A PAID HEAD START IN BEHAVIORAL HEALTH FOR COMPTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Sep 1

8 min read

California-funded academy gives Los Angeles County high school students career training, mentorship, and stipends

The Compton Chamber of Commerce proudly congratulates the students who successfully completed the Youth Mental Health Academy during its four summer cycles from 2023 through 2026.

This behavioral-health workforce-development program provided participating high school students with professional knowledge, mentorship, career preparation and practical learning experience. We hope its graduates have made—and will continue to make—the most of these opportunities as they pursue higher education and establish their career paths.

We also sincerely hope that renewed public or private funding will make this program, or comparable career-development opportunities, available to future generations of Compton and Los Angeles County high school students.

More than 400 Los Angeles County high school students took part in the Child Mind Institute’s 2026 Youth Mental Health Academy, a publicly funded behavioral-health workforce-development program. — More than 400 Los Angeles County high school students took part in the **Child Mind Institute**’s ***2026 Youth Mental Health Academy***, a publicly funded **behavioral-health workforce-development program**.

Youth Mental Health Academy's purpose was to introduce highschoolers to specific career paths, including:

clinical care,
counseling,
social work,
behavioral-health research,
case management,
community services,

and related support fields before they choose a college major.

For the 2026 Summer Academy, the host venues were Compton College and California State University, Dominguez Hills. Los Angeles County high school students could also participate virtually. If funding becomes available for future cohorts, their host locations, schedules, participation formats, and available spaces may change from year to year.

The program used project-based learning as its primary educational approach, allowing students to apply classroom instruction through collaborative research and formal presentations.

What did the program provide?

The 2026 Summer Academy ran for five weeks, from June 22 through July 23. Students attended Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Students could receive stipends of up to $1,750 for completing the five-week academy. Participating families did not pay tuition.

Participants received instruction in behavioral-health subjects, research methods, college preparation, and career exploration in the field. They worked in teams, selected a subject to investigate, developed a project, and presented their findings before other students, mentors, and program staff.

The summer session was followed by virtual mentorship, workshops, and career-development activities scheduled from August 2026 through March 2027. These continuing activities are intended to help students explore career options, prepare for college, and develop professional skills.

Who organized and funded it?

The Youth Mental Health Academy—the program’s official name—is organized and administered by the Child Mind Institute, an independent nonprofit organization working in children’s behavioral health and learning disorders.

The program was created through a partnership with the State of California. Its primary public support came through a $25 million grant awarded by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information under the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative. The grant’s stated workforce purpose is to introduce students to behavioral-health professions and help develop California’s future behavioral-health workforce.

In practical terms, this was a taxpayer-funded behavioral-health workforce-development program administered by a nonprofit organization. The public funding covered the training and allowed accepted students to participate without tuition while receiving compensation for their time.

The academy’s original $25 million state grant supported four summer program cycles, from 2023 through 2026. Although the 2026 students will continue receiving mentorship and career-development programming through March 2027, no new Summer Academy for 2027 has been announced. Future participation opportunities for Compton high school students will depend on additional funding and should not be considered guaranteed.

Who qualified to apply?

For the 2026–2027 program, applicants were required to:

Be enrolled in a public or private high school in Los Angeles County at the time of application.
Have an overall grade-point average of at least 2.5.
Demonstrate a strong interest in behavioral health and related careers.
Provide proof of personal medical or health-insurance coverage for the program period.
Commit to the five-week Summer Academy and the continuing school-year activities.

The program stated that all students meeting its general requirements could apply. It also identified certain personal backgrounds and hardship factors it particularly encouraged.

Beyond its basic eligibility requirements, the Child Mind Institute particularly encouraged applications from students belonging to specified racial or ethnic groups, students connected to LGBTQ identities, students with disabilities, and students affected by poverty, housing instability, foster care, the juvenile legal system, rural isolation, limited family college experience, or military-family circumstances. The organization did not disclose whether or how these characteristics influenced final admissions decisions.

How were students selected?

The published records show multiple recruitment and application pathways, which should not be confused.

Under the main route, Los Angeles County high school students applied directly through a publicly accessible online student application administered by the Child Mind Institute. The organization also supplied schools and educators with materials they could share with students, but it did not state that a school, teacher, or counselor had to nominate or handpick a student for the general application.

For reference, applications for the completed 2026 Summer Academy opened December 15, 2025; its priority deadline was January 15, 2026, and its final deadline was February 28, 2026.

Compton students also had a documented local institutional pathway through a direct partnership between the Compton Unified School District and the Child Mind Institute. In 2024, 55 CUSD high school students completed the five-week academy at Centennial High School. CUSD reported that each received $2,000 and a laptop, followed by school-year mentorship and the prospect of a paid second-summer internship. More recent district communications continue to describe CUSD as a Child Mind Institute partner and feature participating students from district high schools. However, the district has not published the application notice, internal referral procedures, school-by-school allocations, number of applicants, or criteria used to determine which CUSD students advanced or were accepted.

