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UK College of Social Work

UK College of Social Work Announces New Integrated Behavioral Health Fellowship

The University of Kentucky College of Social Work is pleased to announce the addition of the Integrated Behavioral Health Fellowship to its academic offerings. The fellowship is part of the college’s ongoing commitment to workforce development in the social services space.

The Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) Fellowship is designed to bolster the healthcare workforce by cultivating clinicians prepared to meet the complex healthcare needs of individuals experiencing co-occurring physical and behavioral health challenges. The fellowship is lead by the UK College of Social Work and offered in partnership with the College of Medicine, UK Healthcare Family Medicine (Turfland Clinic) and Center for Interprofessional & Community Health Education.

IBH Fellows will engage in a comprehensive, participatory training curriculum with five components designed to help them develop a holistic and practical workforce skillset. The components include academic courses on topics such as healthcare policy and communication technology, clinical simulation exercises, clinical field rotations, supervision from a trained and credentialed IBH professional, and a guided research experience.

The IBH Fellowship is open to undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Social Work. Fellows will receive full coverage of tuition fees and healthcare for the one-year fellowship term and a $20,000 stipend. In addition, IBH Fellows will be eligible for additional funding support to attend trainings, conferences, and other relevant skills development initiatives.

UK Cost of Attendance

UK Tuition and Fees

UK College of Social Work

UK College of Social Work Announces New Future-Focused eService Fellowship Program

The University of Kentucky College of Social Work is pleased to announce the addition of the eService Fellowship Program to its academic offerings. The eService Fellowship is part of the college’s ongoing commitment to workforce development in the social services space and will officially begin in the 2023-2024 academic term.

The eService Fellowship is an interdisciplinary initiative that supports graduate students in exploring innovative ways to utilize cutting-edge technologies which shape social and behavioral health services. eService Fellows will examine current trends and deficits in technology deployment, identify ways that technologies can improve social and behavioral health service delivery, and conduct research on novel approaches to service delivery models.

eService Fellows will participate in a host of prescribed learning and enrichment activities. Each fellow will also be assigned an eService project in one of three eService tracks: Child and Family Services, Military Behavioral Health, or Social/Behavioral Health Workforce Wellness. Fellows will work on this project in collaboration and consultation with faculty, staff, and/or other students across the institution.  

The eService Fellowship is open to doctoral students in the College of Social Work. Fellows will receive full coverage of tuition and fees for the two-year fellowship term (Fall and Spring semesters) and a $20,000 stipend per academic year. 

UK Cost of Attendance

UK Tuition and Fees

UK College of Social Work

UK Social Work BASW Grad Named 2023 Sullivan Award Winner

The below snippet is pulled from an article originally published by UKNow.

A University of Kentucky College of Social Work graduate is among three individuals who received UK’s highest honor for humanitarian efforts — the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.

The Sullivan Award was established by the New York Southern Society in 1925 and was named in honor of its first president, Algernon Sydney Sullivan. Sullivan was a prominent businessman and philanthropist who was highly regarded as one who “reached out with both hands in constant helpfulness” to others. The Sullivan Award recognizes those “who exhibit Sullivan’s ideals of heart, mind, and conduct as evince a spirit of love for and helpfulness to other men and women.”

At UK, the Sullivan Award is bestowed each year on two graduating seniors and one citizen who has a connection to the university. This year’s Sullivan Award student winners are Alex Degen and Jessica Lamb. Christine Smith is the citizen’s award recipient.

Alex Degen

Degen, of Readington Township, New Jersey, will graduate this May with a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from the Martin School of Public Policy and an undergraduate certificate in financial planning from the Gatton College of Business and Economics. He earned a BA degree in social work in 2021 from the College of Social Work and a BS in business administration in 2022 from the Gatton College of Business and Economics.

Degen is recognized for both his academic and athletic accomplishments as pitcher for UK’s baseball team, the Bat Cats, which most notably include the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll (2019), First-Team All-Coastal Plain League (2019), Dean’s List (Spring 2020), SEC Academic Honor Roll (2020, 2021, 2022), SEC Community Service Team (2020, 2021), 2021 UK Athletics Frank G. Ham Society of Character Inductee, SEC Academic Honor Roll (2022), and Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) 2022-2023.

