Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program - This program aims to systemically address behavioral health workforce shortage gaps in high need and rural areas in Southeast Georgia. The program will partner with integrated behavioral health and primary care centers to increase trainee interest and competence in serving disadvantaged children, adolescents, families, and young adults residing in medically underserved and rural communities. Trainees will receive year-long experiential, interprofessional, and didactic training to address integrative, telehealth, culturally competent, and trauma-focused care needs of client stakeholders served at our partnered agencies. Training elements will be reinforced by advanced supervision practices provided by professionals across multiple fields of behavioral healthcare. Training and supervision practices will be framed by culturally competent models, especially those highlighting best practices in serving lower-income and rural communities. The proposed program originated from a longstanding and dire need for licensed psychologists in underserved areas in Southeast Georgia. From a workforce shortage perspective, the program will support trainee skills to minimize barriers associated with establishing and/or finding employment in integrative healthcare centers serving disadvantage communities. The program will also collaborate with professional stakeholders already providing behavioral healthcare in targeted communities. Specifically, the program will bolster professional stakeholders’ skills to serve in supervisory, consultation, and mentorship roles through coalition building and continuing education efforts. In conjunction, the program will develop professional networking programs to support holistic and interprofessional care practices. These operations will contribute to a more resource-oriented platform by which trainees set up and offer high quality services in high need areas. The program also will offer high quality services to underserved children, adolescents, families, and young adults. In this vein, the program will try to remove health disparities by making behavioral healthcare more accessible, cost-effective, and culturally responsive. Trainees will offer empirically supported and culturally competent trauma-focused, telehealth, and integrative care to community members in need, which should minimize waitlist times and provide a wider range of services for client stakeholders. Trainees will engage in a full rotation of experiential work at one of our partnered agencies and be provided with quality supervision, consultation, program development, and didactic training opportunities under the guidance of licensed psychologists, counselors, social workers, nurses, paraprofessionals, and psychiatrists. Community and professional stakeholders will be invited to participate in interprofessional coalition building, outreach, program development, and continuing education workshops to support integrative care efforts in our communities. Client stakeholders will be offered more opportunities to engage in accessible (i.e., telehealth), low-cost, and culturally responsive psychotherapy and assessment services. The program will serve clinical psychology doctoral students in the final year of study at Georgia Southern University. Students will be selected to participate based on their interest in working in high need areas. Stipends will be offered to grant trainees to defray living expenses and help them obtain employment positions in high need areas. The grant program will also provide accessible and quality services to youth presenting with neurodevelopmental and disability, school-related, minority stress, trauma history, and low accessibility concerns. Considering our documented history of preparing trainees to work in integrated behavioral healthcare organizations serving medically underserved areas, we request our application be considered as a funding priority and funding preference under Qualification 1.
