Cardinal Success Program

Mission & Purpose

The Cardinal Success Program promotes healthy individuals and families residing in West Louisville through behavioral health and wellness services, clinical training, and research.

In line with this mission, we pursue the following objectives:

  • Build healthy communities by helping individuals and families residing in West Louisville through improved access to evidence-based and culturally tailored behavioral health services and psychological assessment services.
  • Improve the clinical training of future behavioral health professionals through training in evidence-based and culturally tailored interventions as well as meaningful immersion in this diverse community.
  • Actively engage in research and scholarship that connects the community, clients, and researchers, improving the quality of life of individuals and families residing in West Louisville.

Signature Partnership Initiative

The Signature Partnership Initiative (SPI) is a University-wide effort to improve the quality of life and economic opportunity for residents of West Louisville.

Wellness, mental health, education and career and college readiness are inter-related, and SPI seeks to address all these challenges by embedding scholar-practitioners in the community.

The Cardinal Success Program will achieve these goals by implementing a clinical training model for counseling students, which is similar to the successful clinical model for teacher preparation that has already been established at College of Education and Human Development Signature Partnership schools.

The clinical training model will allow students to be immersed on site in a community environment for practicum and internship experiences. Graduate-level classes will also be held at the Shawnee site.

Services Offered

1

Consultation

2

Individual Counseling

3

Group Counseling

4

Linkage and Referral

5

Outreach

6

Psychological Assessment

7

Career Preparation

8

Graduate and Continuing Education

9

Teacher Support Services

About Cardinal Success Program

The Cardinal Success Program at the Nia Center (CSP) is an innovative partnership between the University of Louisville’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), Department of Counseling and Human Development, and the West Louisville community. By design, it brings access to quality counseling and psychology services to residents from a traditionally underserved area of the community. Services are provided by graduate-level students working under the direct supervision of a licensed mental health professional who also serves as a UofL faculty member.

Working closely with residents and community leaders, the Cardinal Success Program has been designed to target behavioral health services to the priorities identified by members of the community. In addition to providing individual, group, and family counseling and psychological assessment services, the Cardinal Success Program offers prevention and support programs tailored to the community's needs. Parent education and parent and family support programs designed to strengthen families and parent-child relationships are a central focus of CSP.

Another key element of Cardinal Success Program services is identifying and building character strength in children and adolescents to promote social skills, self-esteem and resilience. This positive psychology approach is woven into individual and group services offered at Cardinal Success. In addition to serving children and families, Cardinal Success Program is committed to providing counseling and wellness services to adults dealing with challenging life circumstances.

The Cardinal Success Program at the Shawnee is an innovative partnership between the University of Louisville's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), Department of Counseling and Human Development, The Academy @ Shawnee and the West Louisville community. By design, it brings access to quality counseling psychology services to students from a traditionally underserved area of the community. Services are provided by graduate-level students working under the direct supervision of a licensed mental health professional who also serves as UofL faculty.

The program is fully integrated into the daily activities of The Academy @ Shawnee and employs a collaborative approach to service delivery by creating a team comprised of teacher, parent, and counselor to support the social-emotional development of each student referred. Services offered include consultation, individual, group, and family counseling, career and college readiness services and psychological assessment. The Cardinal Success Program is an example of true community engagement in the spirit of the UofL Signature Partnership Initiative.

Students completing practicum and internships at the Cardinal Success Program are enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs in the College of Education and Human Development, Kent School of Social Work, and the School of Nursing. Faculty and students with the department engage in approved research at both the Nia Center and The Academy @ Shawnee locations.

Frequently Asked Questions