• The traineeships are limited to students in direct practice concentrations of Health, Mental Health and Extended Degree Program's Integrated Health/Mental Health concentrations and must be in a direct-practice field education placement in a training site identified as SBIRT-eligible where students will have an opportunity to engage in SBIRT related practice.
  • Eligibile MSW students must be placed in their Advanced Practica (SocW525) during the academic year.
  • Open to American citizens, noncitizen nationals or permanent residents (as per grant regulations)

Applicants submit a personal statement describing their experience with and commitment to working with individuals with substance use disorders, their leadership skills and their background in working with diverse communities. Along with this statement, each applicant submits a resume.

The NL-SBIRT program is not accepting applications at this time. Please contact Emiko Tajima, Co-Principal Investigator, at etajima@uw.edu with any questions. 

The primary objective of the Northwest Leaders in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Program is to increase capacity in the regional health and mental health system for the early identification of brief intervention with and referral to treatment for persons at risk of substance use disorders. This is achieved by providing rigorous SBIRT training for trainees at the School of Social Work, Nursing, Pharmacy and Dentistry, and training for teaching faculty, field supervisors and a regional training for health service practitioners in the Pacific Northwest.

The program offers specialized, stipend SBIRT training for MSW Trainees:

  • Ten MSW advanced students per academic year are eligible to receive a $5,000 stipend. MSW Health, Mental Health and Extended Degree Program's Integrated Health/Mental Health concentrations and whose advanced field placement involves the opportunity to work with individuals who are at risk of having substance use disorders in a primary care setting and other healthcare setting are eligible to apply.
  • An additional 10 advanced MSW students in direct practice concentrations are eligible to participate in the 3 credit SBIRT elective (but will not receive a stipend or participate in the quarterly integrative seminar.

Ten students from either Nursing, Dentistry and Pharmacy (about 3-4 each) per academic year will be eligible to receive a $1,000 stipend to participate in the 3 credit SBIRT course and the quarterly integrative seminar. Go the the Program Requirements and Training Areas page for details.

Regional training will be provided to community based health services professionals. This training will include motivational interviewing techniques, as well as the use of SBIRT training techniques within a healthcare setting. Additionally, the regional training will address the needs of health services professionals for certification training in order to bill for SBIRT services under Medicaid and Medicare as required by Washington state.

The NL-SBIRT Program may be combined with some, but not all other stipends or financial supports. Because it is a federal grant, the NL-SBIRT may not be combined with other federal grants. Students who are already committed to a practicum site that includes a federal grant will not be eligible to apply for the NL-SBIRT. Please confirm with any other funding sources your eligibility for the NL-SBIRT stipend and make sure that you may combine this stipend with other funds without penalty. You should discuss with the financial aid office how a $5,000 NLBHP stipend would impact your financial aid package. If you are granted a NL-SBIRT stipend, you may be required to return or reduce your financial aid award.

The NL-SBIRT program is federally funded over 3 years starting September 2015 to September 2018, by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).