Federal Money Helps Fund Wide Array Of State Programs

Millions of federal dollars are coming to the state for a variety of programs. 

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, Tuesday announced more than $12 million for projects ranging from affordable housing to mental health training. 

More than $1 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission will support increasing staffing and strengthening administrative capacities for 13 projects across the state.

The bulk of the money, close to $10 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will bolster 20 community-based efforts across the state to address homelessness. 

The largest individual awards will go to the Huntington, West Virginia Housing Authority and the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, that will each receive close to $1.8 million to help connect individuals and families currently experiencing homelessness with vital supportive services.

Additionally, $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Program will be split between West Virginia University and Concord University to support the training of school-based mental health service providers for employment in schools and local educational agencies across West Virginia.  

The program provides funding to establish innovative partnerships between institutions of higher education and local schools and educational agencies. It trains school counselors, social workers, psychologists and other mental health professionals qualified to provide school-based mental health services, with the goal of expanding the pipeline of these workers into low-income public schools to address shortages of school-based mental health service professionals.