Behavioral Health Workforce and Education Grant
Marshall University is the recipient of a Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Grant that focuses on integration of behavioral health into a primary care setting. The purpose of the funding is to recruit behavioral health professionals in training to participate in experiences that will prepare them to work in integrated settings involving primary care. Primary care is defined as a medical practice involving Family Practice, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, and Internal Medicine. Students engaged in the program will receive integrated care training, stipends for time spent at placement, and the possibility of future employment opportunities. Eligible groups include Psychiatry residents, graduate clinical psychology (MA), graduate school Psychology, and graduate counseling.
Please contact the program coordinator mikalude@marshall.edu with any questions.
Supporting Children and Families in West Virginia 2019-2020: Foster Care, Kinship, and Adoptive Parents and Caregivers in West Virginia In 2019, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WV DHHR) Bureau for Children and Families (BCF) and the West Virginia Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Parents Network, which is funded by the West Virginia Council of Churches through a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, partnered with staff and faculty from Marshall University to develop and conduct a survey with foster, kinship, and adoptive parents and caregivers in the state. The purpose of this survey was to examine experiences, supports, trainings, and services, as well as other strengths and needs of the parents and caregivers within the West Virginia (WV) child welfare system to discover opportunities to improve services to aid in the retention of parents and caregivers.
Supporting Children and Families in West Virginia: Foster Care, Kinship, and Adoptive Parents and Caregivers in West Virginia
In 2022, Marshall University’s Center of Excellence for Recovery will again partner with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WV DHHR) Bureau for Supportive Services (BSS) to further refine and conduct a survey with foster, kinship, and adoptive parents and caregivers in the state. The purpose of this survey will be to examine experiences, supports, trainings, and services, as well as other strengths and needs of the parents and caregivers within the West Virginia (WV) child welfare system to discover opportunities to improve services to youth and families.
The Center is a new youth resource center in Huntington that assists at-risk youth, many who are without housing or unstably housed, in Cabell and Wayne County, and who have experienced trauma. The new Center is a collaboration between Harmony House, Prestera Center, the United Way of the River Cities, the Marshall Psychology Department and Marshall’s Center of Excellence for Recovery. The project provides street outreach services, life skills, job skills training, care coordination, and behavioral health services, as well as other needed ancillary services. The Center has received funding from multiple sources, including local, state and federal grants. This innovative resource Center hopes to be a one-stop hub for youth in the region.
West Virginia Peer Recovery Hub
WV DHHR’s Bureau for Behavioral Health has collaborated with Marshall University to develop a training hub that will provide statewide training and technical assistance to expand the Peer Recovery Support Specialists and Recovery Coaches in WV. The training hub that will a central location for the peer workforce to access trainings, facilitate training request from local communities, and access technical assistance and other resources related to the peer workforce such as credentialing information, and other related workforce topics.
Williamson Health and Wellness Center Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion
The Williamson Health and Wellness Center Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion grant from SAMHSA is working to provide screening and assessment, evidenced based treatment and recovery services to assist individuals with OUD and SUD in Mingo County. Marshall’s Psychology department and the Center are assisting local evaluators in collecting and reporting the outcomes of the project.
Williamson Health and Wellness Center Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic
The Williamson Health and Wellness Center has partnered with the Marshall University Psychology Department, the Center of Excellence for Recovery and Mountain Laurel Health Services on this SAMHSA project to implement a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic. These newly developed models are designed to provide a comprehensive range of evidence-based mental health and substance use disorder services to vulnerable individuals, including 24-hour crisis response services. Marshall University is assisting with consultation on training and evaluation.
Marshall University Collegiate Recovery Community
Programs at the CRC are designed to empower students to reach their full potential. It is their mission to enhance our students’ quality of life and help encourage and promote their academic, personal, and professional goals. They offer a wide array of resources for any student looking to make a positive change in their life. Visit the CRC page to learn more about their program.
