42 USC 294e-1 - Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants

(a) Grants authorized

The Secretary may award grants to eligible institutions of higher education to support the recruitment of students for, and education and clinical experience of the students in—

(1) baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degree programs of social work, as well as the development of faculty in social work;

(2) accredited master's, doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral residency programs of psychology for the development and implementation of interdisciplinary training of psychology graduate students for providing behavioral and mental health services, including substance abuse prevention and treatment services;

(3) accredited institutions of higher education or accredited professional training programs that are establishing or expanding internships or other field placement programs in child and adolescent mental health in psychiatry, psychology, school psychology, behavioral pediatrics, psychiatric nursing, social work, school social work, substance abuse prevention and treatment, marriage and family therapy, school counseling, or professional counseling; and

(4) State-licensed mental health nonprofit and for-profit organizations to enable such organizations to pay for programs for preservice or in-service training of paraprofessional child and adolescent mental health workers.

(b) Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for a grant under this section, an institution shall demonstrate—

(1) participation in the institutions' programs of individuals and groups from different racial, ethnic, cultural, geographic, religious, linguistic, and class backgrounds, and different genders and sexual orientations;

(2) knowledge and understanding of the concerns of the individuals and groups described in subsection (a); 1

(3) any internship or other field placement program assisted under the grant will prioritize cultural and linguistic competency;

(4) the institution will provide to the Secretary such data, assurances, and information as the Secretary may require; and

(5) with respect to any violation of the agreement between the Secretary and the institution, the institution will pay such liquidated damages as prescribed by the Secretary by regulation.

(c) Institutional requirement

For grants authorized under subsection (a)(1), at least 4 of the grant recipients shall be historically black colleges or universities or other minority-serving institutions.

(d) Priority

(1) In selecting the grant recipients in social work under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that—

(A) are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education;

(B) have a graduation rate of not less than 80 percent for social work students; and

(C) exhibit an ability to recruit social workers from and place social workers in areas with a high need and high demand population.

(2) In selecting the grant recipients in graduate psychology under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall give priority to institutions in which training focuses on the needs of vulnerable groups such as older adults and children, individuals with mental health or substance-related disorders, victims of abuse or trauma and of combat stress disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, homeless individuals, chronically ill persons, and their families.

(3) In selecting the grant recipients in training programs in child and adolescent mental health under subsections (a)(3) and (a)(4), the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that—

(A) have demonstrated the ability to collect data on the number of students trained in child and adolescent mental health and the populations served by such students after graduation or completion of preservice or in-service training;

(B) have demonstrated familiarity with evidence-based methods in child and adolescent mental health services, including substance abuse prevention and treatment services;

(C) have programs designed to increase the number of professionals and paraprofessionals serving high-priority populations and to applicants who come from high-priority communities and plan to serve medically underserved populations, in health professional shortage areas, or in medically underserved areas;

(D) offer curriculum taught collaboratively with a family on the consumer and family lived experience or the importance of family-professional or family-paraprofessional partnerships; and

(E) provide services through a community mental health program described in section 300x–2(b)(1) of this title.

(e) Authorization of appropriation

For the fiscal years 2010 through 2013, there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section—

(1) $8,000,000 for training in social work in subsection (a)(1);

(2) $12,000,000 for training in graduate psychology in subsection (a)(2), of which not less than $10,000,000 shall be allocated for doctoral, postdoctoral, and internship level training;

(3) $10,000,000 for training in professional child and adolescent mental health in subsection (a)(3); and

(4) $5,000,000 for training in paraprofessional child and adolescent work in subsection (a)(4).

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title VII, §756, as added Pub. L. 111–148, title V, §5306(a)(3), Mar. 23, 2010, 124 Stat. 626.)

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Last modified: October 26, 2015