Adler Community Health Services (ACHS), the clinical training center within Adler University, has been named a recipient of the 2026 Civic Engagement and Community Service Award from Insight Into Academia magazine, the largest and oldest publication defining and advancing best practices in higher education. The award recognizes institutions whose innovative service models and deep community collaborations are driving real impact through volunteerism, advocacy, public education, civic participation, voter engagement, fundraising, and more.
ACHS will be featured, alongside 51 other programs, in the April 2026 issue of Insight Into Academia.
“We share this moment with the organizations that place their trust in our partnership, our students, and our faculty. Every day, our students work in under-resourced schools, clinics, and community agencies, doing work that rarely gets recognized, building tangible trust with people who’ve been let down by systems more than once. This work requires patience and humility — and it matters today more than ever,” said Kevin Osten-Garner, Psy.D., executive director and chief psychologist of Adler Community Health Services. “Behavioral health systems remain out of reach for too many due to limited access and affordability. I’m proud of what we’ve built together, and ACHS will continue pushing our health systems to improve access to affordable, quality behavioral health for all.”
Insight Into Academia selected Adler Community Health Services for its unwavering commitment to delivering trauma-informed behavioral health services through deep, sustained collaboration with community partners. Most services are provided at no cost by master’s- and doctoral-level graduate students in psychology, counseling, marriage and family therapy, and art therapy, working under the supervision of licensed faculty clinicians. This innovative model simultaneously expands access to care for individuals who might otherwise go without it and prepares future clinicians for systems-level practice, creating a powerful multiplier effect on community health.
“This award recognizes the sustained work of our students, faculty, alumni, community partners, and the individuals and families we have the privilege to serve,” said Lisa Coleman, Ph.D., president of Adler University. “Grounded in Alfred Adler’s principle of social interest, our institutional mission situates professional education within reciprocal partnership and a clear obligation to the public good. Adler Community Health Services exemplifies that commitment in practice. Under Dr. Osten-Garner’s leadership, ACHS demonstrates how higher education can align people, purpose, and partnership in ways that expand access to care while strengthening the systems that shape collective well-being.”
ACHS operates through close partnerships with mission-aligned organizations embedded in schools, clinics, and community-based agencies across Chicago and Vancouver, B.C. Partner organizations include After School Matters, Chicago High School for the Arts, Coast Mental Health, Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, Thresholds, and Vancouver Community College, among others. Together, these collaborations allow ACHS to reach individuals, particularly youth and families in under-resourced neighborhoods, who face the greatest barriers to accessing care.
This no-to-low-cost model is a deliberate strategy to reduce structural barriers to care. Students learn alongside experienced clinicians how to build trust, navigate complex systems, and support continuity of care — competencies essential to effective, socially responsible practice.
“Higher education has always been a driving force in societal progress,” said Holly Mendelson, owner and publisher of Insight Into Academia magazine. “These institutions remind us that the true measure of higher education lies not only in the degrees awarded, but in the lives they uplift. Their leadership strengthens communities, inspires students, and sets a standard of excellence for all.” For more information about the 2026 Civic Engagement and Community Service Award, visit insightintoacademia.com.