Five years ago, Shalveena Purewal was a Kaiser Permanente pharmacy technician in South Sacramento with a longtime dream of becoming a licensed clinical social worker. She considered pursuing her dream on her own but lacked the financial means and time required for graduate school and clinical training.
Then she saw an announcement that the Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Scholars Academy was accepting applications. That changed everything.
“It felt like it was meant for me,” she said. “It was exactly what I needed in that moment.”
Kaiser Permanente launched the academy in 2020 to help address the demand for mental health services in California. The academy supports Kaiser Permanente employees in California interested in earning an advanced degree and continuing to work for the organization as a mental health therapist.
Employees who are accepted into the academy have a choice of applying to graduate programs at 7 academic institutions, including the Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences.
Scholars receive 75% tuition assistance, mentoring, and a connection to Kaiser Permanente’s 2 mental health training programs in California. Scholars work with the training programs to acquire the supervised clinical training hours they need to graduate and to become licensed therapists.
Finding meaningful work
Purewal was accepted into the academy and to a program at UMass Global, where she took online classes and earned a master’s degree in social work in 2023. She’s now working as an associate in Addiction Medicine Recovery Services at Kaiser Permanente Sacramento. She finds the work deeply meaningful.
“I feel there needs to be representation in addiction medicine, especially for my community. The Asian American and Pacific Islander community has a huge rate of addiction, especially to alcohol,” she said. “My patients are strong, and they’re vulnerable. Some of them come in at their lowest, and you’re with them, you’re helping them.”
If all goes as planned, Purewal will have accrued the clinical hours needed and will pass the exam to become a licensed clinical social worker in fall 2026.
Balancing work, academics, and life
Since the academy began 5 years ago, 174 employees in California have earned master’s degrees, and 246 are now working toward either a master’s or doctorate degree in the mental health field.
Scholars balance their current job duties while taking academic classes (mostly evenings and weekends) and completing supervised clinical training at KP mental health clinics.
Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Scholars Academy Executive Director Dan Gizzo said the program is doable with preparation.
“Scholars who have done the best are those who have a plan for balancing their work, academic work, and life. Another predictor is having good communication with your current manager because scholars take on this program while still working at their current job.”
Gizzo added that represented employees may be eligible for union education fund benefits including wage replacement, which can support scholars taking part in clinical training.
An unbelievable journey
As a pharmacy technician, Purewal received education fund benefits from her union along with the 75% tuition support from Kaiser Permanente. Without the financial help, she said she could never have realized her dream.
“My own personal journey has at times felt unbelievable. I’m an immigrant, I was first in my family to go to college, and now I have my master’s degree,” she said. “The program has helped me tremendously in my life and my career. I’m just so grateful for having been a part of it.”
Mental Health Scholars Academy applications are open from September 3 through October 6, 2025 for KP employees in California who are interested in starting a graduate program in the fall of 2026. Go to the academy website to learn about eligibility, register for the August 27 MHSA online Q&A session, and more.
