A Day in the Life of NHSC Mental Health and Behavioral Health Care Providers

I’m Danielle Scheer and I’m the Choices Coordinator at
Child Guidance in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Give me an example of something you might feel
if you are angry.
How you would feel physically.
When I’m mad, I cry.
I work with all students, grades 9 -12.
They come to the program as referrals from school staff,
maybe probation officers, family, teachers.
When you notice those feelings are starting to come on,
how do you react to make sure they don’t go too far?
I’m Dr. Patrick Carrillo, I’m a licensed psychologist here
in Washington State and I work at Children’s Behavioral Health,
which is a division of Columbia Valley Community Health.
Wenatchee is a great town.
It’s an agricultural community primarily and so a big part of
what we are known for in Wenatchee is that we are the
Apple Capital of the World.
We have a lot of seasonal and migrant workers that come up
from Mexico and so we have a huge Spanish speaking,
primarily, population here that we work with as well.
You are there for your niece and you are there for her a lot.
So you aren’t worthless because you care for her.
I have seen all of their struggles and to see them be
successful and to take pride in themselves is very, very rewarding.
The average income for a migrant worker here is under $13,000.
We are able to provide high quality, well educated,
well trained staff to really provide services to this
community that otherwise really wouldn’t be able to
afford services.
I heard about the National Health Service Corps when I
was invited to apply for a position here.
One of the great features is that we were an NHSC eligible site.
So it was a huge additional incentive in terms of coming
out to this area.
The loan repayment program was wonderful.
I was very excited when I got that check in the mail.
That has a big impact on your ability to think about how am
I planning the rest of my life?
How am I thinking about buying a house?
When you have those loans hanging over your head,
it’s pretty stressful.
Knowing that there is program like the National Health
Service Corps loan repayment program,
that is going to erase your debt for doing something that
you want to do anyway, working with a population that you
love in a place that you can totally fall in love and see
yourself raising your family.
That is a huge incentive.
For anybody that is considering applying for this
program, definitely, definitely do it.
And they have made it really great and smooth process.
The support that the NHSC provides,
they had an outstanding conference that you go to in
your first year, where you get to network with other
professionals who are working in similar areas around the country.
I have every intention of staying here.
The camaraderie, I get along with my colleagues great.
When you are having a rough day,
you know you can go next door and talk to somebody and know
that you are going to get support.
Having the NHSC program as part of this package really
enabled me to just work where I wanted to work.
With the type of people that I want to be able to serve.
She does, she loves you, you are right.
You are a big brother, you are a good example for her.