Recently, Degen was nominated by the SEC for their Brad Davis Award, an award that recognizes the outstanding and meritorious service achievements of one male and one female student-athlete from each institution during his or her entire college career. After two people have been nominated from each school, the SEC then decides on one female and one male from the entire 28 (14 male and 14 female) people who were selected. These two people will be honored as the SEC Male and Female Community Leaders of the Year at the SEC Conference in Destin, Florida every summer. The award each year is given in the form of a certificate of merit noting the student-athlete’s accomplishments and a postgraduate scholarship to be used beyond the baccalaureate degree for pursuit of a graduate or professional degree.

In addition to his numerous academic and athletic achievements, Degen’s passion for faith and service to others takes high priority in his life. Degen credits his parents as role models and instilling in him a heart for giving back to the community.

Degen began volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House of the Bluegrass his first year at UK. He has also served at other local non-profits such as Gods’ Pantry and the Miracle League, and has mentored children from local elementary schools regularly. Degen’s’ impact reaches far beyond the organizations he serves. His leadership has encouraged many of his peers to get involved in the community, creating a culture of servant leadership among UKs’ student-athlete population.

Degen says one of his greatest opportunities as a student-athlete is through UK’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Through a partner platform, SCORE International, he was able to participate in a trip to the Dominican Republic He said this trip was a powerful way for him to combine his passion for baseball and serving in a community where baseball is a driving force. He traveled to different cities and baseball fields and went into villages inviting children to baseball camps organized by the FCA.

“Through the FCA platform, I’ve been able to guest speak and teach at over 50 different schools and small groups in Lexington and surrounding counties and have also individually led middle school and high school FCA small groups on a regular basis,” Degen said. “Leading these small groups and speaking to the youth has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.”

Degen is considering his career options once he leaves UK. He also plans to take online MBA courses at Cedarville University outside Dayton, Ohio.

UK College of Social Work

UK Social Work Student Pens Op-Ed About Combating Period Poverty

This article was originally published by UKNow.

The following op-ed about the student-run organization Take a Tampon is part of a series during Inclusive Excellence Awareness Month, highlighting the voices around campus that make this university special. Kotomi Yokokura is a Chellgren Fellow and a student in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. 

“Too many students have to roll up toilet paper to use in place of proper hygiene products.”

When asked about the need for free and accessible menstrual hygiene products on the University of Kentucky’s campus, this was just one of many concerns raised by students.

My journey in advocating for free and accessible menstrual hygiene products started in the spring semester of my freshman year. I had experienced a period emergency, scrambling to buy a pad from a metal dispenser on campus, only to be met with empty shelves. Like many other students, I was forced to create a makeshift pad out of wadded-up toilet paper, hoping to make it through my next hour-long lecture.

Concerningly, this event is common among those experiencing period poverty.

Period poverty is the lack of accessibility or affordability of menstrual hygiene products, education and associated facilities. As a result of this experience, individuals may resort to reusing old products and repurposing rags or cardboard in place of proper menstrual hygiene products. However, this ingenuity can lead to negative mental and physical health consequences, ranging from Toxic Shock Syndrome and infections to increased rates of depression and anxiety. Period poverty can also bleed into one’s academic achievement, with 84% of U.S. teens reporting that they have missed class or know someone who has missed class due to the lack of menstrual hygiene products.

After learning about the prevalence and effects of period poverty, I started Take a Tampon, an initiative to provide free and accessible menstrual hygiene products to students and our greater community. This initiative, which began with a couple of rogue baskets around campus stocked with donations from friends and family, grew as messages of student support and need flowed in. Currently, Take a Tampon has five basket locations across campus and has provided over 1,000 menstrual hygiene products to UK students.

However, period poverty does not just affect students at the university. Conversations with Kentucky teachers and school social workers all ended with a common concern: students throughout our state face barriers to accessing menstrual hygiene products and education. As a result, Take a Tampon provides menstrual education to local high school students and advocates for state legislation addressing experiences of period poverty. In the past couple of years, I have met with Kentucky representatives and senators to advocate for free and accessible menstrual hygiene products in K-12 public schools and the removal of the pink tax.

