New Kentucky program aims to turn recovery into career pathway

By Nadia Ramlagan
Kentucky News Connection

A statewide program in Kentucky aims to provide credentialing and pathways to a career in social work for people in substance use disorder recovery.

Advocates say the Career Ladders in Mental and Behavioral Health, or CLIMB-Health, program is vital for the state to boost the mental health and social services workforce.

Carl Wilson, senior fellow for healthcare development and initiatives with the Kentucky Council on Secondary Education, said it also provides opportunities for those in recovery to make a living and expand their career horizons.

“You can gain both occupation credentials and or employment all the way up through a professional level within this program. So the program offers individuals with lived experience a tailored pathway,” he said.

Community colleges across the state are working with people who have been state-certified peer support specialists to transfer their training toward bachelor of social work degrees. The CLIMB-Health program began on Kentucky Community & Technical College System campuses in counties with the highest overdose deaths.

Wilson said residents in drug court programs in all 120 counties face barriers to employment.

“When they get to that employer interview, and that employer runs that background and they see the addiction issue, they see in most cases, the justice involvement, they’re locked out of opportunities,” he added.

The goal is to fill urgent gaps in the state’s healthcare system and boost long-term economic stability for people living in recovery.

“We have approximately 50,000 untapped workers for our workforce in Kentucky that have not been given that opportunity to have a specialized program which addresses them,” Wilson said.

While overdose rates in other states are declining, Kentucky ranks among the top 10 states in the nation for drug overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.