The field of behavioral health is in the midst of a workforce crisis.1 The passage of legislation promoting insurance coverage expansion and prohibiting benefit limitations for mental health and substance use disorder treatment has spurred demand for services.2 Nationally, however, there is insufficient supply of providers- especially in rural communities- and recruitment and retention of providers is an ongoing challenge.1,3 In addition to concerns about supply and shortage, there is a need to train the current workforce in a number of different areas1, including health promotion and prevention services, cultural competence, treatment of co-occurring disorders, and integrated care service delivery.
To learn about and help address these and other challenges, the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Montana State University and the Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center at the University of Michigan School of Public Health are pleased to co-sponsor a four-part webinar series in February, March, April, and May 2017.
The third webinar in the series, “Changes and Constants in National Behavioral Health”, will be held April 13th, 1:00 pm EST, focuses on legislative and policy changes and their potential impact on the behavioral health workforce.
