Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program - The Department of Counseling & Marital and Family Therapy, (CMFT) within the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES), in collaboration with the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program within the Hahn School of Nursing (HSON) at the University of San Diego (USD) is applying for this competing continuation BHWET grant to improve and expand innovative interprofessional training to meet the growing needs of vulnerable, rural, and underserved children and families in Southern California, with a particular focus on homeless youth. This professional track application is the only submission from USD and we are requesting consideration for funding preference under Qualification #1. The proposed training project includes master’s level trainees in Counseling, Marital & Family Therapy, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Practice trainees enrolled in nationally accredited programs. It builds upon well-established partnerships at primary health care, community, and schools settings to address issues at-risk youth are facing. Our proposed project seeks to meet the growing behavioral health needs of the San Diego community and address the projected shortages of mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, school counselors, and PMHNP. We propose to respond to this need by (a) increasing the number of competent behavioral health providers to improve access to care for vulnerable, rural, and medically-underserved children and families, (b) enhance interprofessional education to promote evidence-based, trauma-informed, cultural/linguistic, and behavioral health integration, and (c) expand community partnerships that serve at risk-youth to increase experiential training opportunities and extend the impact of the project training activities. In our effort to increase the number of qualified behavioral health providers, we will enhance recruitment of diverse students committed to working with vulnerable, rural, or underserved communities. We are also committed to enhancing student training and improving the curriculum. We plan to develop and implement a Spanish-Speaking supervision/consultation group, expand innovative case simulation training modules to provide additional experiential training opportunities, and enhance department curriculum regarding evidence-based treatment for underserved children and youth. Also, we will increase trainee evidence-based, trauma-informed, and cultural/linguistic competencies through immersive service learning partnerships with community organizations. In addition to increasing the number of qualified behavioral health providers, our project aims to strengthen the interprofessional education of our students, faculty, and community providers. We plan to develop a continuing education program for faculty/staff and community partners focused on serving at-risk youth, children, and adolescents and underserved populations, create a Supervision Certificate Program to train clinical supervisors to support and mentor behavioral health trainees and increase evidence-based interprofessional care, and develop a “Train the Trainer” program to enhance behavioral and medical providers' knowledge and create a sustainable training modality. Also, we plan to collaborate with fellow BHWET grantees to leverage resources to expand training opportunities. Finally, we plan to expand our community partnerships to increase the availability of experiential training sites in high-need, high-demand, and rural areas. Additionally, we will be intentional in assisting students with job placement after graduation through these partnerships and professional development activities. Finally, we will assess impact of project training activities through evaluation, and disseminate relevant findings. Following the HHS Evaluation Policy and Evidence Act, the implementation and impact of the project will be evaluated using an RCQI iterative process with both qualitative and quantitative data sources.
