The BHWET Program was introduced as part of President Obama’s "Now is the Time" initiative to increase the mental and behavioral health workforce serving children, students and young adults. Congress initially provided $35 million to fund the BHWET program. In 2016, the BHWET Program was expanded to include programs training mental health providers to provide services for individuals across the lifespan. In Fall 2017, the Department of Counseling & Marital and Family Therapy (CMFT), in collaboration with the Hahn School of Nursing (HSON), was awarded a federal training grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) focused on addressing the growing behavioral health workforce shortages that exist in the United States. This funding allowed for the launch of Project TeamUP, an initiative aimed at increasing the number of behavioral health providers from diverse backgrounds equipped to provide effective care to communities in need. Students participating in this track of Project TeamUP seek to contribute to the improvement and expansion of innovative interprofessional training to meet the growing needs of vulnerable, rural, and underserved populations in Southern California. Students enrolled in our Marital and Family Therapy, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, School Counseling or Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner programs benefit from enhanced training focused in multicultural/linguistic competence, integrated behavioral health, and evidence-based practices.
Now Recruiting for the 2025-26 Cohort!
Students completing their practicum/fieldwork/clinical experience during the 2025-26 academic year are eligible for a $25,000 stipend!
This project prioritizes serving children and adolescents (ages 0–17) and/or transitional-aged youth (ages 18–25). To be eligible for a stipend, students must serve approximately 50% or more of their direct clinical hours with one or both of these populations during their placement.
The application for the 2025-26 BHW stipend opportunity is now open and can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/
Year 8 BHWET Stipend Recipients
Congratulations to our Year 8 stipend recipients! This dynamic group of MFT, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, School Counseling and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner trainees are doing amazing work in the Greater San Diego community. Here are some of their practicum and fieldwork sites:
- Alvarado Parkway Institute
- Areta Crowell Center
- Center for Community Solutions
- Crossroads Family Center
- Del Sur Crisis Center
- Kickstart
- Lifeline
- Mobile Adolescent Services Team
- Neighborhood Health Center
- Nueva Vista Crisis Center
- Rady Children's Hospital
- San Diego City College
- San Diego Youth Services
- Southern California American Indian Resource
- South Bay Guidance Center
- UCSD Family Medicine
- UCSD Outpatient Psychiatry
- UCSD Reproductive Medicine
- Veterans Affairs
- Veterans Village of San Diego
"I feel so lucky to have been chosen for the stipend recipient opportunity. First during my time at USD, the funding allowed me to reduce my full time work load to part time so that I had the capacity to focus on learning and my practicum site. I believe this opportunity allowed me to grow as a Mental Health Clinician working with vulnerable and underserved communities with the ongoing and previous training opportunities for professional development. I have continued to learn so much that has allowed me to incorporate these skills in my work as an APCC. I have appreciated how broad and diverse the training opportunities are, this has given me experience to carry into my work. I feel so grateful and lucky for this opportunity as it was a transformational experience for me and my career" - Meg Martin, OWEP 2023