HPMCH
The Schmidt Foundation has awarded $75,000 in grant funding to High Plains Mental Health Center for the purpose of expanding behavioral health workforce throughout northwest Kansas.
The two-year funding will provide generous scholarships for six staff members beginning master’s level curriculum at Fort Hays State University. They will provide outpatient therapy services at High Plains following graduation.
Nationwide, a chronic shortage of behavioral health professionals has made it difficult for agencies to keep pace with increasing needs for mental health and substance use disorder services. The challenges are often exacerbated in rural areas, but High Plains has had previous success with efforts to “grow our own” workforce, said Walt Hill, executive director.
“We are incredibly grateful for the Schmidt Foundation’s generous and long-standing support of community mental health services,” Hill said. “This program will invest in six bright, young professionals who will further their education, advance their careers, and then put their skills to good use serving the people of Northwest Kansas.”
All six staff members are currently employed as recovery specialists and will continue employment at High Plains while they complete the two-year advanced curriculum at FHSU. Four of the six students will be entering the master’s of social work program, while the other two plan to complete their master of science degree in clinical mental health counseling. Five of the staff are currently based in Hays, while one will be based in the Colby Branch Office. The scholarship funding is contingent on their attendance at Fort Hays State University, in support of the region’s only four-year university.
When the two-year grant program concludes, High Plains will add six in-person outpatient therapists to staff, significantly increasing capacity for mental health services in northwest Kansas.
Nationally, early evidence suggests more adults and more youth are seeking treatment for behavioral health concerns following the Covid-19 pandemic. As stigma lessens around mental illness, that also is a likely reason why more people are seeking help -- and that is a welcome change, Hill said.
“Mental illness is real, diagnosable and treatable illness. It’s common. High Plains Mental Health Center served a record number of individuals in 2022 and is on track to have another very busy year in 2023,” Hill said. “Expanding workforce is necessary to keep pace with increasing demand and to continue our efforts to grow in becoming a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, one of the first in the state of Kansas.