Blue and You Foundation 2025 Behavioral Health Grants
On November 11, 2025, the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas awarded six 2025 behavioral health grants. These organizations will be working to improve the state of behavioral healthcare through access to quality mental healthcare, mental health innovation, crisis care, awareness, education, and outreach.
Arisa Health, Inc.
Arisa Health is Arkansas’ largest provider of mental and behavioral healthcare. They will relaunch the Behavioral Health Assistance Team (BHAT) of specially trained behavioral health paraprofessionals and community health workers. They will provide on-scene support during mental health crises in Craighead County by working with police and first responders. In addition, they will connect individuals to ongoing care to reduce emergency room visits, psychiatric hospitalizations and unnecessary criminal cases.
Arkansas Behavioral Health Integration Network
Through a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, ABHIN will strengthen Arkansas’ behavioral health workforce with a specialized training and internship program for students pursuing a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. The initiative offers an intensive boot camp, field placements with primary care providers, and clinical training to support the integration of behavioral health services. Additionally, the program introduces a new focus on maternal behavioral health and adds four new student internships while sustaining and enhancing training for all participants. Additionally, this program will fund terminal licensure for rural MSW graduates. This will allow newly licensed practitioners to operate independently, qualify for private insurance panels, and expand behavioral health access in underserved areas.
Northwest Arkansas Crisis Intervention Center, Inc.
The Northwest Arkansas Crisis Intervention Center will launch AR Teen-Connect, a solution co-designed and guided by a Youth Advisory Board. This initiative built “for teens, by teens” will provide peer support through the 988 text and chat service.
Ouachita Children’s Coalition
The Ouachita Child Safety Center serves children in the rural community who have experienced abuse, neglect, or other trauma. The program will expand access to specialized treatments such as TF-CBT and EMDR and provide body safety education to over 1,000 students annually in local schools. They will measure the success of these treatments through disclosure and referral tracking, CATS, and curriculum assessments. This program will help children heal, prevent future abuse, and reduce the long-term impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Samaritan Community Center
The Samaritan Community Center launched a counseling clinic in July 2024 to provide high-quality mental health services by licensed counselors and social workers. Additionally, Samaritan will open a satellite office in Springdale. Concurrently, they will hire a bilingual Spanish-speaking therapist to better serve individuals who face language and transportation barriers.
Unity Health Foundation
Unity Health will pilot the first adolescent residential substance use treatment program in Arkansas to fill gaps in underserved communities. The grant supports technology that delivers virtual family therapy to patients in the residential program. The increased access will improve the treatment outcomes and provide additional therapy options.