Board of Psychology hears update on Licensed Mental Health Practitioner Education awards, funding and application cycle

The California Board of Psychology on Feb. 28, 2025 received a presentation from Michelle Crouch on the Licensed Mental Health Practitioner Education (LMH) program, including the program's award levels, funding sources and the upcoming application cycle.

The LMH program provides awards to licensed mental health professionals who commit to a 12-month service obligation at eligible facilities or health professional shortage areas, with award recipients required to deliver 32 or more hours per week of direct client care. "The maximum award is $15,000," Crouch said, and she noted the program's service obligation was reduced from 24 months to 12 months to align with other programs.

Crouch told the board that as of September 2024, $234,540 in licensure fees had been deposited into the Mental Health Practitioner Education Fund from the Board of Psychology and that those funds were fully used in the most recent application cycle. She said the combined spending cap for related accounts from the Board of Psychology and the Board of Behavioral Sciences is $693,000. "We did use those funds in full for this last application cycle," Crouch said.

The presentation included application counts and award rates across recent cycles. Crouch said the total number of applications received in the 2024 cycle was 936 and that 46 awards were made that fiscal year. She also provided more recent, smaller-cycle figures: in the most recent psychology-specific cycle the board received 29 applications and awarded 16 grants, using the available funds. By contrast, in fiscal 2022'23 the program received 76 applications and awarded 72, when additional one-time funding was available.

Crouch described who is eligible to apply: currently licensed practitioners in fields such as licensed clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, and licensed psychologists, including those working under waivers. Eligible practice sites include federally designated health professional shortage areas and facilities such as children's hospitals, correctional facilities, county health facilities and public schools. She summarized application logistics: applicants must use the web-based application and submit documents including an employer-signed employment verification form, a lender statement showing educational debt balance, and, when applicable, a conflict-of-interest letter.

Board members asked for outreach and reporting details. The board discussed promoting the May 1 application opening through newsletters and social media; Crouch and other staff agreed to provide testimonial material for newsletter inclusion and to share summary statistics showing where awardees are practicing. Jonathan Nazario, identified in the discussion as the manager of the unit, said the program provides basic reports to the legislature and that prior budget- and status-related requests had been supplied to legislative offices.

Crouch also reviewed related programs available to psychologists, including the State Loan Repayment Program, the Behavioral Health Scholarship Program (recently closed) for assistant psychologists, and the Golden State Social Opportunities Program for PhD/PsyD licensed clinical psychologists. She confirmed contracts for awards typically execute in September following the May application opening.

Board members raised concerns about competitiveness and limited funds; Crouch said awards are competitive when supplemental funding is not available and emphasized that an applicant will not receive more than their documented educational debt. The board discussed outreach strategies to increase application numbers and to publicize award recipients in order to show program impact in underserved areas.

The board did not take formal action on the LMH program at the meeting; the presentation concluded with staff offering to provide additional materials and to work with the board's communications team on outreach.