As the end of the semester is approaching, Take a Tampon is holding a donation drive for menstrual hygiene products. Donated menstrual hygiene products will help increase the basket locations at UK and provide products to high school students at the Family Care Center. Donations will be collected until April 28 on the 6th floor of the Patterson Office Tower and in the Lewis Honors Lounge in the Lewis Honors College. If you wish to donate outside of those times, please visit https://tatampon.wixsite.com/website/donations.

‘Behind the Blue’: College of Social Work Dean Jay Miller on burnout, importance of self-care

This article was originally published by UKNow.

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the so-called “helping” professions — those who work on the front lines in assisting others. Social workers, teachers, police, firefighters, doctors, nurses and other health care workers are among the many professionals who often face the most stressful situations in the workplace. They’re also often the ones who see the most prevalent risks associated with professional burnout, when a practitioner becomes increasingly inoperative based on the circumstances and pressures of what they’re doing.

Often, these workers are portrayed in our culture as tireless and self-sacrificing in challenging situations. Yet despite the portrayal, many of these professionals struggle to engage in adequate self-care, leading to increased incidences of burnout and job fatigue.

Justin “Jay” Miller, Ph.D., dean and Dorothy A. Miller Research Professor in Social Work Education at the UK College of Social Work, has been working hard to change that situation. Deeply passionate about self-care for those helping professionals, Miller created a lab at UK devoted to researching and improving self-care.

Through the work of The Self-Care Lab, Miller and his colleagues began to learn that social workers and other helping professionals engage with and talk about self-care in silos, which often leads to a lack of communication and information sharing between departments and institutions.

In response, Miller launched the Global Self-Care Initiative. This international partnership network, which has grown to over 17 countries, focuses on cultural nuances of professional workplaces and how self-care can help mitigate the stress caused by these workplaces.

On this episode of “Behind the Blue,” Dean Miller discusses the distinction of the concept of self-care vs. what it often is, how the pandemic revealed structural issues that had long been in place, the similarities of self-care needs in workspaces around the globe, and more.

“Behind the Blue” is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of “Behind the Blue” each week. UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue,” email BehindTheBlue@uky.edu or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue. Transcripts for this or other episodes of “Behind the Blue” can be downloaded from the show’s blog page.

To discover what’s wildly possible at the University of Kentucky, click here.

UK College of Social Work

UK Social Work Celebrates Graduation of Army MSW Cohort at Fort Sam Houston

This article was originally published by UKNow.

On April 14, 2023, the United States Army and the University of Kentucky College of Social Work (CoSW) will honor 26 graduating officers during a ceremony at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, acknowledging the officers’ successful completion of the Army-UK Master of Social Work (MSW) program.

Four of the graduating officers will enter practice in the Army National Guard, two will practice in the Air Force and 20 will practice as active-duty Army social workers. Additionally, all graduates will enter a post-graduate internship at an Army, Air Force, Army National Guard or Veteran Affairs Military Treatment Facility.

The UK College of Social Work has offered this one-of-a-kind master’s degree in partnership with the Department of Defense since October 2016. The goal is to develop well-qualified clinical social workers to fill positions across military service branches.

“The Army-University of Kentucky MSW program educates over two-thirds of all new social workers entering active-duty Army each year and provides an essential function to help maintain the readiness and enhance the well-being of our military service members, family members, and retirees,” said Lt. Col. Teresa Murray, director of the Army-UK MSW program. “We appreciate the collaboration and support we receive from the University of Kentucky as we work together to meet the needs of the Department of Defense.”

“As a land-grant institution, our commitment to armed forces education is codified via federal legislation,” Jay Miller, dean of the CoSW, said. “Our college is extremely proud — and honored — to actualize this commitment via our Army MSW program. These successful graduates are the embodiment of that commitment.” 

The full-time, 60-hour MSW degree program operates within the Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston. Curriculum is delivered in a condensed format over 14 continuous months of study, and all classes are administered through the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston campus.

UK College of Social Work

Op-ed: Honor CPS workers during Child Abuse Prevention Month

The following op-ed about Child Abuse Prevention Month was published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on April 6, 2023. Jay Miller is the dean of the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month — a time that families and communities recognize the importance of working together to prevent child abuse and neglect.

There is certainly a lot of work to do.   

