About
The Institute for Education in Healthcare (IEH) at Rhode Island College convenes healthcare, community and public health representatives, as well as employers, policymakers, funders and consumer representatives, in order to identify the workforce needs of area employers and address them with targeted and informed healthcare training programs. The IEH is focused on collaborative, interdisciplinary, patient-centered methods of care delivery that have a strong potential for improving health outcomes and reducing costs for all Rhode Islanders. The Community Health Worker Association of RI has been proudly housed within the IEH since 2017.
Our Programs
Behavioral Health Training Program
Established in 2022, this program was funded to support home care providers’ efforts to become eligible to receive the Behavioral Health Rate Enhancement through Medicaid. To qualify for the enhancement, organizations must have a minimum of 30% of their direct care workers certified in RIC’s Para-Professional Behavioral Health Certificate Program. From 2022 to 2025, RIC has certified over 1000+ direct care workers across 15+ home care agencies in both the English and Spanish communities.
IEH Staff: David Zuleta, BS, CCHW, Lucia Delaroca, MSW
Community Health Worker Association of Rhode Island (CHWARI)
Founded in 2017, the Community Health Worker Association of Rhode Island (CHWARI) actively supports invaluable frontline healthcare and community empowerment workers who focus their attention on underserved communities. We help Community Health Workers (CHWs) in their crucial work to ensure access to high quality healthcare and social services for people most in need. Click the maroon button now to Join CHWARI and become informed about employment, professional development, and advocacy opportunities for RI’s Community Health Workers!
IEH Staff: Paola Nuñez Reyes, MA, BS, CCHW, CPE; Laura Blackwell, David Zuleta CHW, Anna Nerbonne, CHW
Community Health Worker Apprenticeship Program
Due to a generous grant from the Health Resource Service Administration (HRSA), enthusiastic permanent US residents who are starting out as Community Health Workers (CHWs) have been able to participate in CHWARI’s CHW Apprenticeship Program. This program provides mentoring and financial support to help CHW apprentices train, become certified, and then excel in community health work!
Since 2023, the Apprenticeship Program has worked with 114 CHW apprentices who have benefited from the opportunity to work with one of our employer partners while putting into practice the skills learned in the CHW 72-hour core training. In addition, they have received essential training such as Mental Health First Aid, Vaccine Confidence, Job Readiness, Digital Literacy, and Emergency Preparedness. Apprentices have also had access to specialty trainings offered by the Institute for Education in Healthcare, including Racial and Social Justice in Healthcare, Behavioral Health for Paraprofessionals, Intimate Partner Violence, Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes, Older Adults, and many others. These trainings have helped apprentices develop expertise in key areas of chronic disease and better support our communities in facing health challenges.
To strengthen learning and connection, we have also been offering CHW Monthly Learning Collaborative calls, where apprentices from different agencies, hospitals, and community health facilities come together to share knowledge on topics relevant to our communities. So far, out of the 114 apprentices who have participated, 80 have already earned their CHW certification through the Rhode Island Certification Board, thanks to the support of our team. We are continuing to assist the remaining apprentices to complete the program successfully, and we are confident that we will be able to offer this program to even more people in the future.
IEH Staff: Paola Nuñez Reyes, MA, BS, CCHW, CPE; Anna Nerbonne, CHW
HIV Quality Management
HIV Quality Management
Rhode Island College’s Institute for Education in Healthcare (IEH) serves as a consultant to the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) HIV, Provision of Care & Special Populations Unit to advance the state’s HIV Quality Management (QM) Program. Through this partnership, IEH facilitates the Quality Management Committee (QMC), coordinates data-driven quality improvement initiatives focused on non-medical case management, and delivers targeted training to enhance the knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy of HIV case managers. The project aims to strengthen service delivery systems and improve client outcomes by fostering a culture of continuous quality improvement, collaboration, and learning across the HIV care continuum.
IEH Staff: Kyle Penrod, MS
Ladders to Licensure
Awarded funding in 2024 from EOHHS, the Ladders to Licensure project responds to the growing need for licensed behavioral health clinicians to serve Rhode Island’s vulnerable communities. The project addresses obstacles that prevent incumbent staff from pursuing graduate education, including financial challenges, limited access due to work and family obligations, and systemic barriers related to racial, ethnic, and other social disparities that have historically limited graduate education opportunities for non-majority groups.