Prevention Empowerment Partnership (PEP)
The Prevention Empowerment Partnership known as PEP is a collaborative committee of community-based organizations and community leaders that partner to increase access to prevention services for youth and families and specializes in youth empowerment in Cabell County and throughout the state of WV where appropriate. It acts as the overall prevention steering committee for all non-duplicated substance misuse prevention in Cabell County. Through its partnerships, subcommittees, and workgroups, PEP provides technical assistance, capacity building, community outreach, evaluation, training on all types of prevention to empower youth to deal with community problems and affect positive change in their communities. Efforts target the general population as well as at-risk populations that need higher levels of prevention.
Visit their website at pepwv.org
Advancing Wellness and Resilience Education (AWARE) Project
This project’s goals are to increase the wellness and resilience of the students of West Virginia by supporting the local education agencies in increasing capacity of school based mental health systems and community collaboration for ongoing support of student success and well-being. Through a collaboration of efforts on behalf of the partners, the participating LEAs will receive guidance and technical assistance in providing a multi-tiered system of support for students and communities of designated schools. These supports include, but are not limited to, establishing school based mental health services with a designated licensed provider for each participating school, training in use of specific tools and evidence-based practices such as Expanded School Mental Health (ESMH) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to improve student mental health and success and impact the overall school culture, and establishing relationships and workforce development to strengthen sustainability of community connections and resources.
- Evaluation- West Virginia University Prevention Research Center
- Population- Students, educators, families, and providers in LEA communities serving approximately 35,000 students overall.
- Counties Covered- Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Harrison, Logan, and Wirt.
- Agency Partners- Marshall University Center of Excellence for Recovery, WV Department of Education, WV Bureau for Behavioral Health, WV Prevention Research Center, Greater Recovery and Community Empowerment (GRaCE), West Virginia Behavior/Mental Health Technical Assistance Center, WV Center for Children’s Justice as well as local education agencies, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Harrison, Logan, and Wirt County Schools.
Staff Contact: Amy Knicely, MA, CTRT, Project Aware Coordinator
Email: knicely7@marshall.edu
West Virginia Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success
The Collegiate Strategic Prevention Framework Partnership for Success (C-PFS) initiative seeks to enhance prevention infrastructure and build capacity among higher education institutions in Southern West Virginia (WV) to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of alcohol, tobacco and vaping, marijuana, and prescription drug misuse and its related problems among higher education students (ages 18 and older). The Center was awarded a five-year grant for this project by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2020.
The C-SPF-PFS will strengthen and create new partnerships to enhance the overall strategic prevention framework processes on Southern WV higher education campuses in order to address the misuse of alcohol, tobacco focusing on electronic devices, marijuana, and prescription drug misuse among high-risk emerging adults (ages 18-25) using evidence-based and data-informed universal, selective and indicated prevention strategies. It will also strengthen connections between IHEs and local community coalitions to enhance their sharing of evidence-based practice resources and training and collaborative support for environmental strategies effecting both campuses and the communities in which they reside.
For more information on the project please see our website at www.MUPrevention.org
C- PFS has the potential to reach a total of 30,000 students over the course of the grant with environmental strategies and prevention messaging and plans to serve approximately 6,000 individuals per year with prevention interventions. Project years: 2020-2025
West Virginia Collegiate Peer Recovery
Network
The West Virginia Collegiate Peer Recovery Network is joint venture between the Alliance for Economic Development of Southern WV, DHHR, three behavioral health centers and seven institutions of higher education. The program is working to establish peer recovery programs on campuses throughout southern WV in order to assist those in recovery as they work toward degree attainment.
Williamson Health and Wellness Center Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion
The Williamson Health and Wellness Center Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Expansion grant from SAMHSA is working to provide screening and assessment, evidenced based treatment and recovery services to assist individuals with OUD and SUD in Mingo County. Marshall’s Psychology department and the Center are assisting local evaluators in collecting and reporting the outcomes of the project.</p