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After being awarded millions of dollars in grant funding from the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council (OAC) in 2024, East Tennessee State University — along with its regional partners — set out to bolster Northeast Tennessee’s addiction recovery ecosystem.
In total, the Regional Recovery Ecosystem Advisory Council, established in 2022 by ETSU’s Addiction Science Center and Frontier Health, received $7.4 million from the Opioid Abatement Council. ETSU alone received roughly $4 million in first-year funding to support 10 projects.
Already, that money is making an impact in the region — aimed at improving access to care and filling gaps in that recovery ecosystem, a term that describes the factors in a community that support individuals in recovery from substance use disorder.
This month, ETSU launched the next phase of this work by deploying some of those dollars to fund a number of Northeast Tennessee Behavioral Health Workforce Scholarships in key, high-impact programs in the College of Nursing and College of Health Sciences.
“Our 10-county Northeast Tennessee region trails the nation and state in the number of social workers, counselors, psychologists and psychiatric nurse practitioners per capita,” said Dr. Mary Brannock, ETSU’s director of the Behavioral Health Workforce initiative. “The OAC grant provides scholarships to lower the barriers to entry for students who want to pursue those degrees. We aim to improve the numbers to better serve the region, which is directly in line with the mission of the university.”
Applications for the scholarships are open to those who are U.S. citizens and who are from Northeast Tennessee or have established residency in the area, and recipients must commit to working in Northeast Tennessee for one year upon graduation. Other requirements can be found on the scholarship application pages for each program.
Though Appalachia has enjoyed a recent downward trend in overdoses, rates of substance use disorder and fatal overdose have been far higher in this region than they are nationwide.
In October 2024, the Appalachian Regional Commission’s annual Diseases of Despair report, co-authored by ETSU’s Mike Meit, found the mortality rate from diseases of despair (alcohol and/or drug overdose, suicide and alcoholic liver disease) in 2022 was 37% higher in Appalachia than the rest of the United States.
The report underscores the importance of this work to enhance addiction recovery resources, which include specially trained clinicians and other providers who play significant roles in helping those struggling with addiction.
In the College of Health Sciences, this scholarship money will offer up to $16,000 per year for up to two years for those pursuing a Master of Social Work degree and will also offer additional funds for those pursuing a bachelor’s in social work.
Additional funding will support students across a number of programs in the college’s Department of Counseling and Human Services, including scholarships as well as funding for required supervision hours needed for licensure in both counseling and social work.
“This investment from the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council is transformative — not only for our students, but for the communities we serve,” said ETSU College of Health Sciences Dean Dr. Jeff Snodgrass. “By reducing financial barriers for those entering the behavioral health workforce, we are strengthening the region’s recovery ecosystem and advancing our mission to address critical health disparities in Northeast Tennessee and beyond. This is a powerful step toward lasting, community-centered change.”
In the College of Nursing, up to $11,000 in funding for up to two years is available for students in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program.
“The ETSU College of Nursing is excited to be part of this initiative, which will significantly enhance our capacity to educate and train more psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners,” said Dr. Dena Evans, dean of the College of Nursing. “This support will empower us to provide essential mental health services to our community and those affected by the opioid crisis, fostering a healthier and more resilient community.”
The application deadline is Aug. 1. Students interested in applying must be current ETSU students or accepted to begin at ETSU for the fall semester. To apply, visit http://bit.ly/4crFr9x.