The Idaho Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program - ISU

Each student in the I-BHWET (approx. 15 per year) will be provided a $25,000 cost-of-living stipend.

In return, students will:
1. Complete at least 320 direct client hours across at least two semesters at a grant-approved site. One hundred of those hours will be with children, adolescents, and/or young adults.
2. Commit to providing at least a year of full-time, post-graduation counseling work at an integrated behavioral health site and/or in an underserved and/or rural Idaho community.

We will compensate supervisors for their supervision services on a semesterly basis. We will also provide free and accessible training on topics such as supervision and integrated behavioral health, amongst others, throughout the training.

Our aims are three-fold:
1. Increase the number of mental health counselors and supervisors in underserved and rural communities across the State of Idaho.
2. Increase integrated behavioral health, telehealth, and health literacy competency in counselors and clinical supervisors across the State of Idaho.
3. Improve mental health outcomes (i.e., reduce mental health disparities) for vulnerable and underserved populations across Idaho, particularly children, adolescents, and young adults.

We will partner with various counseling sites (i.e., agencies/organizations) across the State of Idaho. As part of the grant requirements, students will be required to complete 320 clinical hours at a grant-approved site.

Site expectations include:
1. Sites will meet the following criteria: (1) provide integrated behavioral health services as defined by Health and Human Services, and/or (2) provide services for underserved population(s) in Idaho; and (3) provide services for children, adolescents, and/or young adults.
2. Sites will be available to host at least one student per semester (from Fall 2025 - Spring 2029) to provide counseling services at their site.

3. Supervisors will recieve compensation—$1600 per student /semester, weekly individual or triadic clinical supervision—for each student. Supervisors will also complete two formal evaluations of each student per semester.
4. Supervisors will attend a virtual grant orientation each Fall semester (approx. 1 hour in duration).
5. Supervisors will attend various training sessions (offered virtually and in-person) throughout the project period as they are able. Supervisors will be able to accrue continuing education credits for free through most, if not all, of these training sessions.
6. Sites will commit to considering grant-associated graduates for employment post-graduation.

The Idaho Rural Mental Health Training (IRMHT) Certificate Program is a self-paced, five module training program designed to expand the behavioral workforce’s capacity to serve rural and underserved communities across Idaho. Individuals who complete the IRMHT Certificate Program in full will receive a certificate of completion. Module topics include digital health literacy, telehealth services, loan repayment, and more. 

Certificate Materials