The San Diego Regional Children’s Mental Mealth Consortium was launched back in 2020 by the Alliant Educational Foundation aimed at providing mental healthcare services to locals who need it most at no cost.
"Especially after Covid, we saw that our youth are really struggling and therefore our families are struggling," says Dr. Jessica Taverniti, a longtime supervisor and clinical psychologist with the program.
By teaming up with local nonprofits like Father Joe’s Villages Programs and San Diego Unified School District to help young children and families in underserved communities.
It is also a unique collaboration which gives doctoral students at Alliant International University the opportunity to work with licensed professionals and prepare on how to better help others.
"We're training our future contributors as clinical psychologists in the mental health field, but also filling the void.”
For Nicholas Ibarra, it was an easy choice and step to take in his journey.
"For me as a Mexican-American student, it's very important for me to give back to my community," says Ibarra, a student who works at the San Diego Center for Children, one of the training sites. "There was just a big growing need in terms of what youth in particular were facing throughout the community."
According a report by the San Diego County, more than 35% of San Diego Unified High School students reported 'persistent sadness' in 2019 compared to 25.9% in 2009.
"We fortunately have been able to decrease the rates of our depression and anxiety across our youth and also helping families with different resources and overall reducing the different mental health challenges that they might be encountering," says Dr. Taverniti.
Now a report by the foundation shows in the past year, 70% of students treated in partnership with San Diego Unified showed improvement in overall mental health functioning while 75% showed decreased depression. A promising trend they're hoping to keep going for years to come.
"We're really excited about continuing to honor this three way partnership across the Alliant International University, the Alliant Ed Foundation and the diff different nonprofits across San Diego County and serve our county," says Dr. Taverniti.
And a helpful hand to help future professionals help others.
"What I've learned is that there's just so many different groups that are able to assist in different ways, says Ibarra. "Although I like to say that I give back in kind of like a whole generalistic way, I'm but a part of a bigger system and I'm just very fortunate that there's other like minded clinicians that help out in their own ways as well."
