Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program
South Carolina AHEC Recruitment & Retention Programs
About the Program
To address the maldistribution of behavioral and mental health professionals in rural and underserved areas of South Carolina, the Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program was established via state budget proviso 23.5 in July 2024. This program provides financial incentives to behavioral and mental health professionals who contract to practice in non-urbanized areas of the state.
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Program Details & Eligibility
The South Carolina Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program provides incentives for behavioral or mental health care professionals who commit to practice in a non-urbanized area of South Carolina in an outpatient setting for a period of four years.
Program Funding
The Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program may fund:
- $15,000 per year for up to four years ($60,000 total) for qualified behavioral health professional practicing full-time in non-urbanized areas of South Carolina
- $7,500 per year for up to four years ($30,000 total) for qualified behavioral health professionals practicing part-time in non-urbanized areas of South Carolina
Funding decisions will be based on hours spent providing patient care, please see the handbook for more information.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for this program, all applicants must:
- Have completed an accredited graduate training program and hold a valid and active license OR work for the South Carolina BHDD Office of Mental Health as a Mental Health Professional (MHP).
- Work in an eligible profession/role. Providers within these disciplines with associate licenses are also eligible to apply:
- Clinical nurse specialist in psychiatry/mental health (APRN, CNS)
- Nurse practitioner in psychiatry/mental health (APRN, NP)
- Physician assistant in psychiatry/mental health (PA, PA-C)
- Psychiatrist (MD/DO)
- Psychologist (PhD, PsyD)
- Social worker (LMSW, LISW)
- Licensed professional counselor (LPC)
- Marriage and family therapist (LMFT)
- Licensed addiction counselor
- Mental Health Professional (MHP) employed at the South Carolina BHDD Office of Mental Health
- Provide behavioral/mental health care in an outpatient setting in a non-urbanized area (see section below if you are unsure about your practice location’s eligibility)
- Work 36 hours/week to qualify for full-time incentives, 20 hours/week for part-time incentives
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Must not have an outstanding contractual service obligation to the federal government (i.e., National Health Service Corps), the state government (i.e., Rural Provider Incentive Program), or any other entity
- Cannot previously have received funding from the Rural Provider Incentive Program
Priority
The intent of this program is to support behavioral and mental health professionals in establishing or joining practices in non-urbanized areas of the state. Ideally, during the four-year period of commitment, they will develop viable practices and become involved in their communities, so that they will continue practicing in the areas after the funding period is over.
Priority for this program will be given to those practicing in areas of greatest need (most medically underserved).
More Details & Information
Application Process
Program Timeline
Applications are received and reviewed on a set schedule every year. Please see below for a high-level program timeline:
- Applications open: mid-to-late October
- Applications due: March
- Applications reviewed: March-June
- Applicants notified of funding decisions: July
- Contracts start: July
- Contracts may start off-cycle if required due to other service obligations or other circumstances.
- Payments are issued in June upon confirmation that recipient is practicing at the location and capacity they indicated on their application.
Steps to Apply
- Click "Apply" button (only available when application cycle is open) to be routed to the Eligibility Form
- Complete Eligibility Form
- If eligible, you will be routed to the full application
- Please complete online application in the Submittable portal. You can save as a draft and return to submit when completed.
- You will receive a confirmation email after submitting your application. If you do not receive a confirmation email from Submittable within 24 hours, please contact retention@scahec.net.
Required Documentation
All application materials must be submitted online through the Submittable portal by the deadline in order to be considered. We will not accept any applications or documents via email, mail or fax. In order for your application to be considered complete, you must upload all required materials to your application in Submittable, including:
- Initial Eligibility Form
- Application, which includes:
- Demographic, practice, and licensure information
- Proof of U.S. citizenship
- Practice type, location, and employment status
- Completed Employment Verification Form* (This form is sent to your practice manager via the Submittable system and must be completed by the application deadline in order for your application to be considered complete)
- Curriculum Vitae
*Please note: you must have a practice site/employment location secured to be eligible for this program. For resources for identifying rural employment opportunities in South Carolina, please visit the South Carolina Office of Rural Health’s website.
Submit Application
The application cycle is currently closed and will reopen in mid-to-late October 2025.
Join our mailing list to receive updates about the Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program and get notified when application cycles open.
