BHECN-ARPA News

News regarding the BHECN-ARPA Awards Project -- February 2026

Registration has opened for B-Con 2026— BHECN’s second annual conference —which will be held on Friday, April 24, at the Embassy Suites Downtown Omaha.

B-Con 2026 will build on the success of our inaugural conference and bring together Nebraska’s behavioral health workforce for a professional event offering continuing education credits, skill-building sessions, and opportunities for statewide collaboration.

At the conference, Leanna Fortunato, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and Director of Quality and Health Care Innovation at the American Psychological Association, will discuss artificial intelligence (AI) and behavioral health care.

The conference will also feature breakout sessions focused on suicide prevention, crisis intervention for youth, and supporting individuals with mental illness as they transition out of the corrections system.

See more details about the conference here.

Beginning March 20, BHECN will host Brains, Bots, and Boundaries: Youth Mental Health in a Digital World, a four-part, free webinar series examining how rapidly evolving digital technologies are shaping the mental health, identity development, and help‑seeking behaviors of adolescents and young adults.

Across four interactive sessions, presenters will explore the psychological impact of digital environments—including social media platforms and artificial intelligence tools—on youth and young adult mental health. Continuing education credits will be available.

The series will highlight current research, clinical observations, and real‑world examples to help participants better understand how technology influences emotional well‑being, symptom presentation, self‑concept, and clinical care.

Emphasis will be placed on practical strategies that school counselors, clinicians, educators, and school personnel can use to support healthy digital engagement, promote critical thinking, and establish developmentally appropriate boundaries across home, school, and clinical settings.

Sessions will be held on March 20, March 27, April 3, and April 10 (all Fridays), from noon to 1 p.m. Central Time. Learn more about the series and register for the webinars here!

This webinar series is supported by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services through the School-Based Mental Health Training Grant.

Applications for BHECN’s Lifelong Learning Fund (LLF) will be accepted through Feb. 15.

The fund provides support for three categories of professional development:

• Student development and training
• Professional development opportunities for behavioral health practitioners (provisionally or fully licensed)
• Statewide training events

Learn more about the Lifelong Learning Fund and how to apply here.

Creighton University will host The Value of Integrated Care 2026, a free hybrid conference on Saturday, May 2, from 8–11:30 a.m. CT, designed for healthcare professionals across Nebraska and the Omaha Metro region.

The event explores how integrated care can expand access to timely, high‑quality psychiatric and mental health services—a topic of increasing relevance as health systems work to meet growing community needs.

Participants may attend either in-person at the Mike and Josie Harper Center or online, and the program offers 3.25 continuing education hours through Creighton University Health Sciences Continuing Education, which is jointly accredited by ACCME, ACPE, and ANCC. The conference is free to attend, thanks to support from the BHECN ARPA Awards program.

The morning will include sessions led by regional clinical experts covering the fundamentals of integrated care, real‑world case studies, and strategies for implementing integrated behavioral health models across diverse settings. Topics span the core pillars of integrated care, its role in advancing the Quintuple Aim, and the growing impact of dually certified Psychiatric–Mental Health Nurse Practitioners.

A panel discussion and closing remarks will round out the event, following presentations from faculty including Shannon Kinnan, MD; Amanda Grosse, DNP; Renee Johnson Sayer, DNP; and moderator Patti F. Gardner, DNP.

Learn more and register here.

Several upcoming federal funding opportunities aim to improve health care in rural areas.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced a set of grant opportunities, including:

• Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Grant Program: HRSA plans to distribute 14 awards in FY 2026, each up to $750,000, to improve and expand access to health care in rural areas by developing new, sustainable rural residency programs. The application period runs from February through mid-May. For more resources and tools, visit the Rural GME website portal.
• Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) Grants: Grant opportunities are available for both RCORP-Impact grants and RCORP-Planning grants. Applications are projected to run from February through April. RCORP-Impact grants may be up to $750,000 per awardee, while RCORP-Planning grants may be up to $100,000. View this one pager for more information.

In addition, USDA Rural Development has opened applications for the Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program, which provides funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas, including rural hospitals. Learn more here.