Nebraska School Gets Grant To Support Rural Mental Health

Rural healthcare – namely, the limitations and shortages present in rural and/or remote areas – has been discussed on GrantWatch. While there have been efforts by local, state, and federal governments to address a consistent shortage of doctors and nurses, it’s a reason many people move out of rural areas to find other opportunities for employment and health care.

People living in rural areas experience mental health issues at the same rate as those in urban settings, but tend to have less access to care. In an attempt to effect change, Wayne State College’s $1.06 million grant to support mental health in Nebraska is a step in the right direction.

Rural Mental Health In Nebraska

A behavioral needs assessment done in 2016 had some troubling findings. It uncovered a severe shortage in the behavioral health workforce in rural areas. Most of these health care providers, especially psychiatrists, worked in urban areas. That can be a major problem for those who are struggling and living in rural and remote areas.

The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded this grant to Wayne State College. According to the college, over 40 counties in Nebraska currently have no provider of this kind. Of the $1.06 million, $660,000 of these funds has been set aside for students scholarships in Wayne State’s graduate clinical mental health program.

“Just speaking about how important this is at the institutional level, this grant marks a change in the aggressiveness of Wayne State to seek opportunities to help us better serve our region,” said Nicholas Shudak, dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Science at Wayne State College. “I am thankful and grateful for the team that helped me put this together and especially for our regional partners. I am hopeful this grant has a powerful and sustaining impact on behavioral health for years to come.”

Improving Quality of Life

Hopefully, combining these two uses of funds can help increase access and improve the quality of life for more people in rural Nebraska. Increasing access to healthcare has numerous auxiliary benefits including lowering emergency room rates, lowering crime rates, and decreasing homelessness.

Wayne State College will partner with eight experiential training sites in three targeted counties: Holt, Madison, and Platte. Each site has the capacity to train at least one clinical mental health counseling student. Four sites can train up to two students at a time.

The program has several objectives:

• Provide funding for $10,000 stipends to 66 clinical mental health counseling graduate students in their final experiential training
• Improve telehealth skills for students, faculty and experiential training site supervisors
• Improve interdisciplinary care knowledge and skills for students, faculty and experiential training site supervisors
• Increase the number of Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs qualified clinical training supervisors by 40
• Prepare 60 grant-funded clinical mental health counseling students to practice in rural Northeast Nebraska upon graduation
• Increase the number of Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs qualified clinical training supervisors by 40

GrantWatch Notes

There are also grants available for U.S. nonprofits, agencies, and schools in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin for rural health programs. It’s one of the many available in the Mental Health grant category on our website. Sign up for a paid subscription for GrantWatch to gain access to all of the helpful grant-related resources.