健康

Adequately Training Providers is Key to Improving Indiana’s Healthcare Capacity

Community Health Network (CHN), one of Indiana’s largest healthcare systems, is the largest provider of behavioral health in Central Indiana. High demand for opioid use dependency treatment in Indiana – particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic – and an insufficient supply of healthcare workers trained in addiction – has revealed a critical gap in Indiana’s ability to care for those with co-occurring behavioral health and substance use disorders (SUDs). 

That realization led to a partnership between CHN, Ascend Indiana, Indiana University and the University of Indianapolis. With the help of $376,000 in funding from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, they worked to create the Behavioral Health Academy™, a talent pipeline that provides students with the necessary training to enter a career in which they are equipped to treat both behavioral health concerns and substance use disorder. 

“We’ve already seen that the interns going through our Academy and who have graduated feel far more confident working with individuals when they come in with co-occurring disorders,” said George Hurd, Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at CHN. “They don’t question their skills or their ability. We feel very confident in our Behavioral Health Academy™ students that when they graduate, they will be workforce ready to deal with the most complex cases we have.” 

Additional Posts

健康

Proven School-Based Prevention Programs: One Key to Tackling Addiction to Opioids & Other Drugs

Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Substance use is a significant problem in Indianapolis and across the state, and it often begins early. Intervening during school-age years, even as early as elementary school, has the potential to prevent substance use and put children on a path for success in school and as adults. Fortunately, there are a number of school-based substance use prevention programs backed by strong, scientific evidence for lasting impacts on alcohol, tobacco, prescription opioids and other drugs, too. Many of these programs have also been shown to improve outcomes like academic achievement and attendance and address behavior issues […]

READ MORE
教育

Are Indianapolis Charters and Innovation Network Schools Improving Student Outcomes?

Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) recently released its latest study on academic performance in Indianapolis schools. The study aims to answer an important question: How do charter schools and Innovation Network Schools (which are part of the school district but have full autonomy when it comes to curriculum, hiring, etc.) compare to traditional public schools in their effectiveness at raising student achievement? The results provide strong evidence that Indianapolis charters substantially raise performance—leading to more than 60 additional days of learning in English/language arts and more than 90 additional days of learning […]

READ MORE