Overview
DIRECTIONS TO OUR OFFICES
Alvarado Office (administrative)
ABOUT US
The Academy for Professional Excellence was established in 1996 and provides training, technical assistance, organizational development, research, and evaluation to public and private health and human service agencies and professionals.
The Academy is a project of San Diego State University School of Social Work (founded in 1963), which offers both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Social Work. The School of Social Work at San Diego State University was founded in 1963 and has been continuously accredited by the Council of Social Work Education since 1966.
The fiscal agent for the Academy is San Diego State University Research Foundation (SDSURF). The Research Foundation was incorporated in 1943 and administers grants and contracts on behalf of San Diego State University. SDSURF is a self-financed nonprofit corporation and authorized as an auxiliary organization by the Education Code of California.
The Academy has extensive experience in managing contracts with multiple agencies and organizations and providing specialized services, including:
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"Celebrating Ten Years of Innovative Solutions"
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Mission & Vision
Our mission is to provide quality training and organization support to the health and human services community in the Southern California region. This mission will be accomplished through training and technical assistance; organizational development; and research and evaluation.
Our vision is to inspire, nurture and support those dedicated to improving the quality of life in our communities.
Core Values
Our CustomersProfessionalism & Accountability
Being dependable, reliable, and responsible to coworkers, community partners, and the organization by implementing timely decisions driven by good judgment and the Academy’s goals and objectives.Collaboration
Promoting mutual sharing, teamwork, cooperation, and participation from internal and external stakeholders on a regular basis.Innovation & Flexibility
Promoting an environment that nurtures and rewards creative solutions to challenges encountered in our daily work while encouraging flexibility and adaptability in thought and action.Integrity
Open Communication
Honest, ethical, fair, equitable and considerate interactions and decisions.
Open, honest, pertinent, timely, accurate, respectful, complete, and consistent sharing of relevant information.
The Academy for Professional Excellence provides services to the Southern California region including Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties (though trainings offered vary by county).
Most of our customers are line workers, supervisors, managers, and executives employed by southern county human service agencies. However, we do offer certain trainings and consulting services to other non-profit organizations as well as CEU’s and other educational opportunities for the general public.
Our Programs
Primarily servicing the Southern California Region, the Academy is comprised of seven programs:
1) The Public Child Welfare Training Academy (PCWTA) is a Title IV-E funded public child welfare training program that develops and delivers comprehensive, competency-based, in-service trainings to the 3,000 public child welfare staff and community based organizations throughout the five Southern California counties, including: Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego.
2) The Southern Area Consortium of Human Services (SACHS), a county-university partnership, is a consortium of county human service directors and directors of the Schools of Social Work in the Southern California Region. SACHS provides a forum for its members to discuss and develop strategies for issues facing public human services by engaging in strategy discussions, research, policy development, executive development, and succession planning.
3) Leaders in Action (LIA) is an executive development training program for upper level managers aspiring to executive positions in Southern California county human service agencies.
4) The Tribal STAR (Successful Transitions to Adult Readiness) project is a federally funded project that provides interdisciplinary training and technical assistance to communities working to build collaborative partnerships to improve outcomes for Tribal youth who are transitioning from foster care.
5) Project MASTER (Multi-disciplinary Adult Services Training and Evaluation for Results) is a first step towards the establishment of an Adult Protective Services (APS) training academy that will provide standardized, advanced level training for APS workers throughout the state of California.
6) Behavioral Health Education and Training Academy (BHETA) is a contract of San Diego County Mental Health. Initiated February 2007, this program is designed to provide San Diego County Behavioral Health System with training that will increase competency in culture, recovery, and resiliency as required to outreach, assess, and treat severely mental ill adults, children, and their families.
7) The Network for Excellence in Human Services (NEHS) provides consultation, training, and technical assistance to address challenges faced by health and human service agencies and community-based social service agencies.
Our
Funding
Serving over 4,000 people annually, the Academy currently has an annual operating budget of over $3 million, and funding sources include the state or federal government (i.e. Title IV-E dollars), San Diego State University match, and individual contracts with public and private non-profit agencies.