Project Description:
Building Futures Together is a training program to prepare 98 New Hampshire paraprofessionals in community health centers, family resource centers, and schools to provide intensive, specialized enhanced care coordination on behalf of children, youth, and their caregivers who are impacted by parental substance misuse. The program will include approximately 180 hours of didactic training, field work, and 2,000 of intensive on-the-job training guided by employer-mentors. Trainees who complete the program will attain a new, nationally recognized credential within the Social and Human Services Assistant Occupation issued by the US Department of Labor apprenticeship office. Trainees will receive stipends to cover the costs of participating in the training program.
The program has 4 measurable objectives:
Objective 1: Create, deliver, and expand a new didactic and experiential training program in New Hampshire called Building Futures Together, for 98 paraprofessionals from education and behavioral healthcare settings to provide high-quality services and supports to children, adolescents and transitional age youth whose parents are impacted by OUD and other SUDs.
Objective 2: Work with employers and the U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Office to develop and support partnerships with registered apprenticeship programs that provide on-the-job training for 70 paraprofessional trainees in behavioral health-related positions addressing OUD and other SUDs.
Objective 3: Ensure that the Building Futures Together training program is sustained beyond the end of the grant period (August 2024).
Objective 4: Implement, manage, continuously improve, and evaluate the program to ensure efficient and effective implementation and improve services to children, youth and transition age youth impacted by OUD, SUD and their caregivers.
The program is administered by the Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire, a fully accredited institute of higher education. Individuals will be enrolled in 4 cohorts or waves, with an increasing number of trainees per year. Program staff will provide individualized academic and wraparound support to trainees to ensure program retention and completion. The staff will also support employers to provide field and apprenticeship oversight. The didactic training will be delivered primarily through online modules. The program has committed partners from the states Department of Health and Human Services, healthcare and education employers, and community training entities. Family experts and others with lived experience will be part of the faculty. The program will be guided by a diverse Leadership Team and include a Policy Committee to ensure sustainability. The program will be sustained by achieving state certification status that will allow for Medicaid reimbursement.
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Other
