$1.3 Million Grant To Fight Opioids Given To John Carroll University

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH — John Carroll University will be studying ways to stem the tide of opioids in Ohio, thanks to a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The grant will be used to train students to help counsel on issues of addiction.

The grant comes specifically from the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program (BHWET), which develops and expands the behavioral health workforce in underserved communities. At John Carroll, special emphasis will be placed on substance use disorder treatment and addressing the addictions and opioid crisis in Ohio.

“This grant will significantly increase John Carroll’s capacity to train students to serve as leaders in the field of integrated behavioral health in medically-underserved communities in Northeast Ohio,” said Nathan Gehlert, Ph.D., assistant professor of Counseling at John Carroll in a statement. Dr. Gehlert will serve as program director. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Beachwood newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

Approximately 60 percent of the grant fund will go to supporting $10,000 stipends for graduate students in John Carroll's Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. The award period runs from Sept. 30, 2017 through Aug. 31, 2021.

Eighty current and future John Carroll students will take part in field-placement and internship programs over a four-year period, thanks to the Moore Counseling and Mediation Services.

“This funding will be transformational for our region; as a Jesuit Catholic University, one of the goals of our professional counseling training program is to address the growing social challenges we face in society,” said John Carroll University Interim President Jeanne Colleran in a statement.

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