Bilingual Bridges Behavioral Health Program (BBB)

Background

In the summer of 2024, the Chico State School of Social Work received $5.6 million from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) for a 5-year period (7/1/2024-6/30/2029) to create a bilingual training program aimed at increasing the number of Spanish and Hmong-speaking clinical providers in the North State.

Purpose

The Bilingual Bridges Behavioral Health Training Program aims to:

• Educate and prepare bilingual Spanish and Hmong-speaking MSW students to provide clinical behavioral health services to children, youth, and their families through age 25.
• Recruit culturally and linguistically diverse MSW students that reflect the sociodemographic and other characteristics of underserved and historically excluded groups in the North State.
• Implement a bilingual program to train and enhance the skills of Spanish and Hmong- speaking MSW students in delivering culturally and linguistically responsive behavioral health services to their communities

Stipend Award

Recipients of the Bilingual Bridges Behavioral Health Training Program will receive a stipend to support their academic and training activities.

• Full-time students: $25,000.00 for the academic year
  • $12,500 will be disbursed mid- to late Fall term
  • $12,500 will be disbursed during Spring term
• Half-time students: $12,500.00 for the academic year
  • $6,250 will be disbursed mid- to late Fall term
  • $6,250 will be disbursed during Spring term
• There is NO post-graduation service obligation tied to this stipend, but the expectation is that recipients will utilize their training to serve the North State post-graduation.

II. Student Eligibility and Requirements

The Bilingual Bridges Behavioral Health Training Program seeks bilingual Spanish and Hmong-speaking MSW students who demonstrate:

• Interest in and commitment to learning about the issues, challenges and needs specific to behavioral health care practice in public service settings within their cultural and linguistic communities.
• Linguistic and cultural competencies that align with the needs of underserved and historically excluded communities in Northern CA.
• Strong and sustained commitment to social work careers in California’s behavioral health care systems, programs and settings in Northern California.

The application is open to Spanish and Hmong-speaking MSW students that are:

1. Enrolled in our Chico State MSW program as full time, part-time or advanced standing students, in face-to-face, or hybrid formats.
2. Matched/matching with practicum placements for the training year in behavioral health care sites/programs.
3. Not receiving funding support from CalSWEC Title-IVE, CalSWEC Public Behavioral Health and Adult Protective Services Training Program, and any other HCAI administered training, stipend or scholarship program.

MSW students are accepted into the Bilingual Bridges Behavioral Health Training Program for one academic year at a time for a maximum of three academic years. Acceptance into the training program for one year does NOT guarantee acceptance for a second or third year of training.

III. Program Requirements

Once accepted into the Bilingual Bridges Behavioral Health Training Program, recipients of the award must sign a Student Agreement acknowledging the following:

1. Commitment to completing their practicum placement in the North State
   • Complete their practicum placement in an agency/organization that provides behavioral health services to the target populations (Spanish/Hmong-speaking) within the following 22 counties: Amador, Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba.
2. Attendance at all in-person and/or virtual meetings, trainings, workshops, learning communities.
   • Learning support communities – biweekly
   • Meetings/trainings/workshops – monthly (at times 2x a month)
3. Participation in ongoing program evaluation, during schooling and at least one-year post graduation.
4. Must not accept funding support from CalSWEC Title-IVE, CalSWEC Public Behavioral Health and Adult Protective Services Training Program, and any other HCAI administered training, stipend or scholarship program.

IV. Application Process

Three parts:

1. Application – Academic Year 2025-2026, TBD
2. Resume
3. 3 Brief Essay Questions – 300-word limit per essay question

DUE DATE: To Be Determined for Academic Year 2025-2026. Please revisit this site in February of 2025.

For questions, please contact Judy Vang, PhD at tvang@csuchico.edu.