Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals - Funding Priority 1: Role of the family and the lived experience of the consumer and family PP partnership. Funding Pref Qual 1: High rate for placing program completers in practice settings that have a principal focus of serving residents of MUCs. The Trauma-Informed (TI) Integrated FlourishCare (IFC) model for paraprofessionals (PP) focuses on the expansion of the behavioral health (BH) workforce trained in integrated BH care within primary care (PC) settings in high-need high-demand areas of KY. The program prioritizes training and placement of PP trainees including adult and family peer support specialists (A/FPSS), community health workers (CHW), and community support associates (CSA) to deliver comprehensive support. These PPs bridge service gaps for children, adolescents, and transitional-age youth at risk for Any Mental Illness (AMI) or Substance Use Disorder (SUD) by addressing social needs, teaching coping skills, and increasing engagement in treatment. TI-IFC-PP uses a BH TeleHub connected with 12 PC sites as experiential sites where Level 1 trainees, upon earning their APSS, will train on professional PCBH teams. Level 2 apprentices provide support services onsite at one of the participating PC or affiliated AMI/SUD program sites while earning CHW, FPSS, and CSA certifications. TI-IFC-PP addresses the following needs in KY: 1) adverse childhood events (ACEs) faced by KY children, adolescents, and transitional-age youth; 2) ongoing community education to address the stigma surrounding BH services in rural remote communities; 3) barriers that limit patient engagement, 4) treatment of ACEs using TI PCBH integrated models in PC for children, adolescents and transitional-age youth; 5) integrated PCBH services with an extended PP workforce as part of the team to effectively address AMI and SUD; 6) virtual BH services to address the lack of an adequate rural supply of BH Professionals and PPs; 7) training for PPs in how to engage in interprofessional teams; and 8) provision of strong supervision and mentorship to PP trainees. TI-IFC-PP establishes strong partnerships with academic, government career advancement, health care systems, outpatient and residential AMI and SUD programs to grow certified PP BH workers in KY and to support their career advancement. The program also strengthens partnerships with schools, youth and community-based organizations and coalitions to combat stigma and educate communities about BH. During Level 1, 72 PP trainees earn their APSS and are placed at the BH TeleHub to provide virtual basic support services. During Level 2, 28 learners advance to apprenticeships, earning certifications as CHW, FPSS, and CSA. Apprentices are placed at PC practices or affiliated AMI/SUD program sites. Trainings will span foundational workshops, shadowing, case simulations and conceptualization meetings, social support, online modules, advanced workshops, Just-in-Time Trainings, Project ECHOs, and interprofessional retreats. Three distinct groups of PC practices with affiliated AMI/SUD program sites in KY connect with the TeleHub and serve as apprenticeship sites, namely UofL Health, an academic health system, Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation, a federally qualified health system (FQHC) with school-based clinics, and Access Health, a Rural Health Center (RHC), collectively serving 15 high-need counties through 3 family medicine practices, 6 FQHC locations and 3 RHC locations. All sites meet the Mental Health HPSA designation. A mentorship program is in place for all PP trainees to address non-academic barriers, learning disparities and assist their community competence skill development. The PP trainees are recruited from the sites and provided with career pathways from Level 1/2 to bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Post-certification attainment, they can earn college credit through prior learning assessment mechanisms, which apply toward one or two majors, reducing cost and time for degree completion.
