Licensed Professional Counselor program<\/a> is an online summer graduate program that gives counselors more training and the opportunity to earn a certificate to advance in their careers.<\/p>\nKlein supported the program with a $250,000 gift to provide scholarships to counselors, making the program accessible to a broader range of students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope my support will lead to more feet on the ground, more hands helping children,\u201d Klein says. \u201cThings have calmed down post-COVID, but we can still see the effects. We need to be constantly aware that these kids will need support going forward. The more people who can provide counseling for kids and their families, the better off we will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klein\u2019s gift helps address a statewide mental healthcare worker shortage. Connecticut currently only meets 19.5 percent of the state\u2019s mental health needs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The situation is so severe that Gov. Ned Lamont has called on all state higher education institutions to produce more mental health professionals.<\/p>\n
The year-old UConn program is already having an impact. Last summer, 12 students graduated from the program. School psychologist Katherine Matos, of Waterbury, is currently in the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a first-generation Latina student passionate about advancing my education, I am profoundly grateful for this scholarship support,\u201d Matos says. \u201cThis gift not only alleviates financial barriers but honors the dedication and dreams of students like me who aspire to make a difference in mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Program Director Sara Renzulli says Klein\u2019s gift has been \u201ctransformative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCarla is putting money into an area that desperately needs funding in the state. Many people talk about the importance of mental health, especially children\u2019s mental health. But Carla is putting funding behind it and is helping to provide well-trained counselors every year who are going to serve Connecticut\u2019s population,\u201d says Renzulli, assistant professor-in-residence in the Counselor Education Program. \u201cWe\u2019re doing our part to make a dent in the counselor shortage in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis innovative graduate program furthers the Neag School\u2019s mission to improve educational and social systems to be more effective, equitable, and just for all,\u201d Dean Jason G. Irizarry says. \u201cThe powerful combination of Carla\u2019s generosity and our faculty\u2019s expertise positions the program\u2019s graduates well to improve the quality of life for people across the state of Connecticut and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dorothea Anagnostopoulos, associate dean for academic affairs, says she is grateful for Klein\u2019s thoughtful support.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer gift is having a direct impact on the lives of Connecticut children,\u201d Anagnostopoulos says. \u201cShe is putting more licensed counselors in Connecticut schools, addressing a statewide need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klein\u2019s gift is intended to provide scholarship support over five years. The program is currently looking for additional philanthropic support from other donors who want to help address the mental health crisis.<\/p>\n
Donate to the Klein Family Licensed Professional Counselor Program Fund on the UConn Foundation website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carla (Salomonsen) Klein \u201972 (ED) helps fund a new UConn Neag School of Education program that is bringing more licensed counselors into Connecticut schools<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":222595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,1715,2428,2231,2424,1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2217],"class_list":["post-222587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-community-impact","category-educational-psychology","category-health-well-being","category-neag-community-engagement","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 07:25:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222587"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222600,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222587\/revisions\/222600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/222595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222587"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=222587"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=222587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}