From Pilot to Progress: Outcomes of the Boost! Program

Following a statewide assessment in 2022, the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) discovered a significant shortage of behavioral health professionals in Virginia. They also found that the cost of clinical supervision was a significant barrier for those seeking licensure to help fill this gap.

Students working toward becoming licensed behavioral health professionals must first complete a required number of Clinical and Supervision hours, and typically they have to pay out-of-pocket for that time, which can add up to tens of thousands of dollars. In response, VHCF developed an innovative program called “Boost!” to cover the cost of those students requiring supervision.

While the Virginia General Assembly, through the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS), provided the majority of the funding for the Boost! Program, there was still a waitlist of additional individuals seeking their licensure. Recognizing the local community’s need for more access to mental health services, a group of funders in the greater Richmond area came together to help, collectively committing a significant sum of funding to support and expand the pilot.

 

And the outcomes for funders, those implementing the program, and participants alike have been overwhelmingly positive.

According to Trinette Randolph, the Boost! Program Manager at VHCF, there have been 151 people statewide who have gone through the program, received funding support for their supervision requirements, and are now fully licensed. Trinette anticipates they’ll reach 200 by the end of the year, with even more on the horizon.
Those licensed include individuals in 45 Virginia localities, establishing a growing, geographically diverse pipeline of newly licensed mental health professions.
The areas of licensure are also diverse, including 91 licensed Residents in Counseling, 5 licensed Marriage and Family Therapists, and 55 licensed as Supervisees in Social Work.
Rachel Reese, the new CEO of VHCF, attributed these successes to the ongoing coordination and collaboration between funders and the shared commitment to substantively addressing a community problem.

“Thanks to the thoughtfulness, energy, and coordination already invested in this effort, we've been able to continue the partnership seamlessly,” Reese said. “This collective support has enabled a truly innovative and unified approach to addressing Virginia’s behavioral health workforce shortage in a focused and strategic way. The funder teams have been remarkably supportive and engaged. It's truly a gift.”

VHCF has also been able to identify and swiftly address unexpected issues that have arisen as a part of the program’s implementation.

“There are some people who have significant test anxiety when preparing to take the required licensure exam,” Trinette said. “So when people asked if we could offer exam prep, we began researching exam prep resources and ultimately met the need by offering services free of charge.”

Counselors and social workers take their exams at different times, so making sure they were providing exam preparation opportunities to meet those different schedules was crucial, as well.

VHCF also discovered that some who might qualify for Boost! weren’t fully aware of the licensure requirements and pathway to get there. Once again, VHCF found a solution.

“Some people were graduating and didn’t know what came next or that those requirements cost money,” Trinette explained. “So we developed what we call a ‘Roadmap to Licensure’ for each profession capturing the different rules and requirements and to help them navigate the licensure process more smoothly.”

There was also another issue that needed addressing: with such a large group of funders supporting the Boost! Initiative, what would the reporting process look like?

Traditionally, a nonprofit that receives grant funding is required to complete an evaluation that provides the funder with information about how the funds were spent, the impact of the program, and other metrics.

But how would VHCF deliver this required data to so many different players?

“Once we committed funds, we immediately set about coming up with the evaluation for this collaborative funding,” said Susan Davenport, the chair of Jenkins Foundation Board at the time. “How do we have a common evaluation to see the impact of this funding?”

So the different funders worked with VHCF to arrive at a solution.

“We wanted to make sure that VHCF didn’t have to submit an evaluation tracking the program’s progress to a bunch of different organizations,” explained Reginald Gordon, the President and CEO of Richmond Memorial Health Foundation. “So we determined the essential data points that we all require in our evaluation process and we arrived at something streamlined.”

Now, with the combined support of regional funders, a collaborative commitment to ensuring efficiency, and a focus on addressing emerging needs while preparing for the future, VHCF and Boost! are well on their way to meeting their initial goal and growing beyond it.

As we continue to work together to improve the behavioral health professional pipeline, each Boost! participant represents a new opportunity for an individual, renewed hope for those in need, and a brighter future for our community.