In federal fiscal year 2021, child protective service (CPS) agencies across the United States (U.S.) received nearly 4,000,000 referrals alleging child abuse to over 7,000,000 children. In Kentucky, CPS received 84,109 referrals — a referral rate of 82.8 per 1,000 children. Approximately, 9,600 young people were found to be first-time victims of child maltreatment.

Against that backdrop, I want to take time to recognize those tasked with stepping in when prevention efforts fail — CPS workers.

The work of CPS workers is unheralded, misunderstood and underappreciated. They are tasked with doing an impossible job. They respond to allegations that most of us couldn’t fathom. Neglect. Physical abuse. Sexual abuse. And yes — child fatalities. When societal efforts to ensure the well-being of children fall apart, we (literally) call CPS workers to pick up the pieces. 

To understand the daunting tasks of child protection, one needs to think about the process.

Someone calls a central hotline with a concern. If it meets investigatory criteria, a CPS worker is dispatched. In most instances there is very little, if any, information about who or what is in the home. The very fact that CPS has been called, in most cases, indicates the worker may be walking into a potentially dangerous situation.  

Once at the home, workers start prodding and asking questions. Tough questions. If the responses are not detailed enough, workers ask more questions. More prodding. People may become agitated with workers; workers may become agitated themselves. Workers stop, rewind and try again.

Let’s face it, no one wants to have a CPS worker knock on their door. And, frankly, CPS workers would rather not either. But initiating abuse investigations is a necessity of child protection.  

If warranted, a child may be removed from their home. It is important to note that other service systems, namely the courts, are involved in making decisions about removals. Contrary to any sentiment expressing otherwise, there is NO “good” way to remove a child. Workers provide services to children and families with the hope, in most cases, that kids and parents can be reunified. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. This is a true, be it unfortunate, fact of child protection.

As with most things, context is important. CPS workers provide services in a contemporary context of dizzying misconceptions. To answer a few:

No, CPS workers don’t get paid more if they remove kids. Child removals are actually a lot more work and are a last resort.

No, CPS workers cannot just go into a home a remove a child. Only police officers can do that. CPS workers must seek permission from a judge prior to removals.

No, CPS workers are not “happy” to remove kids. I have been on both sides — I was removed from my home and put in out of home care AND I was a CPS worker for several years. Removing a child is the most difficult, heart-wrenching action a CPS worker will take.   

I could go on — but you get the point.  

In addition to misperceptions, there are other challenges. Community needs related to child protection far outweigh available resources. Poor public perceptions of their work make protecting children even more difficult. CPS workers experience inordinately high rates of workplace stress, burnout, vicarious trauma, and post-traumatic stress, among other inimical conditions. Indeed, as recent research has suggested, there are few social service jobs harder than child protection.    

To be clear, there is always room for improved service delivery. When an entity, such as child protective services, is tasked with allaying and/or assuaging every instance of child maltreatment, indubitably, things will go wrong. Without question, we should all work to ensure that children and families receive the best, most innovative services available. Period. And we should also ensure that we support those tasked with delivering that service.

So, I issue a clarion call to all Kentuckians: recognize that child abuse prevention is not a someone issue, it is an everyone issue. As such, everyone should be involved in the solution. Part of that solution is to honor, appreciate and support CPS workers — not just in April, but every month.

UK Social Work’s Kentucky Kinship Resource Center Receives National Award for Support Program

This article was originally published by UKNow.

The Kentucky Kinship Resource Center (KKRC), housed in the College of Social Work (CoSW) at the University of Kentucky, has been named “Parent Group of the Year” by the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC).

The award is designed to honor parent associations and groups for their excellence in supporting adoptive, foster and kinship families.

“Our program staff work tirelessly to ensure that families across Commonwealth have access to innovative service and supports,” Jay Miller, dean of CoSW, said. “We are extremely excited and proud that those efforts are being recognized in this extraordinary way.”

The CoSW has an established history of supporting kinship caregivers across the Commonwealth.

From conducting research to launching programming, the college is on a mission to connect relatives caring for youth with an array of services designed to meet their unique needs.

In an effort to provide much needed support for kinship families, in March 2020, the college launched the Kentucky Kinship Resource Center (KKRC).

