County Grant Will Help CSUSM Build Health Workforce

Cal State San Marcos has received a $450,000 grant from the County of San Diego to continue its work in helping to develop the health and human services workforce in the region.

The funding is half of a $900,000 grant that the county was awarded from Health Career Connection(HCC), a national nonprofit working to expand opportunities for students of diverse backgrounds and inspire a new generation of health leaders. The grant is designed to facilitate collaboration between the county's Health and Human Services Agency(HHSA) and partner organizations including CSUSM and San Diego State, which received the other $450,000.

The new HCC grant funds will support the Live Well Center for Innovation and Leadership, a county academic-practice partnership with SDSU and its expansion to include CSUSM. It also complements existing HHSA initiatives to drive meaningful progress in workforce development across the region.

CSUSM and the College of Education, Health and Human Services (CEHHS) will utilize the money to achieve three primary outcomes:

• the creation of the CSUSM Center for Health Workforce Solutions;
• under that center, the creation of a Live Well San Diego/CSUSM Academic Health Department;
• continued collaborations in North County around the behavioral and mental health workforce, including an annual symposium and associated strategic action groups.

"This grant will be transformative for our students and the region in addressing behavioral and mental health workforce shortages," said Jennifer Ostergren, dean of CEHHS. "It reflects our ongoing commitment to collaborate with community partners to support the needs of the region."

The grant-funded initiative will work in tandem with CSUSM's new Scholars in Wellness and Innovation Fast-Track (SWIFT) Health Programs, an accelerated, three-year bachelor's program for students interested in preparing for mental and behavioral health professional opportunities. SWIFT was created from a historic $10 million grantto CSUSM from Price Philanthropies Foundation last year.

San Diego County faces a worsening health and human services workforce shortage due to workers getting older and retiring or leaving for other jobs. According to a 2022 San Diego Workforce Partnership report, the region needs to double its behavioral health workforce by 2027. Beyond behavioral health, there is a persistent demand for other licensed professionals, including nurses, therapists and social workers.

A national model in academic-practice partnership, the Live Well Center for Innovation and Leadership was the first of its kind in California when it launched in 2022.