March 2024

WELCOME TO BeHERE NV!

The Behavioral Health Education, Retention, and Expansion Network of Nevada (BeHERE NV) is a new workforce development initiative to increase the number of providers of behavioral health care in Nevada. In 2023, the Nevada Legislature unanimously passed Assembly Bill 37 to create a statewide behavioral health workforce development center within the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). In September 2023, the NSHE Board of Regents designated the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) to serve as the administrative hub for BeHERE NV and to build connections across the state.

March is Social Work Month and it has long been my belief that social workers make the world go round. I have been blessed to train with them, work with them, learn from them, and call them colleagues and friends. A degree in social work brings so many opportunities to work in different environments in service to others, including working in behavioral health. Below you will be introduced to our new favorite social worker at BeHERE NV. Dr. Jill Manit joins our team as our Associate Director of Education and Training. We are excited that she will oversee our K-12 outreach across Nevada to start planting seeds about behavioral health careers. There is more growth to come as we welcome the spring season so subscribe to our newsletter and follow us along on social media! If you missed February's BeHERE NV Newsletter, check it out here.

Finally, I want to recognize another social worker who has been instrumental in mentoring my professional development and is tied to the creation of BeHERE NV. In 2014, Dr. Ramona Denby-Brinson hired me to work at UNLV's The Lincy Institute on a mental health workforce development grant. That put me in a position to learn about the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska, which became the inspiration for BeHERE NV. Dr. Denby-Brinson taught me the importance of building community relationships, convening stakeholders, and leading by example among many other invaluable lessons. She is now doing amazing things as the Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Let's celebrate social workers this month and every day after!

BeHERE NV is celebrating Social Work Month! This year's theme is Empowerment, and we're taking a moment to honor social workers and the incredible opportunities within the workforce. According to the National Association of Social Workers, "One benefit of a social work degree is that the job possibilities are endless." Explore our Social Work programs within the Nevada System of Higher Education:

School of Social Work at UNLV

School of Social Work at UNR

Great Basin College BSW Program

Truckee Meadows Community College Social Work, AA

Western Nevada College BSW Program

Social Workers play a crucial role in behavioral health care in Nevada. Thank you for all that you do!

Source:https://www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=bu_wWcZS8uw%3d&portalid=0

Jill Manit, Ph.D., MSW

Associate Director of Education and Training

Biography: Dr. Jill Manit is the Associate Director of Education and Training for BeHERE NV. She has a Ph.D. in Political Science and a Master's in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Nevada Reno (UNR). Dr. Manit has been in higher education for nearly 20 years and most recently served as the MSW Program Director in the School of Social Work at Sacred Heart University. She has experience teaching courses across social work curricula and also worked with social work students at UNR in her role as Director of Field Education.

Dr. Manit’s practice background spans working with individuals, groups, and communities. She has provided direct services in the fields of substance abuse treatment, family services, and was actively involved in building substance abuse prevention coalitions across the state of Nevada. While at the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT) at UNR, Dr. Manit provided extensive training and technical assistance in the area of program evaluation to substance abuse prevention providers across the Western region of the United States, including the Pacific Jurisdictions. Through this work, Dr. Manit supported programs in balancing the demands of accountability at the federal and state levels with local cultural contexts that impact service delivery. This effort sparked a humble pursuit for understanding the impact of culture, diversity, inclusion, oppression and organizational context on individuals and families within service delivery systems.

Dr. Manit is passionate about mobilizing stakeholders to meet the needs of local communities and looks forward to an opportunity to expand the behavioral health workforce across the state of Nevada. When not working on BeHERE NV, Dr. Manit can be found hanging out with her family and pets or exploring the world of Italian language learning.

Nevada persistently ranks at or near the bottom in the country for overall access to mental health services despite the need (Mental Health America, 2015-2023). UNLV faculty are developing initiatives to change this unacceptable situation. The Lincy Institute, in partnership with UNLV PRACTICE, BeHERE NV, and researchers from the Department of Psychology, is pleased to offer a community forum showcasing three mental health initiatives harnessing faculty collaboration and innovation to drive overdue changes in Nevada’s mental-health landscape. Following the presentations policymakers will engage in open discussion with UNLV presenters and the audience.

For more information and to RSVP please Click Here

Keep up with all of our latest updates by subscribing to our Newsletter, and please share with your contacts. We will be posting monthly updates on our progress and more on BeHERE NV. Explore the February edition of the BeHERE NV Newsletter by Clicking here. Can’t wait to have you along on this journey with us!

Funding for BeHERE NV was made possible by Assembly Bill 37 (2023, 82nd Nevada Legislative Session) and the Nevada System of Higher Education