The Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire

Building Futures Together Apprenticeship Model

The goal of the Building Futures Together program is to prepare 98 paraprofessionals in healthcare and school settings to provide specialized enhanced care coordination to children, youth and their caregivers whose parents are impacted by opioid use disorders (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUD). The Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire points to four strategies that help ensure their Registered Apprenticeship program success.

• Establish Collaborative Working Relationships – work with behavioral health employers and support them to become sponsors with the U.S Department of Labor (USDOL) to understand their role and responsibilities. While the paperwork in becoming a Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program can seem daunting, we work with our employers through the process and provide each with individualized support to successfully register as a USDOL RA program sponsor.  We added 14 employer partners to the DOL Registered Apprenticeship program sites in New Hampshire.
• Incorporate Expert Knowledge to Create Cutting Edge Instruction – The Building Futures model of courses and competencies was the first model in the country approved by the USDOL for apprentices in the Human and Social Services Assistant:  Family and Community Services occupation. This has opened the door for additional programs of its type and increased the visibility of the University as a professional development resource.  
• Provide Intensive Student Support- Provide intensive and personalized academic and wraparound counseling for each student in the program, most of whom have demanding family responsibilities, have never studied at the college level before, and have lived experience with behavioral health issues, all while working full time.  This program achieved 86% retention rates by providing individualized support throughout the didactic online course training and 94% retention for those enrolled in Level II, on-the-job training.  Evaluation data have shown the power of this approach. Consistently, trainees and their employers indicate that they are more confident and feel like they are valued members of the staff.
• Innovate – The university is reaping the benefit of this innovative approach: several program graduates have enrolled in degree programs. Focus on ways to expand on-the-job training models in other occupations and roles in behavioral health – apprenticeship and on-the-job training models are not typical in the behavioral health field or in universities. The IOD has partnered with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to develop a workforce development training curriculum for New Hampshire’s Rapid Response Crisis Teams, provided expert knowledge and advising to the Community Health Worker apprenticeship program in New Hampshire and worked with the Developmental Disabilities Center in New Hampshire to develop and train direct support professionals (DSP) through the DSP Academy.