RI, Hazel Health partnership; First Responder Funding in VT; New Treatment Recovery Center; Grants for behavior health careers
RI, Hazel Health partner to provide virtual mental health services to students
Virtual mental health services have been key in the post-pandemic era for providing individuals with an alternate and efficient way to seek help online.
Governor Dan McKee and Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green have partnered with Hazel Health to provide accessible online mental health care services for students across Rhode Island and help improve student attendance.
Hazel Healthcare is a virtual healthcare provider that connects students with licensed counselors and therapists online at no cost. After getting a referral, students will be able to access care in a matter of days in school or at home.
“With this partnership with Hazel Health, we are seeking to break down barriers to care and build a foundation for kids to be healthier and to thrive and to provide additional support,” said Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green.
Rhode Island will be the first state on the East Coast providing telehealth services for students across the state. Officials say this will directly address growing youth mental health concerns by allowing 130,000 students to access help from wherever they need.
“Our goal is to address these needs and to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to help our young people have a path towards a greater future,” said Governor Dan McKee.
VT first responders demand better mental health funding
First responders regularly expose themselves to life-threatening situations to keep the public safe and healthy.
A group of Vermont’s emergency service providers, including firefighters, police, corrections, ski patrol, and dispatch, are calling for better mental health services. The group of first responders are asking Vermont lawmakers for $160,000 in funds to invest in a peer support program.
The peer support program will be dedicated to addressing key concerns among first responders like trauma, stress, and burnout, to help them identify when these issues arise for both themselves and their colleagues. This program is especially crucial in rural areas which lack ample mental health resources.
“We will be so much more successful if we’re proactive and provide education to folks to educate them about stress injury management and awareness so they can identify in themselves when folks are struggling,” said Mark McDonough, from the Burlington Fire Department.
More than 130 local first responders received support from a similar grant-funded program last year. A plea for help was outlined in 2023’s Emergency Service Provider Wellness Commission Report for The Vermont Legislature. The report discussed how first responders face increased levels of stress and exposure to trauma and have higher rates of suicide.
New Treatment Recovery Center opens in Pioneer Valley
Balanced Recovery Center is bringing a holistic approach to combat mental health challenges and substance abuse.
The center recently had its grand opening in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and is committed to providing service to everyone that needs it. A special program is in the works to provide individual care for veterans, college and university students, and first responders.
According to Kristina Hallett, Ph.D., ABPP, a clinical psychologist and clinical director of the Balanced Recovery Center, the center will offer more than just regular group and individual therapy. “We also offer yoga, reiki, sound healing, nature therapy, animal assisted therapy, nutrition. Everything that hits those different areas of our lives that we all need to be whole and balanced,” said Hallet.
With limited opioid treatment centers in rural areas of Massachusetts, the Balanced Recovery Center stands out with its focus on holistic healing, which treats the mind, body, and soul.
“What if we did this, what if we brought something new and different here that was really state of the art that’s taking the best of what we know clinically, and then applying it in an individualized, trauma informed, person centered way,” said Hallet.
MA grants $12.4 million to help students pursue behavioral health careers
The Healey-Driscoll Administration is funding students from 37 colleges in Massachusetts to pursue unpaid mental health internships and field placements. The administration has awarded nearly $12.4 million through the Behavioral Health Trust fund. The fund will be geared towards undergraduate and graduate-level students specifically interested in treating mental health and substance abuse issues.
“We want Massachusetts residents to be able to access qualified behavioral health professionals when and where they and their families need them, and that will only happen if we lift barriers for entering this field,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “One crucial step to creating a strong behavioral health workforce is making earning a degree financially feasible for students driven to fill the roles.”
While internships and field placements are necessary criteria and an important educational experience for nearly all students pursuing a behavioral health career, finances can make it difficult to take on an unpaid role. The behavioral internship fund will allow individuals from different backgrounds across Massachusetts to complete criteria while also bringing diversity to the mental health field.
According to Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh, “Building a stronger workforce that does not have to worry about financial limitations means we can help every person and community throughout Massachusetts get the care they need and in a way that truly makes a difference.”
The internship funds will be awarded to the campus as grants and then distributed over a two-year period to qualifying students completing internships in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic school years.