The Mental Health and Substance Use clinic in downtown Vernon. (file photo/Vernon Matters Staff)

By Liam Verster

Mental Health and Addiction Training

Health care training program expanding into mental health, addictions

Jul 31, 2024 | 12:39 PM

A program offering skills training and connections to job opportunities has been expanded into mental-health and addictions care.

B.C.’s Health Career Access Program (HCAP) has been enhanced to offer education and paid work experience in the mental health and addictions care sector by offering a fully funded certificate program and an educational stipend.

“Meeting the needs of those living with mental-health and addictions challenges requires a skilled and diverse workforce,” Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, said.

“Providing no-cost training encourages people from all walks of life to help us fill essential roles. This ensures that people are supported by passionate professionals who are equipped with the skills to offer much-needed support.”

The first group of students in the expanded program started their training this past May, and the second group is set to begin in September.

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“HCAP has already been successful in training health-care support workers throughout the province, and the expansion to include mental-health and addictions care is a critical step forward,” Harwinder Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Monashee, stated.

“It ensures more compassionate people will get the necessary training they need to enter this essential field which, in turn, means more patients and their families will be better supported when seeking treatment.”

The B.C. Government says the intent of the expanded program is to train as many as 500 students across the province.

HCAP graduates will have foundational knowledge and hands-on experience to take into critical roles in mental health and addiction sector, such as peer-support or outreach-support workers.

“The expansion of the Health Career Access Program is a crucial step in supporting the delivery of mental-health and substance-use services in Interior Health,” Richard Harding, vice-president of clinical and support services for IH, said.

“Health-care support workers are an essential part of our mental-health and substance-use care team. This program not only helps us meet immediate staffing needs but also invests in the future of our health-care system by providing opportunities for passionate individuals to enter the field.”

The program originally launched in September of 2020 to offer training opportunities for health care services in the long-term care and acute care settings, and has since trained more than 8,000 people.

The HCAP expansion was supported by a provincial investment of $43.3-million over three years.