This amendment establishes the Behavioral Health Loan Repayment Program in order to increase the number of Virginia behavioral health practitioners by way of an educational loan repayment incentive that complements and coordinates with existing efforts to recruit and retain Virginia behavioral health practitioners. The program would allow for a variety of behavioral health practitioners to receive a student loan repayment award from the Commonwealth in exchange for providing service to Virginia communities that are otherwise underserved. Practitioners would receive loan repayment for up to 25 percent of student loan debt for each year of health care service provided to the Commonwealth. Maximum loan repayment amounts per year are dependent upon the type of behavioral health professional applying and shall not exceed the total student loan debt. Participating practitioners will have an initial two-year minimum participation obligation and may renew for a third and fourth year. This provides the practitioner with the opportunity to fully pay off their student loan debt while providing four years of service to the Commonwealth.