NBCC FOUNDATION INC

The NBCC Foundation scholarship program is designed to increase the availability of counselors in underserved areas. The military scholarship encourages counselors with military experience or spouses of those with military experience to continue serving this population.  It provides financial support to service members and veterans, or their spouses, who are currently enrolled in a master's-level CACREP-accredited counseling program and who commit to serving military personnel after graduation. Since 2010, the military scholarship program has awarded 76 scholarships to counseling students in recognition of their commitment to serving military veterans, active duty, and their families and to support their counseling education.

The Mental Health Facilitator (MHF) program is designed to improve access to mental health care within a given community by educating and training professionals, paraprofessionals and lay people in the basics of mental health. The intent is not to create a new mental health profession, but rather to provide individuals with the tools and skills necessary to identify mental health needs, make referrals, and work with and support those in need of mental health care. The MHF program is only introduced at the request of local mental health experts. NBCC's International Capacity Building Department provides a 30-hour core curriculum, which includes a basic structure for teaching helping skills, working with integrity, diversity awareness, suicide prevention, trauma response, and referral and consultation techniques. To ensure cultural appropriateness, the training program is evaluated and modified as needed to fit cultural norms prior to being presented and has also been translated to other languages as needed.

The MHF program has been implemented in Bhutan, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Rwanda, Mexico, Tanzania, Uganda, and Haiti, as well as the United States.

The NBCC Foundation fellowship program is designed to increase the availability of counselors in underserved areas. The Doctoral Minority Fellowship increases access to needed counseling services to underserved populations. It provides financial support to students who are currently enrolled in a doctoral-level CACREP-accredited counseling program and who commit to serving underserved populations after graduation. Since 2013 the Doctoral Minority Fellowship Program has provided 198 students with $20,000 scholarships to support their counseling education.

The NBCC Foundation Mental Health Minority Fellowship program is designed to increase the availability of counselors in underserved areas. It increases access to needed counseling services for underserved populations. It provides financial support to students who are currently enrolled in a master's-level CACREP-accredited counseling program and who commit to serving underserved populations after graduation. Since 2015, the master's-level MFP for mental health counselors has provided 221 students with up to $10,000 to support their counseling education.

The NBCC Foundation Addictions Counselors Minority Fellowship Program is designed to increase the availability of addictions counselors in underserved areas. It increases access to needed addictions counseling services for underserved populations. It provides financial support to students who are currently enrolled in a master's-level addictions counseling program and who commit to providing addictions counseling services to underserved populations after graduation. Since 2015, the master's-level MFP for addictions counselors has provided 260 students with up to $15,000 to support their counseling education.

In its efforts to enhance care for underserved communities and to provide ongoing training to National Certified Counselors (NCCs) and Foundation scholars and fellows, the NBCC Foundation proudly offers the Innovations in Counseling webinar series and the Building Professional Excellence webinar series. NBCCF offers live webinars, many of which are recorded and made available via the CCE Academy platform a few weeks after the live session.

NBCC Foundation hosts the Bridging the Gap Symposium: Eliminating Mental Health Disparities for board certified counselors (NCCs), counseling students, NBCC Foundation fellows and scholars, and other mental health professionals and counselor educators. The conference focuses on topics such as trauma, addictions, and other counseling focuses that inform and benefit those working with populations such as transition-age youth, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and other underserved and underrepresented communities and communities that lack essential mental health care resources. The conference also focuses on professional development of counselors including networking, supervision, research and publishing, and advocacy.

NBCC Foundation supports efforts to build communities' capacity to provide mental health care appropriate to the local culture and resources.

The Foundation has supported regional capacity-building approaches in Jacksonville, Florida; Colorado Springs, Colorado; DeKalb County, Georgia; and Montgomery, Alabama. The approach consists of community identification of gaps, targeted fund development and implementation of the following initiatives:

The Veterans Initiative in Jacksonville: Increasing access to mental health services for veterans.

The Mental Health in Schools Initiative: Increasing mental health support in schools through implementation of the MHF program.

The Colorado Veterans Health and Wellness Agency: Increasing access to mental health services for veterans in Colorado Springs

The Foundation also implements the Mental Health Facilitator Program (MFF) domestically and internationally to increase mental health support tailored for each community.