Program Overview

I. Mission

The Chico State School of Social Work Behavioral Health Program is dedicated to preparing mental health clinicians to serve rural Nothern California in partnership with our community. Our mission is to provide high-quality, clinically focused behavioral health training to help students identify their strengths and learn more about themselves while building skills for ongoing career development. We are committed to fostering culturally representative mentorship and facilitating student flourishing with love and support through connection, storytelling, sharing, and creativity

II. Purpose

The purpose of the California State University, Chico Master of Social Work (MSW) Behavioral Health Program (BHP) is to recruit, educate, and place MSW students from culturally and linguistically diverse socio-demographic backgrounds and other characteristics of historically marginalized communities into behavioral health settings in the North State. MSW BHP students will engage in behavioral health services for children, youth, families, and adults in under-resourced and underserved communities across the 18 Northern California Superior Region counties (PDF): Del Norte, Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba. During their awarded period, MSW BHP students will deliver culturally sensitive primary and behavioral health services within behavioral health agencies. They will collaborate in multidisciplinary teams spanning various professions and agencies, while receiving training in wellness, recovery, and resilience principles, encompassing self-help, healing, and empowerment support

III. Background

In Spring of 2023, the California State University Chico School of Social Work was awarded two behavioral health grants to train MSW students in behavioral health settings. The two funding opportunities are the Behavioral Health Expansion Program (BHEP) and the CalSWEC Public Behavioral Health (PBH) program.

Students pursuing their MSW degree can apply for acceptance in the BHP program for one academic year at a time. They can participate in the program for a maximum of two academic years. However, acceptance for one academic year does not guarantee acceptance for the second year. Please click on "Student Eligibility and Requirements" to determine your eligibility for the program.

IV. Student Eligibility and Requirements

MSW students can enroll in the Behavioral Health Program (BHP) for one academic year at a time and can participate in the training program for up to two academic years. However, acceptance into the training program for one academic year DOES NOT guarantee acceptance for a second year. Students are not eligible to receive both behavioral health stipends simultaneously. Both the behavioral health stipend programs (BHEP and CalSWEC PBH) have direct practice requirements. Only MSW students who are completing their practicum placement during the awarded academic year are eligible to apply.

*Please visit the BHEP and CalSWEC PBH pages for more information on the specific eligibility and requirements of each grant program

V. Information Sessions

We invite you to attend an informational meeting if you are interested in our MSW Behavioral Health Program.

All MSW Behavioral Health Program informational meetings will be held via Zoom, see information below. 

Join Zoom Meeting: https://csuchico.zoom.us/j/223498313
Zoom Passcode: swrk
  
If you would like further information about the MSW BHP, please contact Judy Vang, Program Coordinator at tvang@csuchico.edu

• Program Coordinator, Dr. Judy Vang, LCSW
• Practicum Coordinator, Gail Garcia, LCSW
• Principal Investigator, Dr. Molly Calhoun, MSW
• Cultural Responsiveness and Emotional Liberation Trainer, Dr. Devjani (Juni) Banerjee-Stevens, PhD
• Behavioral Health Faculty, Dr. Qingyi Li, PhD
• Administrative Support Staff, Stephanie Cello, BA