Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Equity (COEBHE)

COEBHE

Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Equity (COEBHE) 

Berkeley Social Welfare's Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Equity (COEBHE) is funded by a $3.4 million Health Resources and Services Administration(HRSA) grant over 4 years and is led by Principal Investigator and Director Adrian Aguilera, PhD.  

Mission

COEBHE seeks to make an impact by mentoring and training the next generation of social workers with a focus on historically excluded populations including Latine, Black, and Native behavioral health care providers with the goal of creating a regenerative pipeline of scholars, providers, and mentors of color. 

Goals

1. Strengthen COEBHE efforts to recruit, train and retain Underrepresented Minority (URM) students and faculty to reflect the changing demographics of its student body and the region at large

2. Improve and expand clinical skills, knowledge, and cultural competency of behavioral health students and professionals

3. Facilitate faculty and student research on behavioral health issues affecting Latine, Black/African American, Native American/ Alaskan Indian and Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander groups. 

4. Improve regional capacity to deliver quality behavioral health services to Latine, Black/African American, Native American/ Alaskan Indian and Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander communities.

Impact

Through all of its programs, COEBHE works to increase enrollment in Berkeley Social Welfare’s MSW program for URM scholars and to create a greater sense of community. We provide specialized training to MSW students in addition to supporting professional development of URM graduate students and early career faculty. Additionally, our programs strengthen Berkeley Social Welfare’s relationships with local agencies and providers who serve local Bay Area communities.  

COEBHE Programming

COEBHE Stipends and Grants

The COEBHE’s workforce development efforts are tailored to meet specific needs of underrepresented minority (URM) students and scholars. Each year, the COEBHE awards twenty stipends up to $10,000 to MSW students with demonstrated commitment to working in community-based behavioral health settings serving high need communities. Scholars’ training is enhanced via mentorship and COEBHE programming where students reflect on their individual as well as collective strengths and sharpen their clinical skills.

 Apoyo Mentoring Program

The Apoyo Mentoring Program is a cascading mentoring framework, pairing URM undergraduate students interested in learning more about the social work field with COEBHE Scholars. In turn, COEBHE Scholars are paired with URM behavioral health practitioners in the Bay Area for a year-long mentoring partnership. The goals of the Apoyo mentorship program are: (1) Recruit undergraduate students into the MSW Program; (2) Reduce the equity gap by supporting the academic and professional development of URM undergraduate and graduate students with targeted activities; (3) Ensure student persistence by helping students navigate the campus culture and the demands of the MSW program.

Community Trainings and Events

Every year COEBHE offers behavioral health community training and events. We offer Spanish-language training for local behavioral health practitioners. Past training has included narrative therapy, solution-focused brief therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Speakers and guest lectures have featured prominent scholars like Dr. Carmela Alcantara from the Columbia School of Social Work, Dr. Daniel Solorzano from UCLA, and Dr. Yvette Flores from UC Davis.

Latinx Social Work Certificate 

In 2016, Dr. Adrian Aguilera (Associate Profesor School of Social Welfare), Dr. Luna Calderon (Profesor Emeritus School of Social Welfare), and Dr. Kurt Organista (Profesor School of Social Welfare) launched the Latinx and Social Work certificate within the MSW program. To complete the certificate, students must complete SW250J: Social Work with Latino Populations, two relevant elective courses, and 120 hours of field training in an agency that serves Spanish-speaking Latinx clients.                                      

Contact COEBHE

Director and Principal Investigator: Adrian Aguilera, PhD | email: aguila@berkeley.edu

Associate Director: Christine Trowbridge | email: ctrowbridge@berkeley.edu | Office: D-16 Haviland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400

COEBHE Program Faculty

Adrian Aguilera

Associate Professor
Associate Professor Adrian Aguilera’s research leverages digital & mobile technologies along with innovative methods such as machine learning to improve health & mental healthcare of low-income & ethnic minority populations, with a focus on Latinx & Spanish-...Read more about Adrian Aguilera

Kristina Lovato

Assistant Professor

Kristina Lovato, PhD, MSW is an Assistant Professor of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the Latinx and Democracy cluster at UC Berkeley and serves as the Director of the Center on Immigration and Child...Read more about Kristina Lovato

Kurt Organista

Professor

A leading expert on social work practice within the Latino community, Dr. Organista's research focuses on psychosocial problems within the Chicano and Latino communities, acculturation and adjustment of ethnic minorities to American societies, minority mental health, cognitive behavioral therapy...Read more about Kurt Organista

Laurent Reyes

Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor Laurent Reyesis committed to developing research that challenges current systems of inequality that directly affect older Black and Latinx adults. As an activist scholar and storyteller, Dr. Reyes leans on qualitative and visual methods to listen and elevate lifetime stories...Read more about Laurent Reyes

Tina Sacks

Associate Professor

Tina Sacks is an associate professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare. Her fields of interest include racial inequities in health, social determinants of health, and poverty and inequality. Professor Sacks focuses on the how macro-structural forces, including structural discrimination...Read more about Tina Sacks

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The Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Equity is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $3 million. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.

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