{"id":33052,"date":"2025-12-02T16:01:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T00:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/?post_type=news&#038;p=33052"},"modified":"2025-12-02T16:01:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T00:01:54","slug":"nevada-leaders-celebrate-senate-bill-165-and-kickoff-of-childrens-behavioral-health-workforce-efforts","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/news\/2025\/12\/nevada-leaders-celebrate-senate-bill-165-and-kickoff-of-childrens-behavioral-health-workforce-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada Leaders Celebrate Senate Bill 165 and Kickoff of Children\u2019s Behavioral Health Workforce Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>State, higher education, and community partners gathered to celebrate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leg.state.nv.us\/App\/NELIS\/REL\/83rd2025\/Bill\/12183\/Overview\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.leg.state.nv.us\/App\/NELIS\/REL\/83rd2025\/Bill\/12183\/Overview\">Senate Bill 165<\/a> (2025) and kick off collaborative efforts to strengthen the behavioral health workforce serving Nevada\u2019s children. The event, hosted in partnership with Senator Rochelle Nguyen and the Las Vegas Aces Foundation, marked the beginning of work to design new education and training pathways at Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senate Bill 165 creates Nevada\u2019s new Behavioral Health and Wellness Practitioner profession and directs nearly $6.5 million to NSHE and its institutions. The funding will support planning and development of efforts such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>bachelor\u2019s degree programs and related coursework for Behavioral Health and Wellness Practitioners<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>micro-credentials in behavioral health promotion and prevention<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>scholarship support to expand supervised training in children\u2019s behavioral health<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSenate Bill 165 shows what is possible when we bring together the strength of public leadership and private partnership,\u201d said <strong>Nevada State Senator Rochelle Nguyen<\/strong>. \u201cOur collaboration with colleges, universities, providers, and partners like the Las Vegas Aces Foundation demonstrates that public\u2013private partnership isn\u2019t just a strategy, it is the pathway to real, lasting change for Nevada\u2019s children and families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NSHE institutions, including the University of Nevada, Reno; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and Great Basin College, have already started laying the groundwork for these new programs and training opportunities. Planning and development will take place over the coming months in coordination with state leaders, community partners, and organizations dedicated to children\u2019s behavioral health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;By creating the new Behavioral Health and Wellness Practitioner license and establishing bachelor-level pathways in our colleges and universities, this bill opens the door for an entirely new generation of professionals dedicated to mental health promotion, early intervention, and wellness,&#8221; said <strong>Byron Brooks, chair of the NSHE Board of Regents<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSenate Bill 165 gives NSHE and our campuses a clear opportunity to turn policy into programs that meet Nevada\u2019s needs,\u201d said <strong>Chancellor Matt McNair<\/strong>. \u201cWe are grateful to Senator Nguyen and our partners for their commitment to this work, and we look forward to collaborating on the development of these pathways for students across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The celebration included remarks from state and university leaders, as well as community and advocacy partners such as the Ballmer Institute for Children\u2019s Behavioral Health and the Las Vegas Aces Foundation. Attendees also viewed a short video offering an early look at collaborative efforts that will help shape these future pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis celebration is both a milestone and a starting point,\u201d said <strong>Dr. Tara Raines, Senior Director for Child Behavioral Health Dissemination at the Ballmer Institute<\/strong>. \u201cSenate Bill 165 gives Nevada the tools to build a new kind of workforce, one that is trained in prevention, rooted in communities, and focused on children\u2019s well-being from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NSHE and its institutions will continue collaborating with state agencies, community providers, and partners across Nevada to design programs that strengthen children\u2019s behavioral health services and expand opportunities for Nevada students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33052","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nshe.nevada.edu\/system-administration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}