What was supposed to be a four-year initiative to get students from UB’s social work department out into schools in Medina, Akron, Alden and Niagara Wheatfield has been adjusted to just one year. It was a decision made following a notice from the U.S. Department of Education that the remaining $3 million in grant funding was cut -- no longer a priority for the federal administration.
“Taking mental health providers out of schools is really a hit to like the front line for mental health for kids, like it's the first place that they access services, it's the first place they're identified,” said Dr. Annahita Ball, an associate professor at UB’s School of Social Work.
She said the program, known as the Buffalo Mental Health Service Professional Fellowship, has a two-fold mission. Getting future licensed social workers real-world experience in areas lacking access to mental health services, but also to recruit people from the community themselves.
“The whole point of the program was to address barriers that prevent people from being prepared to serve rural communities. So those were really critical, and when we lost the funding, that meant that we basically can't operate the program at all,” Ball said. “We don't have the capacity at UB to offer it without the funding. We don't have the ability to offer stipends for students, and we don't have the ability to offer tuition for students.”
The program has enough funding to operate through the end of 2025, but will not be able to reach its goal of training around 40 school social workers.
According to CDC data, more than 60% of communities with a shortage of mental health professionals are rural or partially rural. Ball said the challenges of small-town mental health can be unique as well.
“They might have one large provider, but it could be 45 minutes from a family. Families may not have transportation to do that. They also tend to be in the communities, they're struggling a lot with substance use issues, and so that has family system problems,” Ball remarked. “It also could the kids are also struggling. One of the districts mentioned that they have really high vaping among their kids, and they're kind of trying to figure out what to do about it. And then there are also issues around confidentiality, dual relationships. So, when you have a small community, you might not want to go to the mental health provider because that mental health provider also happens to be good friends with your mom, or something like that happens.”
While the loss in funding means the fellowship as designed will be going away sooner than expected, Ball said she’s hopeful UB will be able to continue some form of partnership with area school districts.
Dr. Ball appeared on an episode of BTPM's "What's Next?" back in January to discuss the program. That full interview can be found here.
