Virginia Health Care Foundation

Virginia is amid a mental health crisis, with overwhelming demand for behavioral health (BH) services and too few licensed BH professionals to meet it. The pipeline for more is woefully insufficient.

VHCF is tackling the alarming need via a multi-pronged approach. It also partners with state agencies and others to achieve shared BH-related goals. Click on the links below to learn more about each VHCF and select state program/initiative.

Growing Virginia’s Licensed BH Workforce

• VHCF’s Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Scholarship Program provides full-scholarships for experienced nurse practitioners to obtain their post-Masters Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate. More than 75 scholarships have been awarded via this privately-funded program, with more than half to people of color.

• Boost!, a state-funded Foundation program, pays for licensure-required supervision for pre-licensees who want to become LCSWs, LPCs and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists. More than 300 people have enrolled in Boost 200+; most are people of color; almost half are first generation college graduates; and more than 60 are now working as licensed mental health professionals in Virginia.

• VHCF awards grants for community organizations and health safety net practices to hire pre-licensees preparing to become LCSWs, LPCs, or Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists and provide their licensure-required supervision.

• The Virginia Department of Health’s (VDH) Virginia’s Behavioral Health Loan Repayment Program (BHLRP) repays educational loans, up to $50,000/year, for eligible licensed or credentialed BH professionals working in an approved organization.

• VDH’s Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program (NPIP) provides a financial incentive, up to $5,000, for those health professionals providing clinical education for Virginia nursing students (RN and advanced practice).

• Completed in 2021, VHCF’s Assessment of the Capacity of Virginia‘s Licensed Behavioral Health Workforce continues to stimulate a variety of state and private sector BH workforce actions and initiatives.

Increasing Sites Providing Mental Health Services

• VHCF’s special initiative, Nurture Now: Helping Kids Shine, helps establish or expand school-based health centers providing basic mental health services in schools with a large proportion of students who are income-eligible for free/reduced price meals and/or Medicaid/FAMIS.
• The Foundation’s Health Access Grants establish or expand delivery of mental health services for Virginian’s by paying the salary and benefits of additional licensed BH professionals at nonprofit organizations.

Initiatives to Provide Technical Assistance and Raise Awareness

• VHCF provides education, training, and networking opportunities for BH professionals and interested stakeholders via its semi-annual Mental Health Roundtables and its virtual Behavioral Health Hub, which reaches more than 1000 people weekly.

• VHCF has produced several op-eds regarding the Commonwealth’s BH needs and actions by the General Assembly and state policymakers to address those needs.

• In 2022, VHCF established special awards to celebrate the work of Virginia Mental Health Champions.

As a public/private partnership, VHCF works hand-in-hand with state agencies and its many private sector partners to identify and address a range of gaps in and barriers to the availability of primary health care, including behavioral health.

For more information, contact Deborah Oswalt, VHCF’s Executive Director (doswalt@vhcf.org)

Last Updated on October 4, 2024