Mental Health Initiative

Mental Health Initiative is sponsored by Price Philanthropies. This initiative focuses on improving San Diego's mental health system of care for low-income youth and their families, particularly those who are Medi-Cal, uninsured, and underinsured.

Mental Health | Price Philanthropies Rady Children’s Hospital Behavioral Health Urgent Care in City Heights In 2015, Price Philanthropies launched an initiative to improve San Diego’s mental health system of care for youth and their families. Our funding concentrates on safety net programs that serve primarily Medi-Cal, uninsured and underinsured families.

We focus in this area because fifty percent of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, with 75 percent beginning by age 24. Unfortunately, the incidence of mental illness in children has increased in recent decades, and one in five children between the ages of 13 and 18 has or will develop a serious mental illness.

The goals of the Mental Health Initiative are to: Ensure low-income youth and families have access to a comprehensive system of high quality, accessible mental health services. Improve the effectiveness, collaboration and coordination within the mental health care system, particularly in City Heights and San Diego’s Central Region.

Support innovative mental health providers and care models that improve the life opportunities for youth through prevention, early intervention and evidence-based care. Price Philanthropies does not accept unsolicited grant proposals in this area. To learn more about our work or request a meeting with the Mental Health Initiative staff, please contact Sakara Tear .

Mental Health Initiative Grants SDSU's School of Social Work PARTNERSHIP WITH SDSU'S SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK Price Philanthropies partners with San Diego State University’s School of Social Work to strengthen our bilingual and bicultural behavioral health workforce and provide behavioral health service s and s ocial and e motional l earning programs for City Heights youth .

Social Workers and MSW graduate student interns are assigned to selected school s to provide assessment, crisis intervention, resource connection, and individual and group therapy . In addition, the y teach curriculum that fosters the development of social and emotional skills in both children and adults.

Interfaith Community Services BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE (COE) Co-funded with the County of San Diego, this grant establishes a COE at Interfaith in partnership with California State University (CSU) San Marcos and local community colleges. COEs provide structured, paid, quality internships and supervision. In addition, they increase access to behavioral health services.

In the first five years, this COE is expected to provide a talent pipeline of 284 trained staff. Price Philanthropies and the San Diego Unified School District partner to fund Mending Matters’ behavioral health program at Hoover High School .

Three dedicated LCSWs ( Licensed Clinical Social Workers ) coordinate individual and group therapy, We Hear YOUth Needs Assessment, LIFE student internships, workshops, crisis intervention , and a MSW internship program.

BAKING CONNECTIONS: COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH PROJECT Price Philanthropies funded United Women of East Africa Support Team’s Baking Connections program, a support group which provided East African women, isolated during the pandemic and dealing with individual and family stressors, access to positive and culturally affirming opportunities.

Women and their daughters connected and bonded over cooking and discussed important topics specifically around mental health. In partnership with UC San Diego Health, we helped establish a first of its kind Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Post Graduate Fellowship program with a focus on child and adolescent care. This program addresses a critical workforce shortage and set widespread standards for clinical training.

City Heights Masters in Social Work (MSW) Scholarship A collaboration between Price Philanthropies and San Diego State University (SDSU), this scholarship provided support services and tuition assistance for four students with strong connections to the City Heights community to obtain their MSW with a direct practice concentration.

The scholarship was created in response to the need for a bilingual, culturally responsive social work workforce. Price Philanthropies provided seed funding to Rady Children’s Hospital to establish a Behavioral Health Urgent Care (BHUC) within their existing City Heights urgent care. The BHUC eliminated major barriers to behavioral healthcare by providing walk-in psychiatry, therapy and case management.

Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital Price Philanthropies issued a combination capital and challenge grant to Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital to help renovate and expand their Child & Adolescent Program Inpatient Unit. The project vastly improved the healing environment of this essential San Diego youth resource.

San Diego Center for Children The San Diego Center for Children’s Family Wellness Center serves families in need of mental health services in a coordinated setting without multiple external referrals. SchooLink to Behavioral Health Services SchooLink is a partnership between the County of San Diego and local school districts to provide behavioral health services in schools.

In collaboration with the County of San Diego, San Diego Unified School District and Community Research Foundation, we helped develop the SchooLink website and training program to help school staff and behavioral health providers connect students to care.