This week, the Department of Health Care Access and Information
(HCAI)
presented its strategy to expand and diversify the state’s
behavioral health workforce to the
California Health Workforce Education and Training Council
(Council). According to HCAI, this
strategy is designed to better understand and equitably solve
the workforce shortages in behavioral health services through
various workforce investments, including fully leveraging the
ongoing funding made available to the state through changes to
the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) under Proposition 1.
HCAI’s behavioral health workforce strategy focuses on modeling
the supply and demand of California’s behavioral health workforce
to identify and address gaps now and in the future, while
identifying strategic interventions that HCAI and other entities
can implement to target the key drivers of the behavioral health
workforce shortage.
According to HCAI, this strategy will be primarily funded through
the behavioral health workforce allocation approved through
Proposition 1 that is expected to be matched through a new
federal waiver the state has applied for that is estimated to
result in up to $2.5 billion in workforce funding over a period
of five years. Funds will focus on developing and diversifying
the behavioral health workforce that works in public and safety
net settings that serve Medi-Cal members.
HCAI indicates it will continue to refine the strategy and will
incorporate input from behavioral health partners and agencies
across the state. Additional information about the strategy is
anticipated to be provided in the months ahead, including at the
November 2024 meeting of the
Council. HCAI is accepting feedback/input during the
continued development of the strategy. Comments may be submitted
to HCAI at behavioralhealthworkforce@hcai.ca.gov.
According to the announcement, input will be accepted through
Monday, October 14, 2024.
