Center for Rural Behavioral Health one step closer to training clinic

Feb. 9—Minnesota State University's Center for Rural Behavioral Health is one step closer to a community-facing mental health training clinic.

That's the plan if lawmakers pass DFLer and Mankato Rep. Luke Frederick's bill that would appropriate a one-time amount of $1.5 million from the general fund for its establishment.

The bill was heard in the House's Human Services Finance Committee Thursday in its only committee stop and now waits for its Senate companion to be introduced before its next steps.

The training clinic would be the next phase for the Center for Rural Behavioral Health.

The first was its academic research center that examines behavioral health workforce issues in rural communities.

The training clinic would serve two purposes, said Center for Rural Behavioral Health Director Thad Shunkwiler.

First, it would allow students within the university's five behavioral health programs to get an on-campus training experience, which Shunkwiler said would help recruit new students into the program.

Second, it would provide affordable mental health services to the community.

"I think if you were to ask people around town who have children or themselves are struggling with mental health, the wait times that they have to wait to get seen, our goal is to add one more resource so maybe that wait time can shrink, or maybe we can reach a community that hasn't been served," Shunkwiler said.

The training center would provide mental health therapy, diagnostic assessments, psychotherapy and potentially chemical health services and medication management and prescriptions down the road.

Shunkwiler said the center would keep their services affordable in a few ways, adding that they are committed to serving everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

The center would bill patients' third party payers or insurance if they have those services.

But Shunkwiler said the center being staffed by students would also make it more affordable.

While the model isn't completely settled yet, Shunkwiler said students staffing the program would likely be compensated through graduate assistantships, which would provide them with a tuition waiver so they wouldn't have the cost of attending the graduate program as well as a stipend.

Student Body President Emma Zellmer, who testified during the hearing, said the training center would provide students with more mental health services.

"We would be able to send students who we can't see on campus to this clinic, which would be hopefully near campus to be seen there, opening up more opportunities for students to be seen here in their new home and community," she said.

She also added it would provide unique, real-world experience for students in the program, and that it'll provide opportunities to those underrepresented in the field and who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford the education.

"It'll really open up opportunities for students who are from rural communities coming to Mankato to study to go back and practice in those communities as well as anywhere else in Minnesota," she said.

During the hearing, lawmakers asked how the center's funding would be sustainable if the bill is only asking for a one-time appropriation.

Shunkwiler said once they're up and running, they'll be able to tap into existing funding streams like grants and federal dollars aimed directly at clinic operations.

Frederick said MSU's diverse student population would play a role in growing a diverse mental health workforce.

"When we talk about creating the mental health workforce of tomorrow, we're talking about a student body that's already diverse," he said.

He added that he frequently hears about the need for increased access to mental health care in the community.

"When it comes to the need for mental health care, there's a lot of conversations that I have with constituents, people from the Mankato area, and mental health care is absolutely one of the top things that I hear from people when it comes to those needs," he said.

Shunkwiler said if the bill is passed, his goal is to have the training center up and running in six to seven months.

Frederick said he's had conversations with his colleagues in the Senate about bipartisan support and that he's hoping to pass the bill as a standalone piece of legislation.