Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska Receives $3.7M Grant

The Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN; www.unmc.edu/bhecn) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) has received a five-year, $3.7 million collaborative grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Mid-American Mental Health Technology & Transfer Center (MHTTC) grant will provide mental health training and technical assistance to behavioral health-focused agencies and 87 community health centers. It also will benefit behavioral health professionals, schools, federally qualified health centers, state agencies such as divisions of behavioral health, regional associations of behavioral health providers and individual providers in a four-state region, which includes Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.

The grant also is a reflection of the expertise BHECN has. The grant will focus on four areas: integrated behavioral health in the primary care clinical setting; school mental health; behavioral health workforce development; and serious mental illness. A goal of the grant is to develop expertise in each state so the initiatives can be sustained once the grant is done.

Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska was created in 2009 when the Nebraska legislature passed LB 603 to address the statewide crisis in mental health access. Since then, BHECN has received two national awards and is considered a best practice for innovative programs to recruit and retain licensed mental health professionals in rural and urban communities.

For more information about BHECN, visit www.unmc.edu/bhecn or follow on Facebook and Twitter.