The Goal of SABHCCIP is to develop a cross-discipline internship program to support the academic needs of minority students and the behavioral needs of racial and ethnic minorities in Southeast Arkansas and the Delta.

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Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Health Community Connector Internship Program (SABHCCIP) will identify, select, and support the training of ethnic and racial minority graduate students enrolled in accredited institutions, on-site or virtually, across the disciplines of social work and substance use and addictions counseling who will significantly contribute to the behavioral health services needs of ethnic and racial minorities with mental or substance use disorders as well as violence prevention

amongst youth by accepting senior year internships at agencies within areas of Southeast and Delta areas of Arkansas. The development and implementation of this specialized internship program will include inter and multidisciplinary training for providing optimal behavior health services, including five (5) placements that are focused on trauma-informed care specialization. Master Social Work interns will be placed in sites that serve a clientele of lower socioeconomic, education, and minority

ethnicity that impact the way they engage, interpret and follow through with care, especially when behavioral health issues are at the core of their experiences. Interns will be trained in Mental Health First Aid, Emotional CPR, Play Therapy to span across the life span, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and well as the Trauma Track to specialize in the treatment of ethnic minorities who have experienced trauma. Once interns are trained, they will then train their site placement and community in crisis recognition and intervention which also addresses suicide prevention.

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After being trained in Mental Health First Aid and ECPR, interns will then train 100% of staff at their placement and aim to train at least 75% of the clients serviced. Interns will also have training opportunities to train the public and other agencies who encounter the clients they serve. Interns

trained in Play Therapy and Trauma will acquire up to 32 contact hours in which they are honored up to seven years should the interns decide to become certified as a Play Therapist or Play Therapist Supervisor.

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Interns will participate in monthly grand rounds together to process needs and develop a plan of action together with other SABHCCIP cohorts and supervisors. Interns will devote a total of 5 extra hours a month to further their knowledge regarding the area, clientele, and treatment of behavioral health disorders to culminate with a capstone project prior to graduation. SABHCCIP will also develop a way to unify the service delivery community partners through the placement of interns, implementation of a wraparound problem-solving approach with clients who tend to be involved with multiple agencies, and promote the advantages of the students who intern through the

SABHCCIP to remain in this area to continue service delivery to the community. This then creates a pool of potential employees for agencies seeking to fill positions to meet the growing needs of the populations served. The aim is that once these issues are addressed and once interns are immersed into Southeast Arkansas, they become clinicians who are highly trained and will continue to desire to address the need to reduce behavioral health disparities among ethnic minorities in the rural

Arkansas related to culturally competent and evidence-based treatment for mental and substance use conditions with the creation of career paths and client satisfaction with services. SABHCCIP’s goals are to:

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Goal 1: Assist at least 90 minority interns with field placements in organizations providing behavioral health services to racial and ethnic minorities to close the health disparity gap over the next four years.

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Goal 2: Assist minority interns in developing practice skills appropriate to those of a generalist and specialist (trauma) working with individuals and families in racial and ethnic minority communities at the competency of entry-level mental health professionals.

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Goal 3: Host a master’s level mental health training program to support minority interns’ development and deepen their skills and knowledge in psychodynamic and trauma services.

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Goal 4: Develop a directory to connect minority students with organizations to complete academic internship requirements.

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Goal 5: Cultivate and increase partnerships with agencies and organizations in Southeast Arkansas and the Delta to develop interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary to increase access to mental health services among racial and ethnic communities and to expand this SABHCCIP program to other communities across the State of Arkansas.

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Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Health Community Connector Internship Program (SABHCCIP) offers Master of Social Work internships to individuals matriculating through their last year in a master’s degree in Social Work from a school accredited by the Council on Social Work Education in the following areas: adult behavioral and mental health, adolescent and transition-aged youth, school-based and outpatient services, and non-profit program development that addresses behavioral issues. Interns will also have access to technology integration by being provided with options for distance learning and developing didactic and experiential training activities that address strategies

for providing telehealth services and increasing digital health literacy. Staff and interns will establish relationships with community-based partners (e.g., hospitals, crisis centers, state and local health departments, emergency departments, faith-based organizations, first responders, and judicial systems) to provide experiential training, career development and job placement services that assist students in obtaining employment following graduation from the program.

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Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Health Community Connector Internship Program (SABHCCIP) is for talented and ambitious graduating seniors in the field of social work, mental health, or substance abuse fields. The ideal intern is compassionate, has strong interpersonal and listening skills, is sensitive to the complex needs of vulnerable populations, and has a commitment to advancing social justice. Interns must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concerns of the population

served, especially individuals with mental disorder symptoms or diagnoses, particularly children and adolescents, and transitional-age youth and their families.

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SABHCCIP would like to increase the numbers of minority clinicians in these underserved areas that represent the populations served as well. This includes representation of individuals and groups from different racial, ethnic, cultural, geographic, religious, linguistic, class backgrounds, different genders, and sexual orientations in the behavioral health field. For example, according to a 2019 Arkansas Workforce Report by the Arkansas Minority Health Commission, they recognized key outcomes from this fifth annual report of diversity in the Arkansas health care workforce. It stated most workers in health occupations are male including physicians, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, and podiatrists. Dental hygienists made up 99 percent females, dieticians, 96 percent females, specialty surgeons, 93 percent males, licensed practical nurses, 93 percent females, and speech therapists, 96 percent females which were occupations with less than 10 percent in a gender field.