Idaho State University receives large grant for school psychology program – Local News 8

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)– The Idaho State University School Psychology Department was recently awarded a $4.5 million grant from the US Department of Education to address a lack of mental health professionals in Idaho schools.

Dr. Joel Bocanegra, chair of ISU’s School Psychology Department, applied for the grant with colleagues Dr.’s Howard Fan, Erika Coles, and Jenn Gallup in an effort to start a program that would staff school psychologists in rural areas.

“There’s certain locales in Idaho where, due to isolation and other variables, school psychologists are hard to come by,” said Dr. Bocanegra. “The idea is to provide funding so these students in these communities, people in the community, can come, be trained, and go back to the communities.”

The grant money will be used to cover the tuition of eligible students majoring in school psychology for three years plus an internship. In exchange, graduates of the program will spend three years working in high need school districts in Idaho post-graduation.

Dr. Bocanegra said that, ideally, there should be one school psychologist per 500 K-12 students–currently, in Idaho, there is about one school psychologist for every 1,700 students.

The disparity, according to Dr. Bocanegra, comes from the exclusivity of the masters-only school psychology program–but, by providing tuition coverage and raising awareness of the program, he hopes the ‘grow your own’ model will attract more students who can return home armed with the knowledge to help local schools.

“We need to get people in the field, we also want people that can stay in the field,” said Dr. Bocanegra. “Having people that can understand the community, go back to the communities where they have the connections, have the history, the roots, the families there… that’s kind of one of the goals.”

For more information, you can visit the Idaho State University School Psychology Department website.