The nation's leading experts in pediatric health, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), have named the mental health crisis among children a national emergency. Shortages of qualified mental health professionals are at crisis levels locally, statewide, nationally, and globally. This shortage disproportionately affects the pediatric and adolescent populations, and this crisis is compounded for children of color.

To address this shortage, Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing is partnering with the Liz Blake Giving Fund and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Children’s) to develop a scholarship program to expand and equip the workforce of mental health professionals.

The Blake Scholars Program will provide full tuition for nurse practitioners with an interest in child and adolescent behavioral and mental health to pursue a post-graduate certificate in psychiatric mental health nursing from Emory’s School of Nursing. Graduates of the Blake Scholars Program will be considered for pediatric psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner positions at Children’s, including the new Zalik Behavioral and Mental Health Center. 

“The Atlanta pediatric community has been strengthened by the recent arrival of John Constantino, MD, chief of behavioral and mental health at Children’s. He has a proven track record of innovating, transforming access, and pioneering prevention strategies in behavioral and mental health care for children,” said Liz Blake, founder of the Liz Blake Giving Fund, “Through this scholarship, we are thrilled to leverage the strengths of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Children’s to address this unprecedented crisis in mental health for children. A core value of the Liz Blake Giving Fund is collaboration. The partnership with Emory School of Nursing and Children’s is exactly the type of transformational alignment we are excited to support.”

The program is a 26-credit hour, three-semester program with six classes. Classes will be held online with both onsite and virtual intensives and clinical practica. Classes will start in Fall 2023.

For admissions requirements, information sessions, or additional program information, visit https://nursing.emory.edu/blake-scholars-program. For questions, email [email protected].