OhioMHAS Announces Recruitment and Retention Bonuses for Great Minds Program Graduates

For Immediate Release:

November 4, 2024

OhioMHAS Announces Recruitment and Retention Bonuses for Great Minds Program Graduates

Up to $10,000 Available to Individuals Who Work At Least One Year
in Community Behavioral Healthcare

(Columbus, Ohio) —The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) announced today that, as part of the state’s ongoing efforts to increase the number of Ohioans working in the behavioral health field, eligible graduates of the Great Minds Fellowship program are now able to apply for recruitment and retention bonuses totaling $10,000.

The Great Minds Fellowship Expands Programming to Support Mental and Substance Use Services in Ohio

By: Natasha Takyi-Micah, The Center for Community Solutions

The Great Minds Fellowship (GMF) was developed to improve access to community mental health and substance use services to Ohioans. My colleague Kyle Thompson wrote an article examining this new program to support college students and recent graduates in the field financially. Currently, the behavioral health workforce ratio is 380 people in need of services to one provider. The Great Minds Fellowship program aims to recruit and keep behavioral and substance use professionals in the state.

The initiative is a collaboration among the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM), Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE), and Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS).

Three phases the Great minds Fellowship program to support students and graduates

The fellowship program offers academic funding while still in school, student loan help upon graduation, and job retention bonuses. The deadlines are on a rolling basis, first come first served.

Deadline Extended to December 9th to Submit Abstracts for the 2025 National School-Based Health Care Conference

The School-Based Health Alliance is looking for experts in the school-based health care community to present workshops at the 2025 National School-Based Health Care Conference, to be held June 29 - July 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The theme for the conference is “Celebrating 30 Years: Honor the Past, Inspire the Future.”

Abstracts can be submitted for the following categories: 

1. Clinical Practice (primary care, behavioral health, dental, vision, and other specialty services)

2. Business Operations, Sustainability, and Quality Improvement

3. Policy and Partnerships

4. Innovations

5. ‘Be the Change’ Youth Training Program (for youth participants only)