Join the Incentive Program Mailing ListProgram Administration
The program is administered by South Carolina AHEC and managed by the South Carolina Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program Board, the members of which are defined in the South Carolina Code of Laws. This board meets periodically to vote on applicants and discuss other items of business. The board is composed of the following representatives: the Chief Executive Officer, or his designee, of the South Carolina Office of Rural Health; a representative from the South Carolina Primary Care Office of the Department of Public Health; a behavioral health professional; a representative from the South Carolina BHDD Office of Mental Health; and a staff member from the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium. This board serves without compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please refer to the program handbook for all eligibility requirements. The first step of the application is completion of an eligibility form, which will help you determine your eligibility. We are not able to provide eligibility determinations outside of the application process and cannot provide this information via email or phone call. If you believe you are eligible for the program, we encourage you to apply.
To address the maldistribution of behavioral/mental health professionals in South Carolina, practice sites in rural and medically-underserved areas are prioritized for funding. To determine if your site is non-urbanized and potentially eligible, please check out the tool below:
- Utilize the Rural Health Information Hub's "Am I Rural?" Tool.
- Enter your practice location in the text box and click “Locate”.
- Click “Run Report” in the location information on the map next to the address.
- On the results page, scroll down to the “Program Eligibility” section.
- Check the “CMS Rural Health Clinic (RHC) Program” row:
- If it says “Yes” – your practice location is non-urbanized.
- If it says, “No” – your practice location is urbanized and not eligible for this program.
Please note, we are not able to provide site eligibility determinations outside of the application process and cannot provide this information via email or phone call.
Outpatient behavioral/mental health services refer to the direct provision of mental and behavioral health services, therapies and/or interventions, not including administrative duties or services.
- Full-time applicants must work a minimum of 36 hours per week to be eligible for full-time funding. Of those 36 hours, at least 20 hours/week must be spent providing direct behavioral/mental health care, not including administrative duties or services.
- Part-time applicants must work a minimum of 20 hours per week to be eligible for part-time funding. At least 15 hours/week must be spent providing direct behavioral/mental health care, not including administrative duties or services.
- If your employer’s main office is in a different location than your actual practice site, please enter your actual practice locations on your application. Eligibility will be based on where you physically practice.
- If you have multiple employers or practice sites, you must list all practice locations to ensure that your application can be accurately reviewed by the Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program Board.
You will be asked to report the number of hours per week spent at each individual location. Eligibility is determined by the number of hours worked specifically at eligible non-urbanized practice sites.
Telehealth providers will be considered if their physical location is in a qualifying non-urbanized area, and care is provided to patients based in non-urbanized areas within South Carolina.
Applications open in October each year and are due in March.
Accepted applicants will be notified if they receive funding in July and more information about contracts will be provided at that time. Emails will be sent to all applicants indicating if they were approved or not approved for funding.
Eligible applicants are prioritized for funding based on how medically-underserved their practice location(s) are and the proportion of work hours dedicated to the direct provision of behavioral/mental health care.
Payments are made annually at the end of the contract year. If the practitioner leaves the employment of the practice during the contract year, the practitioner will be considered to have terminated the contract and will not receive the annual payment.
This is a financial incentive program, and recipients are not required to use the funds to repay student loans.
For issues with your Submittable account, you can reach out to the Submittable Support Team or at submittersupport@submittable.com.
The Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program does not provide financial incentives to professionals practicing in urban areas at this time. Other South Carolina AHEC incentive programs may include eligibility for other health professionals practicing in medically-underserved urban settings (e.g., federally qualified health centers).
Some providers may be eligible for both programs and can apply to both/either. However, if an applicant accepts funding from one program, they become ineligible to receive funding from the other program (even at a later date).
You can apply for both the NHSC Loan Repayment Program and the SC AHEC Rural Behavioral Health Professional Incentive Program, but you cannot receive funding from both at the same time.
South Carolina AHEC provides funding directly to program recipients and does not provide funding to employers. Organizations may highlight South Carolina AHEC incentive programs as a part of their recruitment and retention efforts. However, please note that selection for the program is not guaranteed and program eligibility requirements apply. Funding decisions are prioritized by the Board based on areas of greatest need represented during a given funding cycle, so community prioritization from cycle to cycle may vary based on applicant pool. Please reach out to the SC AHEC communications team for appropriate language to use in your materials.
Yes, many eligible applicants will apply in multiple cycles.
Questions?
If you were unable to find the information you are looking for in the information and handouts above, let us know! Contact us at retention@scahec.net.
Please note, we are not able to provide eligibility determinations outside of the application process and cannot provide this information via email or phone call. If you want to know if your site is eligible, please see "How do I check the eligibility of my practice site?" in the Frequently Asked Questions section above.