1) CAPIC reviews all online applications to make sure they meet all required criteria for the stipend program, including completeness of the application itself. Basic requirements include: a) currently serving an internship at a qualified agency; b) has successfully completed CAPIC/MHSA Online Training Module #1 (entitled Recovery and Recovery-Oriented Care; c) expecting to graduate at the conclusion of the current internship year and no later than September 2012; d) committed to work fulltime for 12 months if receiving a full stipend, (or 6 months if a half-stipend) in a qualified mental health agency within 18 months following award of the doctoral degree.
2) CAPIC processes and scores the demographic section of the application, resulting in a point score.
a. One point is awarded for each item checked on the application form: African American; Hispanic American; Asian/Pacific Islander American; Native American/Alaskan Native; Grew up in rural California; the applicant or one of his/her immediate family members have received services from a publicly supported mental health agency;
b. Up-to-one point is awarded for competency in a designated threshold language for each language listed, depending on the level of fluency.
c. One point is awarded if the applicant is serving his/her internship at an integrated healthcare site.
3) CAPIC assigns a 3-digit number to each Personal Statement for identification. If necessary, CAPIC removes identifying info from the Personal Statement (e.g. student name, date of birth, doctoral program name, internship program name). Removal of personally identifying info from a Personal Statement may result in a point score reduction of up to one point.
4) CAPIC randomly assigns each Personal Statement to 4 members of the Stipend Selection Committee for review and rating. Two raters are faculty in CAPIC member doctoral programs, and two raters are from internship programs, preferably from county or county-funded MH internship programs. Members of the CAPIC Board of Directors, CAPIC staff, or Doctoral Program Chairs or DCTs are prohibited from rating these Personal Statements.
5) Reviewers independently rate each Personal Statement globally on a Likert scale from 1-3, considering the intent of the Psychology Stipend Program and the effectiveness with which the student expressed the way their own education, training, and life experience have resulted in their dedication and skill to serve the needs of clients in the California publicly supported mental health system. A rating of “3” indicates a combination of excellent preparation and great dedication to the goals of the stipend program. A rating of “1” indicates a combination of poor preparation and low dedication to the goals of the stipend program.
6) Raters return the ratings for each Personal Statement to CAPIC.
7) CAPIC completes scoring all applications by taking the mean rating from the 4 reviewers, and places the candidates in 3 groups according the mean of the Personal Statement ratings. CAPIC then orders the applications in each of the three groups by the number of points each application received on the demographic variables.
8) CAPIC then assigns a rank order across all the applications, and begins assigning stipends from the top of the rank order list down. If, or when, a ranking point in the list consists of more than 1 candidate (i.e. a tie), and all candidates at this rank cannot receive stipends due to funding limitations, the following rubric will be applied to break the tie:
9) CAPIC contacts each stipend awardee to confirm their ongoing eligibility and desire to receive the CAPIC/MHSA stipend.
10) CAPIC continues assigning stipends until 35 FTE stipends have been awarded.