DENVER – The University of Colorado Denver has received a $3.15 million Mental Health Demonstration Grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help recruit and provide training for school mental health professionals interested in equity-focused mental healthcare.
The training program is called Project ASPIRE, or Advancing School Psychology Innovative Training to Recruit Equity-Focused Practitioners.
“We were thrilled that we were afforded funding that is really designed to do a few different things. We want to reduce barriers to access, we want to help create that pipeline of individuals coming into school based mental health. And in our case, we're a school psychology program. So, we are working towards providing training and equity focused mental health," said Rachel Stein, CU Denver clinical assistant professor for the School Psychology Program. "For school psychologists with three priority populations, we're particularly focusing on early childhood, bilingual and economically disadvantaged students. We know there's not enough mental health providers, we have a ratio of few mental health providers to a lot of students, which makes it hard to provide effective services."
First year Project ASPIRE CU Denver graduate student Emily Adams said the program is a perfect fit for her career goals.
“I have been in schools for 12 years, predominantly working in low-income, bilingual, diverse schools. I've worked in special education for a long time. I've just seen a real significant need for school psychologists. CU Denver's psych program is just amazing for that. There's a real heavy focus on equity and access, bilingual work. And the ASPIRE program made it possible to do all of that,” Adams said.
She said the program also provides financial support.
“I don't necessarily have to choose a job straight out of school that is going to just pay the most to pay off student loans. I can choose a job that is in whatever community I feel most called to serve,” Adams said. “I'm very passionate about Special Education and making sure students have exactly what they need to thrive.”
Project ASPIRE CU Denver graduate student JK Gregory also looks forward to serving under-served students.
“I am interested in this program because I am coming from the education field. So I've been a teacher for seven years and this program is something that really reaches out to people who are interested in supporting marginalized communities in education," he said. "So as an educator, I have seen a lot of things in the structures, the policies, the curriculum, the assessments that may have contained some type of bias or discrimination. And so I was always looking for a way to be more of an advocate and have a bigger voice and be able to help."
Gregory said as a person of color, the program is challenging but rewarding.
“Being a person of color in this field can be very triggering. So it's really hard to kind of overcome your own triggers while trying to figure out how to help others, and support others,” Gregory said. "I love and adore my community, and I want to be there for them. And I want to provide as much support and resources as I can. And I know that there is a void, there is an under representation and I'm hoping to help combat that with my presence, my support, my resources, my voice. Hopefully, this program is able to reach out to other people who are people of color and feel the same passion."
The grant will fund two groups of students, beginning Fall 2023, 2024, and 2025 and support them throughout their training trajectory.
Applications are now open for Project ASPIRE. The deadline to apply is Nov. 15.