A separate supplemental route operated through the Bridge Builders Foundation. That route was closed to the general public: applicants had to be affiliated with a Bridge Builders partner program and provide a Bridge Builders reference. The Child Mind Institute reported that approximately 40 additional students joined the 2026 academy and mentorship program through this partnership. The organizations have not published a definitive list identifying which Bridge Builders programs or schools qualified students for that restricted application. This supplemental collaboration was connected to the privately funded People-First AI Fund award received by Bridge Builders, rather than being identified as a separate California taxpayer grant.

Meeting the published qualifications did not automatically guarantee admission. Eligible students applied for a limited number of available places. However, the Child Mind Institute has not published a detailed scoring rubric, applicant-ranking formula, interview procedure, reviewer identities, or complete explanation of how it chose among qualified applicants.

Families should therefore distinguish between eligibility and selection. A student who met the GPA, enrollment, insurance, interest, and participation requirements was eligible to apply, but acceptance remained subject to the academy’s review and available capacity.

There is no available public information to independently evaluate the fairness of the final admissions decisions. The most accurate conclusion is that students could apply directly, Compton Unified recruited or supported students through its district partnership, and a separate Bridge Builders group used a restricted reference-based route. None of the organizations has disclosed a complete final selection methodology.

The Child Mind Institute has not announced application dates, locations, stipends, funding, or other details for a 2027 Summer Academy. Its official page states only that the 2026–2027 application is closed and invites families to register for notification about the next cohort. Families interested in a future program should use that notification option, monitor the official page, assemble likely application information early, and apply promptly if a new cohort is announced. They should not assume that the 2026 schedule or benefits will automatically continue in 2027.

What practical value did students receive?

The ceremonial awards presented at the end of the academy have limited practical value by themselves. The more meaningful benefit came from completing the program.

Participants gained experience researching a subject, evaluating information, sharing responsibilities, meeting deadlines, preparing a formal presentation, and speaking before an audience. They completed a project they can describe in college, scholarship, volunteer, and employment applications. They also had access to mentors and career-preparation activities while exploring identifiable behavioral-health occupations, including licensed clinical practice, counseling, social work, behavioral-health research, case management, community services, and related healthcare and support work.

This experience does not guarantee college admission, a scholarship, an internship, professional licensing, or future employment. It does, however, give high school students compensated exposure to a structured professional-learning environment before they invest substantial time and tuition in a particular college major.

What are the earning and hiring prospects?

Behavioral health is not a single occupation. Earnings, hiring demand, education, and licensing requirements differ substantially between entry-level support work and licensed clinical practice. The following national figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provide a realistic comparison. The wages are 2025 national medians, not starting salaries or guaranteed earnings; actual Southern California pay varies by employer, experience, credentials, and work setting.

Occupation	Typical entry requirement	2025 median pay	Projected growth, 2025–2035	Average annual openings
Psychiatric technician or aide	High school diploma for aides; postsecondary certificate commonly required for technicians	About $45,000	18% combined	21,900
Social and human-service assistant	High school diploma; some employers require additional education	$45,930	7%	48,900
Community health worker	High school diploma plus short-term training; some positions require certification	$51,850	13%	7,000
Substance-abuse, behavioral-disorder, and behavioral-health counselor	Requirements vary; many counseling positions require a master’s degree, supervised training, and a license	$59,350	18%	50,500
Social worker	Bachelor’s or master’s degree depending on the position; clinical practice requires a master’s degree, supervised experience, and licensing	$61,780	6%	69,100
Marriage and family therapist	Master’s degree, supervised clinical experience, examination, and state license	$66,940	14%	6,900
Psychologist	Advanced degree—often a doctorate for clinical practice—and licensing	$99,110	6%	11,300

For comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 3% growth for all U.S. occupations during the same period. Several behavioral-health occupations are therefore expected to grow considerably faster than the overall labor market.

The figures also show why students and parents must investigate the complete education-to-employment path. An introductory summer academy may help a student evaluate the field and prepare for college, but it does not qualify a participant to diagnose or treat patients. The higher-paid clinical occupations generally require years of higher education, supervised practice, examinations, and state licensing. Entry and support positions require less preparation but generally pay less.

One important limitation should also be noted: although earlier academy cohorts included paid second-summer internships, the Child Mind Institute states that internships are not currently available to students entering the 2026–2027 cohort because of funding constraints. Families considering future participation should confirm whether internships have been restored rather than assuming they are included.

Why local families should pay attention

Behavioral-health workforce programs such as the Youth Mental Health Academy can give high school students a practical head start. Even when participants ultimately choose another profession, the research, teamwork, communication, presentation, and career-planning skills can transfer to many college programs and workplaces.

For parents, students, school counselors, and youth organizations in Compton, the larger lesson is to watch for publicly funded career-development opportunities early. Application periods may close months before a summer program begins, and some opportunities provide not only free instruction but also stipends that compensate students for participating. At present, families can register for future-program notifications, but no 2027 application period has been announced.

The Chamber encourages interested families to review the official requirements carefully, apply promptly when applications become available, and evaluate each program according to its concrete training, mentorship, compensation, and career-development benefits—not merely the awards presented at its conclusion.