SAMHSA Releases Behavioral Health Workforce Report

According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 80% of individuals with a substance use disorder (SUD) do not get needed care; 57% of those with mental illness also do not get needed care and fully one-third of those living with serious mental illness do not get the care they need.

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GAO Calls for HHS Coordination on Serious Mental Illness

In 2013, the leadership of the Annapolis Coalition published an article in the journal Health Affairs calling for federal leadership and coordinated interagency action to address the growing behavioral health workforce crisis. Striking a similar theme, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a recently released report, identified the need for the Department of

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Annapolis Board Chair Appointed to SAMHSA Council

Gail W. Stuart, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of the MUSC College of Nursing, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Advisory Council of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMSHA). Dr. Stuart is dean and a tenured distinguished university professor in the MUSC College of Nursing. She is also a professor

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SAMHSA announces workforce initiative

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has announced the launch of a Workforce Development Strategic Initiative. This is one of six priorities in its relatively new strategic plan, Leading Change 2.0, which also prioritizes prevention, integration, trauma and justice, recovery supports and health information technology. Driving this focus are longstanding concerns about

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A behavioral health retrospective and prescription for change

In his article for the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, John Morris, MSW, executive director of the Annapolis Coalition, uses his own experiences over the past 44 years in the field of human services to discuss the health of our communities. He discusses changes he has seen in the behavioral health workforce, specifically the emergence of

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Affordable Care Act impacting solo practitioners

A recent Kaiser Health News article examined the immediate impact the ACA is having on solo behavioral health practitioners. According to the article, the traditional cash for service business model is diminishing because of increased insurance coverage under ACA. Solo behavioral health practitioners are being asked to accept health insurance, which requires deciphering insurance plans

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States encouraged to invest in direct service workforce

The demand for direct service worker positions is projected to increase by 35 percent from 2008 to 2018, whereas overall jobs within the U.S. are expected to increase by only 10 percent within this timeframe. The National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center was created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid in 2006 to assist

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Workforce a key theme at this year’s Global Implementation Conference

John Morris, MSW, executive director of The Annapolis Coalition, and David Bernstein, MSW, director of the Center for Effective Interventions, co-facilitated two implementation practice groups (IPGs) at this year’s Global Implementation Conference. IPGs are global communities of implementation stakeholders who gather around common topical interests related to the science and practice of implementation. Morris and

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