The BHWET Grant
The Institute for Women’s Health administers a Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant awarded in July 2025. The purpose of the grant is to increase the number of well- trained behavioral health professionals in the United States. The current BHWET grant mechanism has a focus on understanding the needs of children, adolescents, and young adults at risk for mental health, trauma, and behavioral health disorders. Working with youth often means working with primary caregivers on their own stress and parenting strategies. Funded trainees learn how to operate on interprofessional teams of care, work in integrated primary care settings, and prioritize future employment in high need, high demand settings. This grant also provides funding for the continued training of clinical supervisors. With a career focus on mentoring and training, Dr. Heather Jones has been VCU’s BHWET Project Director since 2017. The current BHWET grant funds trainees in their final year before program completion and is focused on Clinical and Counseling Psychology doctoral students, Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Master’s students, and School Counseling Master’s students. If interested in potentially becoming a future partnering primary care clinic, partnered discipline for training, or funded trainee, please contact Dr. Jones at hjones7@vcu.edu.