Through education and training programs, peer support and mentoring initiatives, and broad-based advocacy, the center provides a continuum of resources for kinship caregivers.

In collaboration with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), KKRC also offers the Kentucky Kinship Information, Navigation and Support Program (KY-KINS). 

Families being served by KY-KINS have access to innovative peer support and mentoring initiatives. Additionally, Kinship Peer Supporters, who are caregivers themselves, undergo the comprehensive training to provide the best support possible.

KY-KINS is based on the premise that by connecting kinship caregivers to a supportive network of trained professionals, the overall well-being of the entire family will improve, and the placement of children in the home will become safer and more stable.

Ultimately, young people need caregivers, and caregivers need support.

“Kinship care is vital to the child and family service array in Kentucky,” Miller explained. As such, we will remain fervently committed to ensuring these families have the supports and services necessary for their well-being.”

Founded by adoptive parents in 1974, NACAC works to ensure all children in foster care have permanent, loving families and those families have the support they need.

The NACAC will present the award at its annual conference from July 18-21, in Kansas City, Missouri.

You can learn more about the College of Social Work here and the Kentucky Kinship Resource Center here.

UK College of Social Work

‘Your Voice Matters.’ UK Social Work Junior Creating Change Through Education, Advocacy

This article was originally published by UKNow.

What does it mean to be a changemaker?

Kotomi Yokokura has been asking herself that very question for as long as she can remember.

“Understanding the pain of those whose voices are overlooked ignited my need to advocate,” she said. “I knew I needed to utilize my voice to amplify their stories and create change.”

As a young girl growing up in Northern Kentucky, Yokokura remembers always being passionate about advocating for the most vulnerable members of her community.

“My dream job in high school was to be able to aid those experiencing homelessness more fully,” she explained. “At that time, I thought the only way to do that was through volunteering.”

In 2020, Yokokura enrolled at the University of Kentucky — and so began her search for a way to turn passion into purpose.

“I didn’t begin my journey at UK in social work. Instead, I was a special education major during my first semester,” she explained. “Thankfully, a conversation with an advisor opened my eyes to the field of social work — a major that directly aligned with my passion for combating the experience of poverty.”

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Yokokura’s dedication toward advocacy only grew after discovering the College of Social Work (CoSW).

She knew she could apply the tools her professors and advisors would give her toward anything she wanted to do in the future.

But Yokokura didn’t hesitate to put those skills into practice.

During her freshman year, she founded the “Take a Tampon” initiative — hosting a donation drive to ensure ample supply of hygiene products across campus.

After much research, Yokokura realized how prevalent period poverty is and how detrimental it can be to not only one’s mental and physical health, but their academic success.

She also sought collaborative partnerships with other institutions, including the University of Louisville, to address this issue on higher education campuses, in low-income middle and high schools, and at homeless shelters across the state.

Recently, Yokokura met with State Sen. Harper Angel, the sponsor of a bill providing menstrual products in schools and created research documents to contribute to the cause.

“Interestingly, while many of my advocacy efforts often directly affect women, I hadn’t set out to target women’s issues or rights,” Yokokura explained. “Instead, my passion for proactively working to achieve change stems from the stigmas often associated with these experiences. I understand societal stigmas can lead topics to be overlooked — increasing the need for leaders and action.”

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As communities and individuals face continued threats of discrimination, marginalization and violence, the CoSW is resolved to uphold its long-standing commitment to core social work values and principles of social justice.

Students in the program gain the knowledge and skills needed for careers in social work and social justice, with curriculum spanning advocacy, crisis intervention, social policies and more.

Through her time at UK, Yokokura also hopes to address common misconceptions about the field of social work.

“As a social work major, I have turned the obstacle of negative community reactions as a motivating factor for my work. I work harder as I want to help communities to see the impact social work has,” she explained. “This obstacle also empowers me to enter into fields, such as policy research, social work often does not have a presence in. I want to combat the misconceptions held by demonstrating the benefit social work can have in all fields.”

Yokokura’s work in the community also includes research on two other important societal issues.

She assisted with research on the migration of those experiencing homelessness in relation to community services available with Andrew Sullivan, Ph.D., (a graduate of the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration) and completed a study on the perceptions and utilization of social support among men experiencing homelessness with Natalie Pope, Ph.D., (CoSW). 

