The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, in collaboration with the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and Engage, The Foundation at VCU, is offering students the opportunity to participate in a program that is an innovative intersection of emergency preparedness and behavioral health. The program allows students to earn college credit while simultaneously learning about the importance of organizing disaster behavioral health services and exploring college to career opportunities in the field.

Participants of the program are placed with partnering agencies and will have the opportunity to work towards completing the requirements to be a Qualified Paraprofessional in Mental Health based on the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Service regulations. Topics covered include: how to execute theories of preparedness and intervention, psychological first aid, trauma informed care, and various emergency preparedness and effective behavioral health intervention approaches in emergency settings.

Students must register in HSEP 391, “Disaster Behavioral Health Education Program,” as a condition of their participation and are expected to attend the class which will take place from June 13th through August 3rd.

 

This training is the intersection of emergency preparedness and behavioral health. The training’s implementation strategy increases a sustainable growth in numbers of everyday citizens trained in Emergency Preparedness.

In addition, the training will include Psychological First Aid and Qualified Mental Health Paraprofessional training. This training will clarify an overall policy and operational structure for providing first aid mental and behavioral health services to an impacted area in
the event of a disaster or crisis.

 

This training will present the importance of organizing disaster behavioral services within emergency preparedness policies,
plans, trainings and exercises. The aim is to discover solutions to issues in the lack of coordinated behavioral health services provided in the event of a disaster, emergency and/or crisis by creating the training opportunity to fulfill employment within this gap of
emergency services.