Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals - The Health Promotion Resource Center (HPRC) at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) proposes to implement the Rural Georgia Behavioral Health Evidence-based Services Training (BhEST) program, an innovative and collaborative approach to developing a workforce pipeline of behavioral health paraprofessionals trained to address the needs of rural children and adolescents. HPRC/MSM will collaborate with New Horizons Behavioral Health to develop the training program and workforce pipeline in West Central Georgia. The training program will provide Level 1 Pre-service Training and Level 2 Apprenticeship Training for Community Health Worker (CHW) Paraprofessionals. The training program will provide didactic and experiential training and apprenticeship training through the MSM Registered Apprenticeship Program for CHWs. The curriculum provides training to paraprofessionals, CHWs, and patient navigators in mental and behavioral health and integrated primary care and behavioral health. Upon completion of didactic training, trainees will be placed throughout New Horizons Behavioral Health settings in medically underserved areas (MUAs) and health professional shortage areas (HPSA) and serve as a member of the integrated care team serving medically underserved populations (MUPs). This program will meet the needs of rural Georgia communities with significant provider shortages, meet the workforce needs of the service area, and meet the unique training needs of paraprofessionals to successfully practice in medical and behavioral health settings. The program will train 15 Level 1 trainees and 10 Level 2 apprenticeship trainees annually. Preceptors and supervisors will be trained in precepting, providing interprofessional education (IPEs) opportunities and integrated care The goal of the program is to develop and expand community based experiential training to increase the skills and knowledge of individuals preparing to become mental health workers, peer support specialists, and other behavioral health paraprofessionals. The program has three objectives: Objective 1 - Establish and enhance relationships with community-based partners to expand and improve access to quality behavioral health services in high need and high demand areas. Objective 2 - Promote collaborative training by using team-based models of care to integrate behavioral health care into interprofessional primary care settings. Objective 3 - Recruit a workforce interested in working with children, adolescents, and transitional age youth in high need communities. The program will train 60 Level 1 trainees and 40 Level 2 trainees over the course of the four-year program. The program will be evaluated for program outcomes, continuous quality improvement and performance measures reporting.
