The Kentucky Department of Postsecondary Education has launched CLIMB 2.0 — Career Ladders in Mental and Behavioral Health — a workforce development initiative designed to prepare high school students for careers in behavioral health.
The program is designed to enable students at eight Kentucky high schools to earn certificates that allow them to enter the behavioral health field upon graduation or continue to postsecondary education, according to an Oct. 28 news release from the department. Three institutions — Hazard (Ky.) Community and Technical College, Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Cumberland and Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Prestonsburg — will pilot the program.
“CLIMB 2.0 represents a strategic leap forward in workforce preparation,” Aaron Thompson, president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, said in the release. “Behavioral health is such an important industry for maintaining the wellness of our citizens, and we need thousands of well-qualified, credentialed Kentuckians to help meet the needs of our communities. CLIMB 2.0 will help us do that.”
Features of CLIMB 2.0 include dual credit courses aligned with postsecondary credentials, summer bridge programs and mentorship placements through the University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health in Hazard.
