YSU Counselor education grad program gets award as best in the nation

The program offers counseling to the uninsured.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University has received the Robert Frank Award for outstanding graduate program in counselor education from the American Counseling Association.
The award, presented at the association's convention in Anaheim, Calif., is given to the top counseling graduate programs in the nation. There are more than 320 graduate programs in the United States.
"This award is usually reserved for large doctoral programs; it's pretty rare that a master's-only program like ours is recognized like this," said Don Martin, chairman of YSU's counseling department.
Martin took over the helm of the counseling department in 1999, coming to Youngstown from California State University in Fullerton, Calif.
The program, which has seven full-time faculty members and 150 graduate students, began operating a community clinic about two years ago, where uninsured and underinsured Mahoning County adults and children can get counseling, Martin said.
Ties to school district
The department also has established strong ties to the Youngstown City Schools, helping set up character education programs in 10 elementary schools with a total of 4,000 pupils, he added.
Last month, the department was awarded a $1.8 million grant coordinated by Families First from the federal "No Child Left Behind" initiative. The grant will focus on the needs of alternative education pupils in grades five to nine in the city of Youngstown and also Mahoning County. A number of community agencies will also play a significant role in the success of this grant.