Loyola School of Education awarded $3.3 million grant from U.S. Department of Education
Loyola鈥檚 School Counseling Program in the School of Education has been awarded a $3.3 million School-Based Mental Health Services Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The grant provides urgently needed resources to increase students鈥� access to school-based mental health services by increasing the number of qualified and culturally responsive mental health counselors working in K-12 schools.
The project, 鈥溌槎咕� School Counseling Scholarship Program: Culturally Responsive and Inclusive School-Counselor Preparation (CRISP),鈥� will increase high-quality mental health access for children and youth in Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) by improving the preparation and increasing diversity of school counselors who enter the workforce.
鈥淚 am excited that this grant centers evidence-based pedagogy to prepare school counselors with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions to effectively meet the mental health needs of today鈥檚 culturally diverse high school students,鈥� said Cheryl Moore-Thomas, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at 麻豆精选.
The 5-year collaborative grant will have a transformational impact on the School Counseling program, Loyola, and BCPS.
Jennifer Scaturo Watkinson, Ph.D., LCPC, associate professor of school counseling and the program director of Loyola鈥檚 School Counseling Program will lead the grant as Principal Investigator.
鈥淭his award gives us the opportunity to strengthen our master鈥檚 training program and invite candidates from diverse backgrounds into the profession,鈥� Watkinson said. 鈥淚 am extremely grateful and excited to work with my colleagues in the School Counseling Program and Baltimore County Public Schools.鈥�
Qi Shi, Ph.D., LCPC, associate professor of school counseling and the director of the Center for Equity, Leadership, and Social Justice in Education will lead the evaluation of the grant.
鈥淎s the founding director of the Center for Equity, Leadership, and Social Justice in Education, I am deeply honored to lead the evaluation for this project funded through the Department of Education,鈥� Shi said. 鈥淚 am very excited to see the positive impact this award will bring to our students in Loyola鈥檚 School Counseling Program as well as K-12 students they are going to serve in high-need schools.鈥�
Other objectives of the grant include:
- Increasing the School Counseling Program鈥檚 student diversity by December 2027.
- Strengthening preparation at the School Counseling Program in culturally responsive and inclusive counseling practices.
- Decreasing the student to counselor ratio in BCPS.