The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health of the Northeast Portland campus of UO will be opening its doors in the fall of 2024.
The Ballmer Institute is a mental health support program primarily for children and adolescents.  Undergraduate students, who have undergone many different intervention training methods, teach these students.
According to Katie McLaughlin, the executive director of the Ballmer Institute, the vision of the institute is to give access to high-quality mental health support as a fundamental right, to expand the behavioral health workforce and to meet the growing need for mental health aid for children specifically.
The Ballmer Institute has created new opportunities for mental health specialists. These opportunities are specifically designed for undergraduate students beginning in their third year at the University of Oregon.
“Our training program is going to help to expand the behavioral health workforce by providing undergraduate students at the University of Oregon and our other partnered schools with types of training that have historically been available only in graduate degree programs,” McLaughlin said. “Meaning that they’ll be ready to enter the workforce sooner right when they graduate.”
According to McLaughlin, the Ballmer Institute’s program prioritizes the needs of youth who have been historically or persistently underserved by the behavioral health system.
“Our training program is being shaped by the input of parents, educators, children and community stakeholders,” McLaughlin said.  “This is to ensure that our training model is aligned with the needs of the youth in the communities that our students will be serving.”
The Ballmer Institute differs from other mental health organizations through the mental health specialists being trained to identify early changes in behavioral health in children.
All Portland public schools will be in partnership with the Ballmer Institute. The undergraduate students’ training includes delivering evidence-based interventions to promote well-being and prevent youth mental health problems from developing or worsening over time, according to McLaughlin.
“This specialized training gives the opportunity to work in the field, and local schools learn how to deliver these interventions as part of their undergraduate training,” McLaughlin said. “Our hope is that this novel approach to growing the workforce will help to increase access as well as equity to high-quality behavioral health supports in Oregon.”
The Ballmer Institute is mostly funded by a $425 million donation by Steve and Connie Ballmer, and also receives support from the state of Oregon, its partnerships with Portland public schools and donors.
“The funding for the faculty that we need to hire the staff who are helping to build the institute, scholarships for students and even the physical location of the Palmer Institute in the new campus in Northeast Portland were all made possible by the gift,” McLaughlin said.
According to McLaughlin, these students, either at UO, Lane Community College, Portland Community College or Mount Hood Community College, are set up with transfer pathways to make it easy for them to complete their first two years and then transfer into the Ballmer Institute’s program.
“When students arrive next fall, we’ve got a great plan in place for what they’re going to be doing in the school, and how they’re going to be able to deliver those services to kids,” McLaughlin said.

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The University of Oregon Northeast Portland campus will open its doors of The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health in the fall of 2024. The institute is a mental health support program primarily for children and adolescents, taught by undergraduate students.  (Hoffman/Emerald)