University of Maine researchers will train future behavioral health workers specialized in serving rural areas in the state with a new program funded by a four-year, $1.48 million grant by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. 

The Rural Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care (RIBHPC) training program seeks to address the shortage of workers in mental health, addiction treatment, social work and other behavioral health fields in rural Maine. Ten out of 16 Maine counties, seven of which are nonmetropolitan, have areas with insufficient mental health care coverage, according to the Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub). UMaine researchers say only about half of Maine adults and children who need mental health services receive them. 

Sandra Butler, director of the School of Social Work, will lead the development and implementation of the RIBHPC program alongside Emily Haigh, director of clinical training for the clinical psychology doctoral program at UMaine. The program will emphasize the behavioral health care needs of children, adolescents and transition-aged youth in primary care settings, many of whom face financial and geographic barriers to the services they need. 

Each year starting in fall 2021, the program will support 20 social work students and one to two clinical psychology students. Butler and Haigh plan to recruit 87 students, seven from clinical psychology and 80 from social work, throughout the four-year project. To incentivize prospective participants, the program will offer $10,000 annual stipends to social work students and $25,000 annual stipends to clinical physiology students over four years. 

Participants in the RIBHPC program will receive on-site and remote training from health care providers who serve high-need areas across the state to obtain the skills and knowledge necessary to serve in rural primary care settings.