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FSU receives $70,000 behavioral health grant

Dylan Pichnarcik

By Dylan Pichnarcik News Editor Framingham State received a $70,000 grant from the Behavioral Health Trust Fund, according to a press release from the Healey-Driscoll administration Dec. 12. Thirty-seven universities and colleges across the Commonwealth received a grant from the trust fund, according to the press release. The grant was secured by professor of psychology and philosophy Deborah McMakin, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Eric Gustafson, and Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education Marilyn Cleary, according to President Nancy Niemi. The grant given to FSU will be used to pay the staff needed to operate the Accelerate the Future (ATF) Cohort Program. This includes a director, an assistant director, two program coordinators, two program advisors, and an administrative assistant, according to Zoe Moore, assistant director of graduate recruitment for cohort programs. ATF offers a “Master’s in Counseling Psychology through Framingham State University and in partnership with ATF family foundation and mental health and behavioral health agencies across the state of Massachusetts,” according to the Framingham State website. According to the Framingham State website, ATF is “a private family foundation that initiated a partnership with FSU to create the most affordable and accessible master’s program in counseling psychology. “These programs meet the Massachusetts requirements for the licensed mental health counselor application. The three-year program is a ‘learn-and-earn’ cohort satellite model of education in which 20 bachelor-level staff at human services agencies throughout Massachusetts keep their existing bachelor-level job while taking courses and conducting their field placement work at their place of employment.” According to McMakin, the program also works to promote the development of the workforce of practicing clinicians in underserved communities. There are currently over 220 students enrolled in the program, according to Moore. The program’s student body is made up of 11 cohorts, with approximately 20 students in each group, Moore said. The program is made up of two education models. The first is a traditional on-campus or hybrid model in which students take courses at Framingham State, according to McMakin. The second is a community-based model in which students take classes at one of FSU’s partner human service agencies such as the New England Center for Children or Children Services of Roxbury, according to McMakin. When the program began in 2022, the ATF family foundation offered 20 full-tuition scholarships to students based on financial need “and they were looking for at least a stated commitment to working with children and families in community health and the importance of that,” McMakin said. Moore said the goal of the program is to “make our master’s in counseling psychology program more accessible to community health workers. We are especially focused on recruiting BIPOC, multilingual, and culturally responsive candidates.” The program has an 88-90% retention rate, according to McMakin. She said she credits the faculty and advisors in the program for the high retention rate. “I think those connections have been really helpful because they know the campus-based program and connect with the students.” McMakin said in addition to the state grant given in December, a federal grant proposal for $2.3 million was submitted in 2023 to facilitate the program's growth. Jennifer Hurley, class of ’06 and professor of counseling psychology, participated in an off-campus cohort with ATF during her graduate work at FSU and returned to the program as an adjunct faculty member. “I started teaching for the ATF cohorts last spring, and taught the course Professional Issues in Counseling and Mental Health in Spring 2024, Fall 2024, and now again this spring. This semester, I am also teaching Psychopathology for a different cohort within the program. I love teaching for the program, and just like on campus, there is such a variety of students with different experiences who all contribute to a rich learning environment,” Hurley said. Hurley took classes that were taught by Framingham State faculty while working at another school. The program fees were taken care of by her employer. “It was an employee benefit through the school I worked for, and without it, I would have never been able to go to graduate school. The program was largely paid for by my employer and the convenience of being on site made this possible for me,” she said. Hurley added, “As a first-generation college graduate, I am proud to be part of a learning community that actively supports students to move forward in their professional careers.” Niemi said, “ATF really helps people from minoritized populations get the certification that they need in order to help the growing populations of people who need behavioral health support. And it’s just a fantastic program that I'm very proud that we have.”

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