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February 21st, 2019 

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has extended the deadline for accepting applications for a new student-loan-forgiveness program for behavioral health clinicians working in drug-treatment programs in underserved areas from February 21 to February 28. As a result of ACA's advocacy efforts, licensed professional counselors (LPCs) are among those eligible to participate in the program.

Congress approved the new loan-forgiveness/repayment plan in October. The program enables eligible clinicians to receive up to $75,000 in student loan repayment in exchange for a three-year commitment to provide substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services at National Health Service Corps (NHSC)-approved sites.

You can learn more about the new program from this . In addition, you can  and review  about the approved substance-use-disorder work sites and participant eligibility requirements.

You qualify for the NHSC-SUD Workforce Loan Repayment Program:

• If you work at a SUD site with a  score that would ordinarily be too low to qualify for National Health Service Score (NHSC) funding.
• You can use either your NHSC-approved site’s Mental Health HPSA score or your site’s Primary Care HPSA score to show you work at a qualifying site.
• Click on NHSC-Approved SUD Treatment Sites to expand the additional information on qualifying work sites.

Feb. 28 also is the new application deadline for the existing , which is not limited to those working in SUD programs. This program offers up to $50,000 in loan forgiveness for clinicians, including LPCs. In exchange for this loan repayment, participants must serve for at least two years at an NHSC-approved site in a designated health professional shortage area (HPSA).