(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- In an effort to convince more behavioral health professionals to work in low-income and rural communities, the state of Illinois is offering to help some of them with their student loans.
A state program will provide up to four years of student loan payment assistance to mental health and substance abuse specialists, who have already worked for at least a year at a care center in an underserved community and agree to continue doing so.
Lynne Baker of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission said the deadline to apply for this year's program is November 15, which is being funded by the tax dollars the state collects from marijuana sales.
"It is designed as an incentive for recruitment and retention ," she said. "Right now there is a shortage of these folks."
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