Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals - Florida’s Panhandle is facing a severe behavioral health crisis, leaving children and adolescents without critical support. Youth suicide rates are at historic highs, ERs are overwhelmed, and thousands of children remain on long waitlists for care, if they receive help at all. Schools, early learning centers, and community organizations lack trained professionals to provide early intervention and crisis response, worsening behavioral health challenges across the region. The Panhandle Pathways to Para-Professions (PPP) directly addresses this crisis by creating a sustainable workforce pipeline that trains high school seniors, GED completers, and recent graduates from underserved Panhandle communities to become Certified Behavioral Health Technicians (CBHTs). Led by Florida State University’s (FSU) Stoops Center, this initiative will train and place 104 behavioral health paraprofessionals over four years, ensuring that schools, early learning centers, and mental health organizations have skilled professionals to provide trauma-informed care, SUD care, crisis intervention, child and youth focus interventions. Unlike traditional workforce programs, PPP offers a structured, two-tiered training and apprenticeship model that ensures graduates gain real-world experience and enter the workforce immediately: • Level 1: Pre-Service Training (24 Weeks) – A 12-week behavioral health curriculum followed by a 12-week supervised field placement, equipping trainees with skills in crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, and behavioral health screening. • Level 2: Paid Apprenticeship (6-12 Months) – Level 1 graduates transition into paid apprenticeships in schools, early learning centers, and community-based behavioral health organizations, ensuring they gain hands-on experience in high-need settings. This program fills critical workforce gaps by recruiting young adults who want to serve their communities but lack access to training and career pathways. By removing financial challenges—PPP will create a direct pipeline for individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue meaningful careers in behavioral health. The FSU Stoops Center is uniquely positioned to lead this initiative, with a proven track record of developing evidence-based behavioral health training programs for at-risk children and adolescents. As the home of Rebound & Recovery, a nationally recognized cognitive behavioral resiliency program, the Stoops Center is a leader in early childhood and adolescent mental health training. Our partnerships with School Districts, Head Starts, Panhandle Area Educational Consortium, DISC Village, and Bay’s Kids ensure that trainees receive high-quality, hands-on experience and transition seamlessly into permanent behavioral health roles. This initiative is not a short-term intervention, it is a scalable, sustainable workforce pipeline that will permanently expand the behavioral health workforce in the Panhandle. PPP is designed for long-term sustainability, with plans to secure state workforce development funding, employer cost-sharing, and Medicaid reimbursement to ensure its continuation beyond the grant period. Additionally, technology-driven tele-behavioral health training allows paraprofessionals to expand service reach, particularly in Florida’s most remote communities. With 104 CBHTs trained, placed, and retained over four years, PPP will dramatically increase access to behavioral health services for children and adolescents in rural Florida. Schools and community organizations will finally have the trained professionals needed to intervene before crises escalate. By creating a career pathway that recruits, trains, and retains paraprofessionals, this initiative sets a new standard for workforce development in behavioral health, ensuring Florida’s most vulnerable children receive care when they need it most. Panhandle Pathways to Para-Professions is the workforce solution Florida’s Panhandle has been waiting for.
