California Justice-System Involvement Youth: Behavioral Health Pipeline

hpcop@hcai.ca.gov
916.326.3700

This opportunity, JSIY BH Pipeline, will provide funding for organizations to support and encourage economically disadvantaged, educationally/environmentally disadvantaged, and justice-system involved youth in California to pursue behavioral health careers. The goal is to develop a more culturally and linguistically competent behavioral healthcare workforce, including providing comprehensive wrap-around supports. Supports include, but are not limited to, income and rent support, academic enrichment, career development, mentorship, and advising to support currently or recently system-involved students in attaining behavioral health careers. ​ Applicants should conduct outreach and recruitment in rural and medically underserved areas; for educationally and/or economically disadvantaged students; and to former foster youth, veterans, immigrants, refugees, and adult/non-traditional learners.

The program will provide:

• Living expense support
• Counseling support
• Academic support
• Mentorship
• Career development

Awardees must:

• Inspire and prepare students for careers in behavioral health professions through training, mentorship, educational or financial support, and other means
• Create and/or strengthen educational partnerships, community support, and workforce preparation efforts between entities. Partnerships may include high school, higher education, behavioral health professions schools, community health centers, public health departments, public behavioral health settings, geriatric providers, and community-based initiatives that promote heath equity.
• Provide programming that is culturally and linguistically responsive to program participants, which requires recognizing and addressing behaviors, values, practices, attitudes, and beliefs
• Address challenges specific to the target program participants/demographics:
  • Provide financial aid information
  • Provide wraparound services
  • Provide mentoring opportunities with peers and/or healthcare professionals from diverse backgrounds
  • Provide academic counseling/academic preparation
  • Offer some of the program components online
  • Expose students to behavioral health care careers
  • Provide internships and summer enrichment programs
• Form institutional partnerships
• Hire faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Within the first 3 months of a youth being serviced by an awardee, the youth must be enrolled in an educational program in which the youth is progressing toward a behavioral healthcare career. The educational program can be an associated degree, bachelor degree, license, or certification affiliated with behavioral health.

Eligible applicants include:

• Public and private universities and colleges, including community colleges
• High schools or school districts proposing to serve high school students
• Health professions training programs
• Public or private nonprofit organizations that are representative of a community and provide services to the local community
• Community health centers (community clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers)

Clients served must be children and youth ages 25 and under in California.

Award limits by program area:

• Living expense support - $40,000 per student per year
• Counseling support - $2,500 per student per year
• Academic support - $2,500 per student per year
• Mentorship - $2,500 per student per year
• Career development - $2,500 per student per year
• Indirect costs - 15% of the total dollars requested

Total program funding: $7,500,000
Project period: Up to 3 years

Links to additional guidance, application instructions, and the online application portal are available on the program website.