Behavioral Health Initiative — Solid foundation with ability to meet state needs
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission’s Division of Health Sciences provided financial and strategic support for the following pilot behavioral health workforce initiatives. These projects and others have built a solid base for a larger and more sustained investment that would have a statewide impact.
Recent projects and higher education partnerships
The BHI worked with these institutions to develop programs, pipelines and opportunities to recruit, train and retain behavioral health professionals in West Virginia:
- Concord University Social Work Department
- Davis & Elkins College Department of Psychology and Human Resources
- Fairmont State University Behavioral Sciences Department
- Marshall University Psychology Department
- West Liberty University Psychology Department
- West Virginia University Social Work Department
Recent efforts to attract, train and retain behavioral health professionals in WV:
- Strengthening the pipeline for the psychology workforce in rural WV (2018-2020)
- Addressing school psychologist shortages (2019-2021)
- Behavioral Health Workforce Initiative pilot projects (2019-2021)
Current successful BHI initiatives
Partnering with nationally recognized philanthropies, such as the Benedum Foundation, the BHI has undertaken
a variety of projects to support future growth of the initiative including:
- Mental Health Loan Repayment Program (MHLR) (2019-Current)
- Expanding high school/college dual credit psychology opportunities (2021-Current)
- Campus mental health grants (2020-Current)
- Healthcare workforce planning fellowship (2021-Current)
- BehavioralHealthWorkforceWV.com website (2020-Current)
