Address: 1501 N. Campbell Avenue | PO Box 245017 | Tucson, Arizona 85724 Grant Funds Requested: $716,000 in Y1 and $500,000/year in Y2-4 | Total: $2,216,000 Brief Overview: The University of Arizona (UArizona) will implement a Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals. It is projected to enroll 84 individuals over the four-year project period to become peer support specialists. Graduates will join the behavioral health workforce, with a minimum of 50% of graduates being supported in the Level II Apprenticeship program. UArizona will partner with at least five Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics, and at least 17 experiential learning sites located in Arizona’s high need or rural areas for behavioral health services with a focus on substance use disorder treatment. The project will be led by Todd Vanderah, PhD, head of the Department of Pharmacology in the COM-T and Director of CPAC. The project is an interdisciplinary initiative between the College of Public Health, COM-T, CPAC, the Center for Rural Health, and the Workforce Development Program (WDP) at UArizona. It will leverage WDP’s success in training over 1,164 peer paraprofessionals since 2005 and experience in implementing Project FUTRE (Families Uplifted Through Recovery Education), an effort funded through a HRSA Opioid-Impacted Family Support Program grant in 2020. PeerWORKS will be the first peer support experiential learning and apprenticeship program in rural Arizona. Project Goals: The project goal is to increase the number of peer support specialists by recruiting and training a diverse workforce prepared to serve children, adolescents, and transitional-aged youth as well as work in communities with high behavioral health disorder treatment needs. PeerWORKS will establish relationships with community partners, promote experiential and collaborative training through team-based models of care in integrated, primary care, and interprofessional health settings. Specific Measurable Objectives: Objective 1: By February 1, 2022, create at least 11 experiential training sites for peer support specialists through interdisciplinary training in behavioral health. Objective 2: Enhance didactic and experiential training by developing competencies in primary and integrated team-based trauma-informed care for peer support specialists through Level I and Level II training. By February 1, 2022, implement a pre-service (Level I) educational program to train peer paraprofessionals and a registered, Department of Labor in-service apprenticeship training program (Level II) to place peer support specialists in integrated care settings. Train at least 21 individuals per year and enroll at least 50% of Level I graduates into the Level II apprenticeship program. Objective 3: By February 1, 2022, establish partnerships with at least five organizations operating in seven US-Mexico border and rural Arizona counties to ensure participation from individuals with different sociocultural backgrounds and provide trainees opportunities for field placements, community education, career development, and job placement. Objective 4: Use technology integration in peer support specialist training programs, including telehealth services, digital health literacy, and distance learning to train at least 21 individuals per year. Objective 5: Reduce financial barriers by providing support to at least 21 trainees per year via tuition/fees, supplies, and stipend support.