The primary goal of the project is to create an affordable and accessible pathway to clinical licensure for incumbent staff working at partner community-based organizations. In its first year, the project supported both matriculating and prospective graduate students in the College’s Social Work and Clinical Mental Health programs by providing tuition assistance and the opportunity to participate in a summer graduate course at no cost. In its second year, the project will expand partnerships and tuition supports, while also assisting prospective students with the graduate school application process
IEH Staff: Kyle Penrod, MS
Peer Recovery Specialist/ CHW Dual Apprenticeship Program
Beginning July 2025, CHWARI at RI College’s Institute for Education in Healthcare (IEH) hosted a 46-hour Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) training. The training is part of a HRSA grant that supports the dual certification of CHWs and PRSs and placement of certified CHW-PRS candidates in apprenticeships. The training was delivered by Harter Consultants with Michelle Harter, Lisa Conlan and Tyrone Jackson with support from IEH’s Lucia Delaroca and Guy Salesman.
The training provides peers and allies with essential knowledge and skills to support individuals in recovery. It was the intention of the RI Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) to create a PRS Curriculum that focused on “empowerment, self-determination, understanding, coping skills, and resiliency through mentoring and service coordination supports”.
The cohort successfully completed the program in September 2025. Of the eighteen participants, seven individuals began the training with the CHW credential and were working as CHWs in community organizations. The remaining eleven candidates will complete CHW training in December of this year. The IEH/ CHWARI looks forward to welcoming new CHW-PRS apprentices into communities and organizations that will support individuals and families impacted by addiction.
We look forward to offering ongoing PRS and CHW training in the coming year. For more information about the program, contact Tonya Glantz, Executive Director of RI College’s Institute for Education in Healthcare, tglantz@ric.edu.
IEH Staff: Tonya Glantz, MSW, PhD; Lucia Delaroca, MSW
School Based Mental Health
School Based Mental Health Services Grants funded by the Rhode Island Department of Education through two Federal Department of Education Grants.
These two grants supported 89 graduate students in School Counseling, School Psychology, Social Work, and Mental Health Counseling, and 47 school-based supervisors across seven districts and twelve schools. The School-Based Mental Health Services Project enhances recruitment of, and training for graduate students in school-based mental health careers, and brings financial resources, hiring and retention, and training support to seven Rhode Island school districts.
The IEH works to promote an interdisciplinary practice and ecological systems framework that enhances collaboration to benefit students in K-12 schools. The IEH coordinates placements in school-mental health positions for the four graduate programs and provides graduate students and supervisors with supplemental training and consultative support throughout the year. The IEH also develops community-facing resources to promote the four graduate programs and develops community resources designed to enhance collaboration between districts and community organizations.
SBMH Grant Programs began in 2020 and continue in the 2025-2026 school year.
IEH Staff: Joshua Wizer-Vecchi, MSW, LCSW
IEH Staff
Tonya Glantz, MSW, PhD
She/her
Executive Director,
Institute for Education in Healthcare at Rhode Island College
Administrator to the Community Health Worker Association of Rhode Island
David Zuleta, BS, CCHW
he/him
Project Director and CCHW
Projects: CHW Training, Interpersonal Violence Training, Behavioral Health Training, Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Management Training, Oral Health Training, Providence Center Three-Tiered Case Management Career Ladder Program.
Paola Paola Nuñez Reyes, MA, BS, CCHW, CPE
She/her/ella
CHWARI Apprenticeship Program Director
Lucia Delaroca, MSSW
she/her
Projects: Behavioral Health Case Management Apprenticeship, Peer Recovery Specialist Apprenticeship, Instructor for CHW Core Competency Training
Kyle Penrod
he/him
Project Director
Projects: RIC-Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP), PRS-CHW Families & Addiction Specialization, Older Adult Specialization Apprenticeship Career Ladder Project, Quality Management for HIV Care & Treatment, Ladders to Licensure, Age Friendly Rhode Island, Resilient Coventry
Laura Blackwell, BA
she/her
Communications Director, Webmaster, Community Health Worker Association of Rhode Island
Brady Dunklee, MPH
he/him/his
Manager of Community Partnerships & Health Equity – Integra Community Care Network
Instructor for the CHW Core Competency training; Independent Community Health Consultant – RIC Institute for Education in Healthcare/CHWARI
“Be a strong CHW leadership voice for compassion”
