Mental Health Service Professional Internship
Mental Health Service Professional Internship
With funding from the U.S. Department of Education, the Center of Excellence for Children’s Behavioral Health at the Georgia Health Policy Center is leading the multiparter initiative, Mental Health Service Professional Internship. This expanded pilot internship program will train, place, and supervise a diverse group of graduate-level social work students from three metro Atlanta universities in underserved Clayton County public schools to expand access to school-based mental health services and grow the children’s behavioral health workforce in Georgia.
This partnership among Georgia State University (Center of Excellence for Children’s Behavioral Health and the School of Social Work), the Department of Social Work and Human Services at Kennesaw State University, the Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University, the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Family Ties Inc. Community Service Board, Clayton Center Community Service Board, and Clayton County Public Schools will leverage and build upon the framework of the existing Georgia Apex Program, a statewide, school-based mental health program.
The pilot will begin in 14 Clayton County schools, an identified high-need district, with 13 interns placed in 2023, which will grow to 24 in year 2 and 30 student interns annually thereafter. It is estimated that the pilot will provide mental health services to 200 to 600 students annually. The interns will be placed in various schools spanning the elementary, middle and high school levels.
The Center of Excellence will serve as the coordinating unit and fiduciary manager of the $8-million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. In collaboration with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Center of Excellence will also provide program evaluation support.