Dayton Daily News: Increasing mental health counseling help in region goal of Wright State initiative

A new initiative involving Wright State University social work and counseling graduate programs will help address the growing need for mental health counseling in the region.

Using a $2.4 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the initiative will place students in clinical internships in rural and medically underserved areas and serving younger people, Wright State recently announced. The grant runs through 2029.

“The purpose of the program is to increase the number of professionally trained behavioral health providers in the Greater Dayton area,” said Barb Marsh, director of Counseling and Wellness Services at Wright State. “We will achieve this goal by expanding on-site internships for students in our behavioral health degree programs.”

Marsh added the grant will increase access to behavioral health services in underserved communities.

The partner agencies include the Greater Dayton Hospital Association, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Five Rivers Health Centers, Kettering Behavioral Health and Rocking Horse Community Health Center in Springfield.

The partners were chosen based on their ability to offer quality, diverse clinical training sites while also benefiting from more workers and shaping future providers, according to Wright State.

Wright State will place 12 master’s level interns with the partner organizations.

“These partnerships were designed to strengthen workforce development pipelines and ensure that students and trainees are prepared to meet the behavioral health needs of underserved populations,” Wright State professor Jennifer Hughes said.

Read the article at daytondailynews.com.