Local universities receive $4.9M for mental health

Millions of dollars are in the pipeline for higher education in southwestern Connecticut for colleges and universities to strengthen their mental health workforce.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., announced Monday that local colleges and universities will receive more than $4.9 million through federal grants to educate and train behavioral health professionals.

The Connecticut schools that applied for the funds include Fairfield, Sacred Heart and the University of Bridgeport.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the number of Americans experiencing

difficulties with mental health,” said Himes. “As our communities move past COVID-19, a lot of the trauma remains, which is why ensuring there are enough mental health professionals in our area is more urgent than ever.”

Himes said he was pleased to see federal dollars come to the district for such a worthy cause.

“I’m committed to increasing federal funding to address the mental health crisis,” he said.

Housed within the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program aims to increase the quantity and quality of behavioral health professionals — and in strengthening the workforce, promote access to mental health services, too.

The program prioritizes children and youth who are at risk for behavioral health disorders, according to a press release from the congressman’s office.

Himes cited data that last year saw a nearly 30 percent increase in drug-overdose deaths, partially from pandemic-induced stress without adequate support. He said a lack of mental health workers contributed to that lack of assistance.

Christine Siegel, provost of Fairfield University, said in a statement that the grant “will support a diverse student population in our excellent graduate mental health programs” and “contribute to the well-being of individuals and families” in Bridgeport and other local communities.

Julie Berrett-Abebe, an assistant professor in Fairfield’s family therapy and social work program, said the priority for the funding was to train mental health providers “so that we can deploy them to the most high-need areas, and also train them in these integrated models of care.”

Berrett-Abebe, who wrote the grant application, said Fairfield plans to use $1.6 million to train more than 100 pre-professionals over four years. The students come from four programs: social work, marriage and family therapy, psychiatric nurse practitioners and clinical mental health counseling.

“We’re bringing together professionals from different disciplines,” Berrett-Abebe said, a skill applicable to the workplace.

About 60 percent of the grant will go directly to students as stipends, she said. Much of the rest is earmarked for specialized training on campus, and internships and other work with local partners in Greater Bridgeport.

Faculty will benefit from professional development, too, including in emerging areas of the field such as telehealth.

At Sacred Heart University, the School of Social Work was awarded $1.8 million over four years.

“The program, titled ‘Making IMPACTS: Integrating Mental Health into Primary Care: Training for Social Work,’ will increase access to quality behavioral health services among under-served and high need areas and populations,” said Victoria Osborne-Leute, an assistant professor from Sacred Heart’s social work school.

Osborne-Leute said in the press release Sacred Heart will use the funds to develop and expand field placements and internships, and to build a workforce with local partners in behavioral and primary care.

The social work program will also collaborate with Sacred Heart’s master of public health, physician assistant, and volunteer and service learning programs.

The University of Bridgeport’s share totaled $1.5 million over the next few years.

Allison Buller, the project director at UB, said the university will use the grant “to confront the postpandemic mental health crisis.”

“This grant will enable UB’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program to supply the region with counselors trained to deliver traumainformed, evidence-based therapy,” said Buller.

Students within the program can learn “cutting-edge” therapies, Buller said, through Radically Prepared! A Project to Develop a Skillful Resilient Professional Counselor Workforce for Southern Connecticut. Training covered includes motivational interviewing, dialectical behavioral therapy skills, and “Circle of Security” parenting, she said.

“These skills will also help students focus on their own health and wellness,” Buller added.

Pre-professionals will also receive $10,000 stipends during their internships from the federal sum.

“With this sizable funding, UB will be able to become a center for distributing these innovative treatments to the Greater Bridgeport community,” said Buller.