Behavioral Health Fellows Program Welcomes Inaugural Cohort

The Behavioral Health (BH) Fellows program welcomed its inaugural 27-person cohort on June 13 at Phipps Conservatory as part of a one-and-a-half-day retreat. County Executive Rich Fitzgerald joined the cohort to kick off the program and celebrate the work of building capacity within the behavioral health workforce in Allegheny County.

The BH Fellows program is an innovative Allegheny County-sponsored workforce initiative, in partnership with Community Care Behavioral Health and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF), to make behavioral health jobs in target service areas sustainable and attractive for new and existing employees. JHF was named the lead partner for the orientation and training programs component.

The first cohort consists of family-based therapists and clinicians, substance use disorder case managers, service coordinators, and crisis clinicians from 11 providers based in Allegheny County.

The program provides educational loan repayments (up to $25,000 for a bachelor's degree or up to $45,000 for a master's degree), competitive salaries, and career development experiences to behavioral healthcare staff in exchange for a two-year commitment to work at an approved provider within a specific role. With over $15M in funding, this program is designed to attract and retain individuals dedicated to improving the lives of the County's most vulnerable.

The BH Fellows program's professional development curriculum supports the growth of participating fellows through skill building, peer-to-peer learning and support opportunities, and networking within and among cohorts and community leaders. During the monthly sessions, from June to December, participants of the first cohort will discuss themes of burnout, safety, implicit bias and cultural humility, ethics, conflict resolution, and working in interprofessional teams. Training will continue throughout 2024, and programming will be developed in further partnership with provider sites and based on feedback from participants.

Recruitment is ongoing for the BH Fellows program. The application deadline for the next cohort is July 15. Those seeking new positions in behavioral health jobs and existing staff at participating provider sites are welcome to apply. There are options for those without any prior experience in behavioral health. Visit here for more program details and to apply.