Info for Prospective Fellows

• Site Application Opens - March 1, 2025
• Site Application Deadline - April 15, 2025 
• Submit Site Application Here - (coming March 1st!)

Students with historically marginalized identities are disproportionately impacted by barriers to completing internship.  As the NHMWAC initiative is designed to grow diversity in the behavioral health workforce, the Fellowship Program is designed to provide focused support to reduce barriers typically experienced by diverse students during clinical training, so that they can graduate, join the workforce, and pursue full licensure.   

The NMHWAC WA Team will select Fellows through the Fellowship Application that best meet the spirit of the grant. The grant program is focused on facilitating opportunities for students with historically marginalized to succeed in internship, so that they can graduate, enter the workforce, and attaining full licensure. Sites that host selected Fellows will be considered participating Sites, as long as they meet eligibility criteria. 

Fellows will receive a monthly stipend for the duration of their graduate or doctoral level internship (9-12 months), to help offset the burden of unpaid clinical training. 

The NMHWAC program and it's WA Team will aim to support selected Fellows in overcoming common barriers to completing internship, and increasing the incidence of achieving their graduate or doctoral degree.  Monthly Fellows meetings and quarterly trainings are intended to promote this aim, and Fellow participation is both expected and encouraged.

Fellows will be invited to quarterly trainings hosted by National Council and their partners regarding behavioral mental health training and practice; diversity, equity, and inclusion; best practices in community behavioral health; and other trending topics.

In the spirit of fostering community and camaraderie, Fellows will attend monthly meetings with other NMHWAC WA program Fellows and Candidates to share in both the challenges and successes of developing as behavioral health providers. 

Snapshot of Fellowship Program benefits to Fellows: 

• Monthly stipend during internship.
• Extra support in transitioning into a new clinical role.
• Training on trends in behavioral health.
• Community with others who get it. 

• A Fellow must be enrolled in a master’s or doctorate degree from an accredited program in one of the following behavioral health fields, beginning their clinical training internship between July-September 2025: 
  • Counseling Psychology  
  • Mental Health Counseling   
  • Marriage/Couples and Family Therapy 
  • Social Work 
  • Substance Use/Addiction Counseling 
• A Fellow must locate a historically marginalized identity, and preferably one that matches the client population at the program site where they will be hosted as an intern. The diversity criteria that the NMHWAC program asks about in the Fellow application are: 
  • Language aptitude in addition to English 
  • Gender identity 
  • Sexual orientation 
  • Racial identity 
  • Ethnicity identity 
  • US Veteran status 
  • Socio-economic status in family of origin 
  • Ability/disability status 
  • First generation in higher education status 

A Fellow is required to:

• Comply with all requirements, professional guidelines, ethics, and regulations of the NMHWAC Fellowship Program, Washington state, internship Site, and graduate educational program.
• Continue to accrue hours towards completion of graduate internship and degree. 
• Attend monthly meetings with NMHWAC WA Team. 
• Engage in NMHWAC program activities as requested, such as statewide and national convenings to share learnings and recommendations to best support people in their path to graduation and clinical licensure. 
• Participate in gathering and submission of quarterly programmatic and impact data to track progress toward NMHWAC required program goals, and support site in similar data gathering and submission. NMHWAC will share details on reporting requirements and will strive to minimize administrative burden.  

• Fellows will receive a set stipend amount per month to offset the burden of unpaid internships, as determined by the grant.
• Funding will last the duration of the graduate program’s internship (9-12 months).  

Note to prospective Fellows on site selection: In partnership with the Fellow’s graduate program placement team, the NMHWAC WA Team will support the Fellow in securing a Site placement that meets both school and grant program requirements.

Eligible Sites must be one of the following:   

• Academic medical institution  
• Federally qualified health center  
• Community health care clinic  
• Other nonprofit provider  
• Health care systems (preference to nonprofits) 
• Private/For-Profit Sites: 
  • For-profit entities may be considered as eligible sites if the client population served, payer mix, and mission of the organization aligns with the NMHWAC program. 
  • Generally, for-profit private practices serving primarily privately insured clients are not eligible sites for this program. 
• The site must provide a safe and equitable workplace environment with reasonable opportunities for mentorship and professional development, including time to participate in required NMHWAC program meetings and trainings.  

Register for one of the upcoming Info Sessions For Soon-To-Be-Interns

• February 26, 2025 - 5:30pm-6:30pm
• March 13, 2025 - 5:30pm-6:30pm