COVINGTON, Ky. — A new program is giving Northern Kentucky University graduate students hands-on experience while addressing a critical shortage of mental health care providers in the region.
The partnership between NKU and Children's Home of Northern Kentucky (CHNK) aims to train the next generation of mental health professionals where they're needed most.
"The number one reason why we have 400 people on our waiting list on any given day is because of the challenges of finding the staff that we need," said Rick Wurth, CHNK's Chief Executive Officer. "What the partnership focuses on within NKU is how do we grow our own crop of future counselors, future therapists, future social workers and case managers."
The shortage is particularly severe in some Kentucky counties, where there are 4,000 residents for every mental healthcare provider.
NKU partners with Children's Home to address mental healthcare shortage in Kentucky:
Students in the program complete their clinical work while taking classes from NKU faculty directly at CHNK's facility. Unlike traditional internships, these students receive stipends during the program.
"A lot of our students don't get upward mobility until they get an MSW, and so them having the opportunity to get a stipend has been a game-changer for a lot of our students," said Dr. Kelly Fallon.
Fallon, a licensed social worker and NKU faculty member, explained that most students wouldn't get compensated until after earning their master's in social work. The program was made possible after three Northern Kentucky health care organizations joined forces with NKU to invest more than $2 million in scholarships for students pursuing health care careers.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare, CHNK Behavioral Health and OrthoCincy have collectively pledged over $1 million in scholarship funds for NKU students across various health care-related fields.
The Healthcare Workforce Investment Fund (HWIF) then matched these contributions, doubling the impact and bringing the total scholarship funding to more than $2 million.
"Us getting paid to intern just kind of legitimizes that so much more, but it does help me feel a lot more prepared. After interning, I'll be entering the workforce for the first time. I feel like I am prepared and know what I'm doing because I'm kind of doing that now," said Mary-Kate Shoemaker, NKU MSW Grad student.
The students gain comprehensive experience in the field, learning case management, participating in therapy groups, and understanding all aspects of mental healthcare delivery.
"We talk about challenges that we have and come up with really thoughtful solutions, and we have the guidance of Dr. Fallon, who's an amazing mentor and amazing social worker. Has been so helpful," said Katie Herms, NKU MSW Grad student.
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
