June 17, 2025
AIɫɫ’s Dean of the College of Health & Human Services, Dr. Christine Raber, recently served as a panelist at the second annual Behavioral Health Summit hosted by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce at National Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. During her session, “State of Ohio’s Behavioral Health Workforce & Innovative Opportunities for Growth”, Dr. Raber shared information about the Behavioral Health Workforce Accelerator – the university’s innovative initiative to address behavioral workforce challenges and the use of the Great Minds Fellowship grant to implement the initiative.
Within the College of Health & Human Services, the SSU Department of Rehabilitation Sciences offers an online Behavioral Health Paraprofessional Program (BHPP) where students can earn 13 college credits to receive behavioral health credentials including Chemical Dependency Counselor Assistant, Qualified Mental/Behavioral Health Specialist, and Peer Recovery Supporter. Currently there are over 40 students who are enrolled in the program. The majority of the students in the BHPP are currently working in recovery and treatment organizations in the region and throughout the state of Ohio, and are looking to advance their paraprofessional level work within their agencies.
The BHPP is funded in part through the Great Minds Fellowship grant as the Ohio Department of Higher Education awarded funding to SSU to support students looking to make a difference and contribute to growing Ohio’s behavioral workforce.
The Behavioral Health Summit brings together relevant members of Ohio’s healthcare industry and private-sector employers to discuss shared goals and best practices for behavioral health benefits and challenges in Ohio’s workforce.
Offering professional programs at the associate, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degree levels, the College of Health & Human Services at SSU trains graduates through program-specific integrated laboratory and practice experiences in health and human service settings to enter in-demand careers. To learn more about these programs, visit shawnee.edu/chhs.