American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Awards Program dollars are having a real impact in Nebraska, according to meetings that the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska held with funding recipients this summer.
BHECN hosted workshops in Kearney, Chadron, Scottsbluff, Wayne and Omaha with organizations that received portions of the $25.5 million in ARPA funds that the Nebraska Legislature allocated to BHECN in 2022.
The organizations described how the funding support helped them address key behavioral health workforce challenges.
Many of the projects directly align with BHECN’s efforts to address the state’s shortage of behavioral health workers, said BHECN Director Marley Doyle, MD.
“It was very gratifying to hear that the ARPA dollars are working how they are intended to work,” Dr. Doyle said. “Although we’re only a year into the program, the impact our awardees are having on the behavioral health workforce in this state is truly remarkable.”
Some examples of the ARPA success included:
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- At Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Gina Krysl added a second counselor to the NCC student counseling team and a student intern to meet the growing behavioral health needs of students. The NCC counseling office doubled the number of students served and offered prevention programming and outreach to the campus community.
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- Options in Psychology, which has several offices in western Nebraska, recruited multiple psychology doctoral interns – most of whom plan to stay in the area once their training is complete. The staff help address a key workforce shortage area for the Panhandle.
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- Quality Healthcare Clinic, an integrated care clinic in Sutton, Nebraska, hired one full-time and two part-time behavioral health providers, established telebehavioral health capacity and marketed its new offerings to the communities served by the clinic.
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- At Chadron State College, Brittany Helmbrecht, DHEd, instituted a campus wellness program to reduce stigma around mental health treatment, which included hosting a behavioral health presentation for Chadron State athletes on performance anxiety, which drew more than 300 students and others.
Hearing so many stories about ARPA awards improving behavioral health in Nebraska is an affirming experience for the BHECN team, said Jessie Buche, director of the BHECN-ARPA Awards Program.
“We truly believe the ARPA program is a transformational development for behavioral health in Nebraska, and hearing about the work of our awardees only strengthens that belief,” Buche said. “We are incredibly excited to see what continues to come from this amazing project.”