russian
- Spanish
- Tagalog
- Thai
- Vietnamese
- American Sign Language
Threshold languages include languages other than English that are primarily spoken by consumers of mental health services in Los Angeles County.
Who is Encouraged to Apply?
To fulfill the goal and objectives of the LAC DMH Stipend Program, students with any of the following are encouraged to apply:
- Interest in post-degree clinical training and practice of mental health care
- Interest in working as a mental health clinician in their own communities
- Field training (practicum) in a DMH operated or contracted agency
- Field training (practicum) in a community setting (non-DMH) that provided experience applicable to public mental health care
- Capacity to provide clinical services in one of LA County’s threshold languages
- Knowledge and training in evidence-based practices
- Experience in field-based practice such as in schools, homes, and other community sites
- Clinical service to older adults, veterans, immigrants, or the unhoused
- Clinical care to those dealing with trauma, domestic violence, child/elderly abuse, or substance use/abuse
- Personal experience overcoming hardships or emotional/physical challenges
- Personal experience of family members dealing with serious mental health illnesses
- Clinical experience providing in-person care
Who is Eligible to Apply for this Year’s Stipend?
Students who complete their degree between September 1, 2024, and August 31, 2025, qualify to apply for the 2024-25 stipend.
Students completing their degree after August 31, 2025, will be eligible to apply next year for the 2025-26 LA County Stipend Program.
How to Prepare for the Application
Applications must be done in one sitting. The application cannot be saved. To avoid submitting incomplete applications, students are strongly encouraged to review the essay questions in advance.
TIP: Prepare your answers, especially the required essays, before accessing the application. Be sure to review your responses for accuracy. Then, when filling out the application you can copy and paste your responses to the proper questions.
When is the Application Open?
The application will be open from December 18, 2024 to February 12, 2025. Applications must be completed and submitted no later than February 12, 2025. Applications received after February 12, 2025, will not be processed.
The Application has Three Parts:
Part One – Applicant Identifying Information includes student’s identifying information, school attending, and the degree student will complete.
Note that some application information requested is for data collection purposes; they are not eligibility criteria and are not scored.
Students will be required to check two boxes in order to move forward on the application:
- One box affirms that the student knows that if awarded a stipend the student will need to complete one year of full-time employment in an agency directly operated by or contracted with LAC DMH.
- The second box affirms that the student can work legally in the United States.
Part Two – Qualifications and Experience - This section asks students to discuss their:
- Practicum training (agency name and city)
- Clinical services provided in a threshold language (other than English)
- Capacity to provide culturally competent services (limited to 50 words)
- Experience providing field-based services (limited to 50 words)
- Specialized training (other than curriculum courses) in serving older adults (limited to 50 words)
- Specialized training in serving the unhoused population (limited to 50 words)
- Specialized training in serving veterans (limited to 50 words)
Part Three – Essays – This section includes six essays, which are limited to 200 words per essay. Students are asked to describe their:
- Professional interest in public mental health practice
- Personal background and individual strengths they bring to clinical care in public mental health settings
- Work experience and how it will apply in public mental health settings
- Clinical experience providing in-person care
- Experience providing clinical services via telehealth
- Knowledge of integrated care within a multidisciplinary team approach
How are the Essays Scored?
Scoring of Parts Two and Three will be by a Selection Committee consisting of mental health professionals in each discipline who are knowledgeable in the clinical programs and the client populations served within the Los Angeles County’s mental health delivery system.
The scores will be ranked separately by discipline. Students selected to receive a stipend will be based on the ranking of scores in their discipline. The county selects those applications to be awarded a stipend based on the ranking of scores by discipline. Students will be informed via the personal email provided in Part One, whether their application was selected or not selected to receive the stipend. (Please note that applicant scores will not be provided to students.)
Stipend Orientation
If you are notified during the week of March 10, 2025, that your application was selected, you will receive a Zoom invitation to attend one of two scheduled Stipend Orientations:
- Thursday, March 27, 2025, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
- Friday, March 28, 2025, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
Students choose which scheduled orientation day works best for them to attend.
Note: Only those who attend the orientation will receive the Stipend Employment Contract and other documents required to continue their participation in the program and to receive the stipend.
What will be Covered During the Stipend Orientation?
The Stipend Orientation will provide information on the following:
- The Stipend Employment Contract, which students will need to sign and submit
- Students’ obligation to secure full-time employment in an LAC DMH directly-operated facility or in a contracted mental health agency
- Guidance on how to search for qualifying employment
- The issuance of the stipend funds and required forms for stipend disbursement
- Other required documentation, including official transcript, employment verification letter, employment completion letter
- Q & A
What if You have been selected as an Alternate?
Students who are selected as alternates are also required to attend the Stipend Orientation. In doing so, student-alternates will be able to accept the stipend if an awarded student withdraws.
What are the Chances that an Alternate will be Awarded?
Last year all 20 of the student-alternates were awarded a stipend.
Contact Us
All communication to and from students will be through either of the following email addresses: caconsortium@campbellsville.edu or stipends@campbellsville.edu.
FAQs
Can I fulfill the employment obligation working for another county department, such as DCFS or Probation?
The stipends are awarded by the LA County Department of Mental Health (DMH) to grow its clinical workforce, so post-graduate employment needs to be at an agency affiliated with DMH.
I plan on pursuing another degree, am I still eligible?
Stipend recipients need to secure full-time employment at a qualifying agency. Pursuing a second or higher degree cannot interfere with that obligation.
What is considered full-time employment?
Full-time employment is determined by the agency/employer. Workdays and work hours are, of course, also determined by the agency/employer.
I am studying here on a student VISA, am I eligible to apply?
The goal of the county’s stipend program is to augment its pre-licensed clinical workforce ultimately increasing its licensed professional staff. Any temporary legal residence or employment restrictions does not promote the goal of the county’s stipend program.
Can I apply for another stipend once I have fulfilled my employment obligation?
Stipends are one-time awards to students while completing their degree. Once you have fulfilled your employment obligation for one year, you may qualify to apply to a different workforce program such as a loan assumption.
Do I need to live in LA County or attend a school in LA County in order to qualify for the stipend?
Residence in LA County or attendance at a school located in LA County is not required. However, if awarded a stipend you will need to secure qualifying employment at an agency in LA County that is affiliated with DMH.
Are students who can provide clinical services in another language, like Spanish, more likely to be awarded a stipend?
Although an objective of the county’s stipend program is to address the need for behavioral health care in the primary language of its consumers, capacity to provide services in a language other than English is only one of the qualifications that promote the goal of the county’s stipend program.
What if I am not able to complete one year of employment, do I need to return the stipend amount?
If you are not able to complete one-year, 12 months of qualifying employment, you will need to return the stipend amount of $18,500.
How will I receive the stipend amount of $18,500?
The full amount of $18,500 will be directly deposited to student’s bank account. Educational stipends, such as the ones awarded by the county, are tax-exempt if used for educational costs. The stipend amount will not be reported as income to the government.
Am I eligible to apply to the LA County stipends if I am receiving, as a student, another stipend/scholarship from a different recruitment program?
Recipients of the LA County stipends are required to fulfill one year (12 months) of employment at an agency affiliated with the county’s Department of Mental Health. If you are receiving another stipend/scholarship that also requires post-degree employment or service obligation, you are not eligible for the LA County stipends. If you receive a stipend/scholarship from your school or county that requires clinical training in their county but no post-degree obligation, you may be eligible and are encouraged to apply to the LA County stipend program.
