Department of Health and Human Services – Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants

Eligible applicant institutions/organizations must be located in the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of Marshall Islands or the Federated States of Micronesia.

To be eligible for funding, an institution needs to demonstrate:
• Participation from individuals and groups from different racial, ethnic, cultural, geographic, religious, linguistic, and class backgrounds, and different genders and sexual orientations;
• Knowledge and understanding of the concerns of the individuals and groups described in subsection (a) of Section 756 of the PHS Act;
• Any internship or other field placement program assisted under the grant will prioritize cultural and linguistic competency;
• The institution will provide to the Secretary such data, assurances, and information as the Secretary may require; and
• With respect to any violation of the agreement between the Secretary and the institution, the institution will pay such liquidated damages as prescribed by the Secretary by regulation.

The specific goal of the program is to strengthen the clinical field competencies of social workers and psychologists who pursue clinical service with high need and high demand populations. This program recognizes the high need and high demand experienced by military personnel and veterans, as well as the impact of war and deployment on their families.

The following objectives support accomplishment of the program goals:
o Provide funding to help psychology and social work graduate programs to increase their overall number of enrolled students and provide educational training and field experiences to increase the number of clinically prepared behavioral health providers working with high need and high demand populations. Clinical experiences are important components of any psychology or social work program.
o Fund institutions of higher education with professional and accredited training programs in social work and psychology to: (1) recruit new students interested in pursuing a clinical concentration with identified special populations, (2) develop and implement interprofessional training, (3) add to existing, expand and/or foster the development of new pre-degree internship slots for PhD/PsyD psychology students or field placements for MSW students, and (4) provide stipend support for students for the required field placement or pre-degree internship requirements. Seventy-five percent of the requested funding must be distributed as stipends to the social work and psychology graduate students to support their field placements and pre-degree internships respectively. The remaining twenty-five percent can be used to support 1, 2, and 3 above.
o Provide stipend support for social work students (at least $10,000/per year/per student for 2 years for MSW students and for 1 year/per student for Advance Standing MSW students) who are committed to working with high need and high demand populations such as military personnel and their families during their field placement/s and after graduation. The first year field placement for MSW students will focus on developing a social work foundation and the second year will allow for concentration in a particular area. Applicants need to develop a plan for how they will gauge the student’s commitment to working with high need and high demand populations following graduation.
o Provide stipend support for doctoral level (PhD/PsyD) psychology student trainees (at least $20,000/per psychology student) who are committed to working with high need and high demand populations, such as military personnel and their families during their pre-degree internship and after graduation. Psychology programs must demonstrate a strong working relationship with APA accredited internship programs focused on these populations. The goal of the institution collaborating with APA-accredited internships is to facilitate the development of new training slots (not supplant other funding) and ultimately accommodate more students into internships.

As a result of this funding, graduate social work and psychology programs will increase their overall number of enrolled students; create more field placement and internship slots for students working with high need and high demand populations; place more students in these field placements and internships, and ultimately increase the number of clinical providers working with these populations.