Project Grant H79SM091144

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Bridgehaven Inc. $149,995 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to strengthen Kentucky's statewide mental health peer workforce.

Bridgehaven's Center for Peer Excellence will deliver evidence-based training to over 485 peer support specialists, provide technical assistance to at least 36 behavioral health organizations across the state, expand continuing education offerings, and place 15 or more peers in state and community-level leadership roles. The project develops a statewide peer workforce capacity-building plan, expands organizational leadership capacity, amplifies peer engagement and voice in behavioral health policy, and increases peer workforce recruitment, retention, and professional development. The award addresses service gaps in Kentucky's mental health system: nearly 2.8 million Kentuckians live in a mental health professional shortage area with only 19.5 percent of need met, and over 242,000 adults with serious mental illness received no treatment in the past year.

The work reaches all 120 Kentucky counties through networks of community mental health centers, behavioral health service organizations, and federally qualified health centers, with particular focus on rural and Appalachian regions. The population of focus comprises adults 18 and older with serious mental illness employed or seeking employment as peer support specialists, plus supervisors and clinical staff at their employing organizations. Performance occurs in Louisville, Kentucky, with a period of performance from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2029.