51°µÍř

51°µÍř was recently announced as a recipient of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) INSPIRE (Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems) award. SSU will receive $500,000 to expand substance use disorder recovery support services and education development programs in the Behavioral Health field. 

“This INSPIRE Grant will help us continue to support the regional recovery community by funding innovative and rapid ways for us to expand our behavioral health workforce, provide career pathways for citizens in recovery, and upskill professionals already providing services in our Appalachian region,” said Dr. Christine Raber, SSU Dean of the College of Health & Human Services. 

SSU will work with project partners the STAR Community Justice Center, UK King’s Daughter’s Medical Center, Southern Ohio Medical Center, Shawnee Family Health Center, The Counseling Center, and Integrated Services for Behavioral Health. The grant will support programs that increase services for individuals in recovery and address the need for more educational and professional development opportunities in Social Work, Human Services, and the Behavioral and Community Health fields, assisting in the expansion of the workforce to meet the need for more recovery professionals in Appalachian Ohio and Kentucky. 

“In order to have a healthy Appalachian economy, we must make sure we have a healthy Appalachian workforce,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “I am so proud of the way ARC’s INSPIRE initiative ecosystem empowers Appalachians in substance use disorder recovery to gain the training, resources and support they need to enter or re-enter the workforce while also becoming productive members of their families and communities.” 

The project will enable SSU and partners to expand vocational programming while offering certificate and credit-bearing educational opportunities for justice-involved individuals over a three-year grant period. SSU will be developing new graduate-level certificates in Social Work, Human Services, and Rural Health, while also offering stackable credential opportunities for professionals already working in behavioral health fields. The university is also developing a Community Health Worker credentialing program to produce skilled workers to serve as liaisons between individuals in recovery, health and human service providers, and the surrounding community. 

The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development agency of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 423 counties across the Appalachian region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia and help the regional achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation. More information is available at arc.gov. 

Offering professional programs at the associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degree levels, the College of Health & Human Services at SSU trains graduates through program-specific integrated laboratory and practice experiences in health and human service settings to enter in-demand careers. To learn more about these programs, visit shawnee.edu/chhs.