In response to urgent student mental health needs across Virginia’s college campuses, the Virginia General Assembly appropriated funds in July 2022 to support a two-year mental health workforce pilot program at public institutions of higher education. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF), is charged with administering this pilot program.

On November 7, 2022, SCHEV and VHCF awarded Higher Education Mental Health Workforce Pilot grants to six universities: Christopher Newport, George Mason, James Madison, Longwood, Radford and Virginia Tech. Pilot awards ranged from ~$66,000 to $100,000 per year per institution to support the salaries and benefits for graduates pursuing licensure to provide therapy under supervision at student health or counseling centers on campus. In exchange, each hosting institution will hire, train and supervise the LCSW/LPC candidates until licensed.

The mental health workforce pilot serves a dual purpose for higher education institutions. The pilot seeks to: 1) expand mental health services to students on campus at higher education institutions; and simultaneously 2) increase the mental health workforce pipeline by offering supervised clinical hours for the LCSW and LPC candidates who delivered those services to become licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) or licensed professional counselors (LPC). The mental health pilot’s two-pronged purpose addresses immediate student demand for services and long-term campus behavioral health workforce development, both of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Even though the pilot is less than five months into implementation, SCHEV is sufficiently satisfied with the progress. Specifically, improving the ability to meet the student demand for counseling/social work services and stabilizing/reducing burnout of LPC and LCSW staff at the student health/counseling centers. Several key findings from the pilot have emerged for the General Assembly’s consideration.

1. The pilot program is oversubscribed. Of the 10 institutions that applied, funding was available to support only six institutions’ pilot programs with $500,000 in appropriated funds in FY 2023 and $500,000 in FY 2024. Institutional demand for this program exceeded the funds available; all 10 institutional applicants demonstrated need for the pilot funds.

2. While less than five months into the pilot program, participating institutions are already seeing tangible impacts. As of May 1, 2023, five LCSW/LPC candidates supported through this pilot have collectively served 220 individual student-patients and completed more than 740 clinical hours. The addition of the candidates has resulted in: (a) decreased appointment wait times for students; (b) improved staff morale at the on-campus counseling and health centers; and (c) sparked the candidates’ interest in continuing to work at the higher education institution(s) post-licensure.

3. Virtual mental health services enable real-time access for those in crisis and serve as a stopgap until in-person care can be obtained. The ultimate goal is quality and available in-person mental health care. The mental health pilot directly supports this ultimate goal.

4. Due to the timeline of the pilot RFP release, the six pilot institutions were notified of their awards in November and consequently did not bring on candidates until the winter/spring 2023. Should this program continue and scale, the proposal and award cycle should support award notification in the spring/summer for optimal candidate selection and hiring before the start of the academic year.