Yokokura has a published peer-reviewed journal article on homelessness in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Cityscape”. Additionally, she contributed to  a survey research project through the UK Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment that explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted college students’ psychosocial health, formal and informal support utilization, employment, food insecurity, and social behaviors, which was published by the Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs.

“The people at the University of Kentucky have been instrumental in both my academic and advocacy efforts — going out of their way to help a student they may not have known,” she said. “The faculty I have had the pleasure of working with have gone out of their way to empower my pursuits in the field of research, nonprofit work and advocacy. Without these individuals, I would not be where I am today.”

But when asked, Yokokura said, she’s most proud of her awareness and prevention work surrounding sexual assault.

“My passion for this realm stems from my personal experiences with these topics,” she explained. “My understanding of the shame, loneliness and lasting effects evoked my need to advocate.”

Recently, Yokokura’s efforts consisted of researching the prevalence of these experiences and testifying about her own experience in support of HB 288.

“Rep. Tipton proposed HB 288, a bill related to educator misconduct. After discussing this bill with Kentucky Youth Advocates, an advocacy organization where I am a practicum student at, I had the opportunity to meet with Rep. Tipton and was invited to testify on this bill.”

Yokokura understands that change isn’t made within the confinements of comfort, so she embraced her apprehensions and shared her story — hoping it would resonate with others, and it did.

“I am most proud of this advocacy effort, because HB 288 not only passed the House Education Committee, but the full House of Representatives as well,” she said. “I am honored to have been able to tell my story to help aid the safety of Kentucky’s students.”

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What does it mean to be a changemaker? By definition, it is someone who is taking creative action to solve social injustices.

In every sense of the word, Yokokura is a changemaker.

Now, she is encouraging fellow students to take advantage of opportunities to be the change they want to see in the world.

“No matter who you are or what you are studying, your voice and efforts will be impactful,” Yokokura said. “Lastly, self-care is so important. Take time for yourself and recharge. This is something I am still learning, but it truly makes a difference in my ability to lead advocacy work and become the change I dream of.”

UK College of Social Work

UK Social Work, CAFE, Cooperative Extension, 4-H Partner To Support Youth Mental Health

This article was originally published by UKNow.

A new collaborative initiative at the University of Kentucky is working to better support children and teens struggling with mental health challenges with the help of summer camps, which provide positive experiences by building social skills and creating supportive networks.

Poor mental health among young people is a severe and growing problem across the U.S.  

In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 36% of adolescents experienced persistent sadness or hopelessness, and more than 15% experienced a major depressive episode in 2019.

To better support the well-being of young people, the College of Social Work (CoSW) has partnered with the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment (CAFE) and UK Cooperative Extension Service to launch the 4-H Camp Behavioral Health Fellow Program. 

The initiative works to hire and train qualified behavioral health specialists — ultimately increasing the capacity to address mental health issues of campers. 

“We are grateful for this new partnership in the spirit of collaboration through the UK Engage program,” Nancy Cox, dean of CAFE, said. “The College of Social work is indispensable to our 4-H program.” 

The 4-H Camp Behavioral Health Fellow Program focuses on camp preparedness, educational outreach and engagement, real-time incident response, and service connection and communication.  

Fellows will be tasked with educating camp counselors on the signs of and strategies surrounding mental and behavioral health issues, as well as be available to respond to incidents that occur during camp. They will also work with young people, their caregivers and camp personnel to coordinate services prior to and after attending camp experiences.

Fellows, who will be enrolled in the graduate program in the CoSW, will participate in a variety of practice-oriented activities, including multi-modal training, field practicum and educational continuum. The training will also include behavioral and mental health field rotations, camp-based simulation exercises and 4-H research experiences. 

“This innovative program will go a long way in bolstering behavioral and mental health supports to young people, caregivers and communities across the Commonwealth,” Jay Miller, dean of the College of Social Work, said. “What’s more, this approach embodies the principles set forth by Provost DiPaola’s Quality Enhancement Plan, Transdisciplinary Educational approaches to advance Kentucky.”    

The first cohort of 4-H Camp Behavioral Health Fellows will begin the field portion of the program this summer.