NMSU receives $1 million grant to boost mental health services for underserved communities

By FYH News Team

Published on October 11, 2023

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A new $1 million grant will go to fund the training of NMSU students studying clinical mental health counseling and school psychology.

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration awarded NMSU’s Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology to fund Project Access Collaboration Training (ACT), a project meant to increase the number of trainees in behavioral health services directed toward vulnerable and underserved children, teens and young adults in southern New Mexico.

The grant will be awarded over two years at $470,000 per year.

The objectives of the grant include providing financial support to 16 graduate-level clinical mental health counseling and school psychology students as well as their supervisors with a focus on factors impacting children, teens and young adults in rural and medically underserved communities.

NMSU hopes additional training in Spanish counseling will make the training even more impactful.

The project also seeks to establish partnerships with community partners to provide field placements and career opportunities that assist with behavioral workforce development to address critical shortages.

Associate Professor in the Counseling and Educational Psychology Department and the grant’s Principal Investigator Anna Lopez said of the grant:

We are excited about this new opportunity to provide additional support to students committed to serving our communities. I am especially grateful for the additional support that will be provided to our bilingual counseling trainees as they are often required to complete additional training with no extra support. We are hoping to change that.

The Interim Head of the NMSU Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology and the grant’s Co-Principal Investigator Elsa Arroyos added:

Grants such as these are critical to addressing the shortages in the behavioral health workforce, especially those who serve our more vulnerable communities, our young people, who are experiencing a crisis in mental health.

If you would like to know more about the NMSU Counseling and Educational Psychology department, visit cep.nmsu.edu.

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