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Welcome to the BHECN-ARPA newsletter! Our goal is to highlight the amazing work our awardees accomplish to improve the behavioral health workforce in Nebraska. We also want to create a forum for awardees to share important information like job openings and supervision opportunities.
In each newsletter, we feature one BHECN-ARPA project and hear directly from the awardees about how project activities are progressing.
This awardee profile will feature For All Counseling. Below Principal Investigator, Makenzie Schmitt, pictured right, tells us more about the project, which received funding in the Telebehavioral Health in Rural Areas category.
Makenzie, tell us about your project and what made you want to pursue it.
For All Counseling’s project aims to increase access to remote mental health evaluations for people who have immigrated to the United States or are seeking asylum here. A mental health evaluation can be a crucial piece of evidence in an immigration or asylum legal case. Through BHECN-ARPA funding, we have set up a sliding scale and begun contracting with two other bilingual therapists trained in conducting immigration mental health evaluations.
I have been providing remote mental health evaluations for immigration and asylum cases for the past three years. Within the first year of work, it became apparent many people who need a mental health evaluation for their immigration or asylum case cannot access this service due to language barriers, location, or cost. BHECN-ARPA funding is helping us break down these barriers and increase access to this service.
What do you find most exciting about the project?
I am excited we are creating a pathway to mental health services that did not exist before. Mental health evaluations for immigration and asylum proceedings are a costly and involved process that is not covered by insurance. The interview alone takes approximately 2-3 hours, and clinicians complete specialized training to learn how to conduct the evaluation and write the report. Creating a bridge between specialty-trained clinicians and clients who face barriers to care is fulfilling and exciting work.
What do you see as the biggest barrier to success for the project?
Finding the time to do marketing and also provide direct services to our clients has been the largest challenge. However, since receiving BHECN-ARPA funding, we have begun working with two additional immigration evaluation therapists. Working with these therapists will increase our capacity and our ability to meet the needs of the community we serve.
What learnings have you gleaned from the project so far?
This project continues to teach me that access to mental health services is a social justice issue. Nearly all of our clients come from underserved communities. Thanks to BHECN-ARPA funding, we can serve clients who otherwise would not have access to this service. It is jarring to consider that without this support, many of our clients would be denied the opportunity to have their mental health considered as a factor in their legal case. Access to mental health evaluations is an essential part of ensuring all people receive due process in our legal system.
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