~ New effort will expand availability of mental health services for young Virginians and create new career pathways in youth mental health ~
Claude Moore Opportunities, Virginia’s leading healthcare workforce non-profit, in collaboration with George Mason University’s Center for Community Mental Health (CCMH), Serve Virginia, and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, is launching a new initiative to expand youth mental health services and the youth mental health workforce in the Commonwealth. The initiative will include academic, practical, and direct service components to give more young Virginians access to mental health resources that can help them thrive, and to expand Virginia’s workforce of trained and credentialed mental healthcare professionals. The initiative will serve as a pilot project with ultimate the goal of expanding the program into more communities around Virginia and providing a national model for other communities to replicate.
“Virginia has a desperate need for more trained and certified professionals that can meet the mental health needs of our young people,” said Dr. Bill Hazel, CEO of Claude Moore Opportunities and former Virginia Secretary of Health. “Healthcare workforce is a challenging field because the standards have to be high and the training has to be incredibly thorough, especially when working with a sensitive population like children and teens. Our goal with this initiative is to create multiple, flexible career pathways that can get youth mental health professionals trained and credentialed as soon as possible so they can begin providing services in Virginia’s schools, community organizations, juvenile justice system, and more. We know the need for these services is enormous and the interest in these careers is high. Now we just have to build a bridge between the two.”
“This partnership between CCMH and Claude Moore Opportunities is the epitome of win-win for trainees, workforce development and helping more youth across Virginia,” said Dr. Robyn Mehlenbeck, CCMH Director. “Developing this program through the innovative discussions and financial support of Claude Moore Opportunities strengthens mental health services while building a critical pipeline of behavioral health professionals. It is a direct correlation to our center’s mission as a training clinic for students in behavioral health while serving our wider community.”
To kickoff this initiative, Claude Moore Opportunities will be sponsoring eight Youth Mental Health AmeriCorps members in collaboration with Serve Virginia and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. These AmeriCorps members will provide youth mental health services in Virginia schools, community service boards, and other youth-based organizations or institutions.
To prepare them for their assignments, the AmeriCorps members will receive specially tailored training and credentialing in youth mental health care through Claude Moore’s partnership with George Mason’s CCMH.
The centerpiece of this training is a new specialized two-semester course at George Mason entitled “Special Topics: Supporting the Youth Mental Health Workforce,” which will meet the requirements for certification as either a Qualified Mental Health Professional – Trainee (QMHP-T) or Behavioral Health Technician Assistant (BHTA). Claude Moore has provided financial support to create the course and will be covering tuition costs for its eight AmeriCorps participants’ enrollment in the course.
Five of the initiative’s members individuals will seek certification as a QMHP-T through George Mason and three individuals will pursue certification as a BHTA through Rappahannock Community College. This dual-track approach will provide proof-of-concept for training and certifying youth mental health providers in a range of positions through both the community college system and four-year institutions.
At the end of the fall semester, all students will be eligible to apply for their QMHP-T or BHTA certification and then begin providing supervised services and receiving practicum hours toward their full certification.
Virginia has a significant need for trained and credentialed mental health professionals. According to Mental Health Virginia’s 2024 State of Mental Health Report, the Commonwealth ranks:
- 38th in available mental health workforce and “has ranked near the bottom in access to a trained mental health professional for many years”
- 26th in youth with at least one major depressive episode in the past year
- 26th in youth with serious thoughts of suicide
- 31st in youth flourishing
- 27th in youth with major depressive episode who did not receive mental health services
- 33rd in youth with major depressive episode who said treatment helped them
The group has also noted that “every locality is a federally designated mental health professional shortage area.”
In the coming months, Claude Moore is planning to launch additional components of its ambitious Youth Mental Health Initiative. Other areas of focus for Claude Moore include a dedicated initiative to help veterans and military medics transition into healthcare careers, and the Virginia Partnership for Health Science careers, a groundbreaking statewide program that brings together the employers, educational institutions, and workforce development stakeholders in every region of the state to address their community’s unique healthcare workforce needs.
