Through the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s $1.9 million grant, Montana State University (MSU) and the University of Montana (UM) will be able to continue to offer additional training in the field of mental health care.
The funds will be utilized for the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program (BHWET), which is provided to nursing and behavioral health students and administered by both of the universities.
“This project funds the placement of graduate students in agencies and organizations that serve children, adolescents and transitional-age youth, expanding the capacity of organizations to meet immediate needs and help build the area’s workforce,” Mary-Ann Sontag Bowman, UM social work associate professor and the principal investigator for the grant, told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Bowman explained that the students are placed in various institutions, agencies and clinics, which are mostly in integrated behavioral health settings, throughout western Montana amid a shortage of mental health professionals, according to Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
BHWET, which is now into its fourth year, benefits graduate students who are pursuing careers as psychiatric mental health nurses, clinical psychologists, licensed social workers and professional counselors. Annually, there are about 17 students from both MSU and UM who are trained under the BHWET.
The grant will fund the program for four more years, Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
