Several Yankton organizations have put their best foot forward to create an education pathway for local students interested in behavioral health careers.
Recently, Mount Marty University (MMU) announced the creation of Yankton’s Behavioral health Experiential Student Training (BEST), a multi-sector partnership that includes Avera Sacred Heart Hospital (ASHH), Lewis & Clark Behavioral Health Services (LCBHS), the Yankton School District and MMU. Through a grant opportunity, the group aims to strengthen behavioral or mental health education and prevention, as well as workforce pathways in Yankton and the surrounding rural communities.
“Mental health is right up there with physical health in that we have need of staffing, and that’s not going to go away. If anything, that’s accelerating,” said Carla Hummel, BEST Project director and ASHH director of Volunteer Services. “More and more, we realize that you have to have both physical and mental health, and mental health is a very important part of being healthy in general.”
The opportunity to create Yankton’s BEST was made possible by a three-year renewable grant through Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Rural Communities Opioid Response Program.
The approximately $1 million grant was found by ASHH’s grant writing team, she said.
“They had written a grant in a different area and were reading through other possible grants, and felt that this was a really good fit for Yankton,” Hummel told the Press & Dakotan. “I have to agree. We are a sort of mecca of behavioral health and needing staff in those careers. To find a grant to help us put a pathway in place for students and get them back into our mental health careers here in Yankton is going to be very helpful.”
In recent years, Yankton has literally become a hub for mental health in the state.
In addition to having the Human Services Center (HSC), Yankton is also the home of LCBHS, which is state accredited for both mental health and substance use treatment. Its new Yankton facility provides counseling, inpatient and outpatient care and is a state designated Appropriate Regional Facility for crisis stabilization services.
Also, in partnership with Avera, LCBHS broke ground last fall on the Park Haven Learning & Recovery Center across the street from ASHH. The facility will be a halfway house for mothers who have completed inpatient drug treatment and are preparing to transition to living on their own. Mothers treated there will be able to have their newborns or young children housed with them.
The liaison for Yankton’s BEST will be MMU’s Whitney Schroeder, an occupational therapist who will be building the curricular and experiential pathway from Yankton Middle School (YMS) through Yankton High School (YHS) and into postsecondary education.
“The current iteration of that pathway was to hire a teacher liaison, Whitney, to deliver a concurrent dual-credit Psychology 101 class in the high school,” MMU Dean of Undergraduate Studies Nicholas Shudak told the Press & Dakotan. “Concurrent dual credit means that they’re both enrolled at the high school and Mount Marty, and it’s delivered within the high school premises by a qualified person.”
Unlike the current YHS psychology class, a dual credit class gives students college credit, which is transferable to many other colleges and universities, he said
“We’re also trying to work within the parameters of the high school’s World of Work and internship experiences,” Shudak said. “Whitney will (also) be working with YMS to start thinking with middle-school students about careers in behavioral health so they might align their high-school career (experience) and curriculum in that regard.”
Currently, Schroeder is working to ensure she complies with state licensure requirements to teach in a public high school, he said.
“This collaboration allows students to begin building interest and experience at the high-school level, helping them develop a strong foundation for a lifelong career in this important field,” YHS Principal Todd Dvoracek said, “Without these community partnerships, we simply could not provide the same level of support and opportunity for our students.”
YMS Principal Heather Olson added, “Yankton Middle School is excited to be part of the powerful impact (the program) will have in connecting our students to future careers in mental health through community partnerships.”
When it comes to careers, Schroeder said that one of her goals is that the program expand students’ understanding of the different job potentials in the field of behavioral health.
“Because, as an occupational therapist, I never realized that I could work in mental health, and I am envious of this program,” she said. “I wish I could have had it to show me the different avenues that are mental health: psychology, social work, occupational therapy and even recreational therapy.”
Through the YHS internship program, LCBHS will give students hands-on experience in the field.
LCBHS already has substance-use prevention specialists engaged and working with students at YMS and YHS, Elizabeth Rembold, LCBHS Outpatient Therapist & Outpatient MH Director, told the Press & Dakotan.
“What we’re planning on is to incorporate some behavioral health care pathways into what we’re already doing with those students,” she said. “So, (we will be) introducing really early with the middle school students some options for behavioral health careers, and then giving them some more information when they get into high school.”
At the high school level, LCBHS would offer internships to YHS seniors through World of Work, Rembold said.
“We’re thinking to provide some experience for those high school students so that they get a broad range of ideas about what they can do in behavioral health care,” she said. “Our plans are to model after Avera Sacred Heart, which has a really robust internship program for high-school students.”
There is great need for all kinds of behavioral health workers in Yankton and at all levels, Rembold said.
“What we’re saying is we need you,” Hummel added. “We need you in mental health careers, so please come back and serve the Yankton community.”