Summer healthcare interns from School Districts U-46, 300, 301 and 303 receive industry certifications in Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA)
Elgin Township provided the first grant to Alignment in 2022 for $9,600 to help fund 75 high school students with paid summer internships as part of its summer enrichment grant program. Five years later with funding received each year, Elgin Township has funded for 2026, a $21,600 grant to support the growth of paid summer internships for high school students. Because of Elgin Township’s early commitment of support in 2022, more than 300 students today in 2026 are benefiting from paid summer internship opportunities in their career of choice.
Elgin Township also leads the way in supporting youth mental health. In 2025, Alignment benefiting from United Way Metro Chicago funding, named its second priority area in future workforce development working to ensure that students graduate with a sound foundation in mental health and wellness that prepares them to adequately address their own behavioral health while also being able to relate to mental health concerns faced each day in our schools and in our workplaces.
Elgin Township’s Mental Health Board has embraced this work in the schools helping U-46 and partner community behavioral health organizations pilot the implementation of youth mental health training. This training is part of a pilot program with U-46’s Larkin High School feeder pattern beginning the work in the elementary and middle schools.
Alignment and the Elgin Neighborhood Network are committed to being sure that high school students have the skills and knowledge to support their own behavioral health. Examples of that commitment include U-46 healthcare students participating in international HOSA student competitions in Indiana next week showcasing the use of social media practices to positively promote youth mental health awareness.
More than 20 summer healthcare interns from School Districts 300, 301, 303, and U-46 hosted by Advocate Sherman Hospital, Family Service Association of Greater Elgin, and VNA Health Care began their summer internships this week earning Teen Mental Health First Aid training certifications provided by the Kenneth Young Center.
Alignment is also introducing paid summer internships in the behavioral health professions hosted by Ecker Center, Family Service Association of Greater Elgin, Luna Behavioral Health Center, and Streamwood Behavioral Healthcare System in partnership with Elgin Community College and the “Taking Back the Trades” Grant and Northern Kane County Region 110.
ACE is a member of the Alignment USA communities of collaboration and collective impact.
