College of Social Work Partners in State-wide Initiative to Address Behavioral Health Needs in Illinois
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced on March 8 the formation of the Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center (BHWEC), of which the Jane Addams College of Social Work (JACSW) will be a key partner. The goal of the partnership is to increase the number of skilled behavioral health specialists working in Illinois communities. Southern Illinois University School of Medicine will serve as the primary administrative hub in Springfield, and JACSW will serve as the secondary hub in Chicago.
JACSW professor Sonya Leathers will serve as co-director of BHWEC activities at UIC, supporting data collection and training initiatives such as disseminating effective training models for existing providers, strategies for meeting behavioral health and substance abuse needs in primary health care settings, evaluating and disseminating parent training models to improve early and middle childhood and adolescent behavioral health outcomes, and developing training and intervention models for use with community health workers.
The initiative will also leverage UIC’s strength in interprofessional practice, with participation from faculty and staff at the College of Social Work, College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health and the Community Health Worker Training and Technical Assistance Center.