Many college students are facing significant mental health problems, caused by a variety of factors, including economic instability and social media use. A mental health workforce program in Virginia aims to address this need. WMRA’s Ayse Pirge reports.
The Higher Education Mental Health Workforce Pilot program came out of the 2022 General Assembly session, and has become a permanent program.
EMILY SALMON: And it really, I assume, kind of culminated from the urgent need around mental health supports for students post-COVID. And it represents a unique approach.
Emily Salmon is the assistant director of strategic planning and policy studies at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, also known as SCHEV. She says the program is really focused on –
EMILY SALMON: Meeting two core objectives. One is to meet the immediate need for student mental health services, you know, meeting their needs on campus counseling centers, and simultaneously developing a pipeline of licensed professionals for the long term to meet those needs.
But it had to be built from the ground up at colleges and universities around Virginia. Salmon says that in consultation with the Virginia Healthcare Foundation, they crafted a request –
SALMON: To solicit applications from public institutions to compete for limited grant funding to explore how this pilot would work.
The model had two parts: funding education for student mental health practitioners, and providing counseling for students who needed it. She says the funding was available for a two-year period allocated each budget cycle, which is based on the approximate time it takes for candidates in masters of clinical psychology or social work to receive their license.
SALMON: So, it basically underwrites awarded institutions the salary and benefits of those candidates, while they provide services to students at on-campus counseling centers, and work toward their hours for licensure.
Salmon says there were six institutions that participated in the first round, and all were public four year schools. Five institutions participated in the second round, which included schools in WMRA’s coverage area, such as Longwood University.
SALMON: So, we had– the program ran for two years, and then it was continued on a flat funding for the last two years. And they’re just now winding out their last year of the second round of funds.
They also had to make some adjustments–
SALMON: They’ve been subtle. I think with any pilot, you learn as you go. And you don’t know what things will surface, but one of the challenges that we modified for the second round was that there is the ebb and flow of the academic cycle.
She says traditional private practice social workers and professional counselor candidates see a continual pace of patients, whereas the flow of the academic calendar may mean things are slower in the summer months.
SALMON: And so, we expanded to allow them two and a half years. And to, during the summer months, when things might be slower, to go and get some additional hours that we would not pay for, but they could stack toward their licensure hours for the program.
She says the vast majority of the candidates that are supported through this program are from Virginia higher education institutions, and are Virginia residents.
SALMON: And our hope is that they can stay and work here.
One of the institutions participating in the program is James Madison University.
NINA CRITZ: So, in the first round, we had one applicant.
Nina Critz is a licensed professional counselor, and serves as the associate director for administration at JMU’s Counseling Center. She is also the administrative supervisor for victim advocacy services.
Critz also co-coordinates the training and residency program for licensed professional counselors. JMU was accepted as a participating institution in the first and second rounds of the program.
CRITZ: In the second round, we were actually able to use our funds concurrently. So, we did have two residents for the second round. The one was able to complete hours and achieve licensure. And then the other one is staying on, so they currently are a resident at the center. And they will be continuing through the duration of the funds, which will be for the majority of this upcoming academic year.
Critz says that at JMU, they already have a residency program that was established –
CRITZ: As part of our continuation of our training program. So, our center has built into our budget funding for two residents that are ongoing. And then, the SCHEV grant allowed us to have an additional resident. … So, each academic year that resident was able to provide about 400 clinical hours. And again, those were face-to-face hours. And that was in addition to anything that was already being offered.
She says they received some really positive feedback from students about the resident who received funding through the SCHEV grant.
As for why she believes JMU was a strong applicant in the first two rounds of the SCHEV grant–
CRITZ: If I had to guess, I wonder about the fact that we already have a residency program here at the Counseling Center. And so, we already had a protocol for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding residents. And then we also had a system that was already well established for the provision of supervision.
She says that is a big part of being a resident, and that they have a number of staff members who are approved as supervisors through the Virginia Board of Counseling. Critz says their whole center really focuses on providing training, supervision, consultation, and support for new clinicians.
Full disclosure: WMRA’s operating license is held by JMU’s board of visitors.
