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Source: Leslie Harris
415-476-2557
12 December 2000
Mental health clinical training program takes multicultural approach to providing services to minority youth in San Francisco County
The University of California, San Francisco is examining new ways to deliver culturally appropriate mental health services to San Francisco County's ethnically diverse youth.
The California Endowment has awarded the UCSF Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Services Division a $700,000, three-year grant that will be used to develop a Multicultural Pre/Postdoctoral Clinical Training Program. The program will be the only pre/postdoctoral clinical child psychology training program in the Bay Area with a curriculum highlighting the health disparities experienced by ethnic and cultural minorities combined with placement of trainees in community settings to treat under-served minority children and youth directly.
"There is an alarmingly low number of ethnic and cultural minorities receiving doctorate degrees in clinical psychology. Access to services provided by health care professionals familiar with cultural issues and dedicated to community involvement are needed to address disparities in health and well-being for these groups," said Miriam Martinez, PhD, UCSF assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and director of Child and Adolescent Services at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center. "This program will increase access for culturally appropriate mental health services."
By the end of the three year grant period, six predoctoral interns and six postdoctoral fellows will have completed the training program and provided more than 500 ethnic minority children and adolescents with culturally competent mental health care at six community-based organizations participating in the program, said Martinez.
"The California Endowment is pleased to provide funding for this program which supports our mission of expanding access to affordable, quality health care for under-served communities," said Jacob Moody, program officer for The Endowment. "We hope that this program can serve as a model for replication throughout the state."
The California Endowment, the state's largest health foundation, was formed in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego with program staff working throughout the state. The Endowment makes grants to organizations and institutions that directly benefit the health and well being of the people of California. For more information, visit our Web site at www.calendow.org.
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