The article concludes with a call to action for states – and for the researchers and clinicians advocating on behalf of the behavioral health workforce and their clients. They cite California as an example, highlighting that state’s peer workforce investment grants designed to strengthen peer-run, nonprofit behavioral health agencies and increase recruitment of bilingual https://www.cdcfoundation.org/howrightnow and BIPOC staff. Recommendations 4 and 6 in the Strategic Plan describe these and other strategies to grow, diversify, and retain the behavioral health workforce. They cite Maryland as one example of a state that recently created a behavioral health workforce investment fund.
- Unfortunately, data is lacking about the demographic composition of the peer support workforce, so whether the workforce is representative of populations served is unknown.
- In response to workforce challenges, Colorado has made notable efforts to improve its behavioral health workforce.
- Value-based payment arrangements, increasing uptake of existing billing codes for Psychiatric Collaborative Care Model (CoCM), and financial incentives for adopting team-based care can drive improvements.
- This multidimensional collaboration spans across academia, industry, and community organizations, each bringing a unique set of resources, expertise, and perspectives to the table.
- ‘’When it comes to mental health and wellness, we are at an inflection point of both need and willingness to seek support,” said State Representative Lindsey LaPointe (D-Chicago).
Pierce County Behavioral Health Workforce Report—WashingtonAHP led research and convenings to develop a regional action plan for workforce expansion, retention, and future readiness. From policy to practice, AHP helps build the teams that power transformation. Whether your organization needs to strengthen internal capacity, support your staff, or build talent pipelines across your state, we bring the experience and tools to make it happen.
Identifying Educational Pathways to Graduate-Level Behavioral Health Professions: A Latent Class Analysis
Clinicians can reach rural or underserved populations, improving access and reducing burnout. Training programs should move beyond traditional didactic approaches and embrace experiential learning. Students receive supervised training, and agency staff participate in research projects, fostering mutual growth. Their collaboration ensures comprehensive patient support. They learn coping strategies, share experiences, and find solace in connecting with peers who understand the unique challenges of their profession.
A Collaborative Approach to Addressing the Workforce Shortage
In particular, we describe how the United States’ fragmented and underfunded behavioral health system leads all behavioral health providers to experience noncompetitive wages, growing work demands, and insufficient occupational support—all of which promote ongoing behavioral health workforce shortages. The Center was established to combat these critical shortages in the workforce by addressing barriers to recruitment and training, collecting data on behavioral health needs, increasing diversity in the workforce, and expanding the capacity of health care providers to meet behavioral health needs. Michael has presented and published widely on behavioral health services and workforce development. By bringing together higher education, healthcare and economic experts and stakeholders, more residents in our state will be able to access the critical mental and behavioral health care that they need.” We must prioritize behavioral health as part of the overall healthcare conversation, and the Behavioral Health Workforce Center will help ensure we have the highly skilled workers needed to support Illinoisans all across our state.” “Prioritizing behavioral health together with workforce development will continue the hard work we’ve done and lead us toward the common goal of adequately and effectively addressing the behavioral health workforce emergency.”
Public and independent universities, as well as community colleges in ten regions, will be invited to participate as partners to increase the statewide impact. The BHWAC is charged with assessing the progress of recommendations from the Workforce Board’s previous assessments and updating policy recommendations. Following the 2020 assessment, the 2021 Washington State Legislature formalized the stakeholder workgroup that had informed previous iterations of policy and practice recommendations as the Behavioral Health Workforce Advisory Committee (BHWAC). This work was combined with two other research efforts done as part of a separate legislative proviso by the UW Center for Health Workforce Studies (UW CHWS) and Washington STEM to create a more complete picture for policymakers. Offer real-world experience and gain staff supports by providing work-based learning for students.
