Joint Statement From Heritage University And Educational Service District 105 On The Premature Closure Of The Yakima Grow Your Own Consortium
-05/02/25
Yakima, WA [May 2, 2025] —On April 29, 2025 Educational Service District 105 (ESD 105) and Heritage University received notification from the U.S. Department of Education that the federal funding for the Yakima Valley Grow Your Own Consortium and Masters in Mental Health Counseling will be discontinued.
The grants and this partnership between ESD 105 and Heritage University are designed to address the critical shortage of school-based mental health professionals in South Central Washington by cultivating a locally trained workforce dedicated to serving the region’s schools and communities. Through Master of Social Work (MSW) and Master in Mental Health Counseling (MMHC) pathways, the initiative supported candidates from underserved communities to become school social workers and behavioral health providers in the very regions they call home.
The program has already demonstrated significant success:
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17 students are on track to graduate with their MSW and are set to complete school-based internships in May.
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18 students are completing their first year in the MMHC program and are scheduled to begin school-based internships this August.
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These future professionals represent a vital step forward in filling the mental health gaps in our region’s schools.
The federal funds supported a goal to graduate 20 MSW per academic year and 50 MMHC professionals over its duration to work in school-based settings, positions that are critically needed in Yakima County and surrounding areas.
As an example, the school counselor-to-student ratio in several area districts exceeds 1:1,000, with some districts employing no school social workers at all. The recommended national ratio for school counselors is 250:1.
The need for mental health services among youth in our region is urgent. According to the 2022 Healthy Youth Survey:
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57.1% of 8th-grade students from the ten districts participating in our consortium expressed worries about their family losing jobs due to the pandemic (vs. 38.8% statewide).
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50.6% of 12th graders reported no contact with a school counselor in the past year.
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14.2% of 8th-grade students reported not feeling hopeful, and 12.8% had attempted suicide in the past year, significantly higher than state averages.
In a rural region already facing systemic barriers to behavioral health care, this loss disrupts the pipeline for trained school-based mental health professionals; it also threatens long-term efforts to create sustainable, culturally responsive mental health services.
“The loss of these grants will have lasting, negative impacts on our schools and communities,” said Emily Nelson, Executive Director of Student Support, at Educational Service District 105. “We already face significant delays and barriers in youth access to behavioral health services, and these grants were designed to address those challenges by bringing more qualified professionals into schools and communities.”
Heritage University and ESD 105 are currently working to support enrolled students and are appealing the decision by the Department of Education to reinstate funding as well as actively seeking alternative funding and partnership opportunities to preserve this essential work.
“Heritage University is fully committed to maintaining the Masters of Social Work and Masters of Mental Health Counseling degree programs,” said Andrew Sund, President of Heritage University. “The loss of this funding will make it more challenging for us to gain access to highly-skilled school-based supervision for placements. We will also see fewer school-based practitioners to meet the needs of the local school districts.”
This is not the end of our commitment. It is a critical reminder that our students, families, and schools deserve the same access to care and support as those in better-funded regions. We remain dedicated to that vision.
About ESD 105:
ESD 105 supports 25 public school districts and more than 21 state-approved private and tribal
schools in South Central Washington. The agency serves the expressed needs of those schools in coordinating and conducting cooperative programs to benefit the approximately 66,000 K-12 students who are served in Kittitas and Yakima counties and portions of Grant and Klickitat counties. As one of nine ESDs in the state, ESD 105 carries out liaison activities between local school districts, the Washington State Office of Public Instruction, and the State Board of Education.
About HU:
Heritage University is a private, non-profit, regionally accredited institution of higher learning offering undergraduate and graduate education from its primary campus in Toppenish, Wash. and from regional sites in Kennewick, Wash. and Pasco, Wash. Heritage University is located on the Yakama Nation and is both a Hispanic Serving Institution and a Native American-serving Non-Tribal Institution. For more information, visit heritage.edu.
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