The GAO and Oregon Legislature Explore Behavioral Health Workforce Issues

The Federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) is undertaking a review of behavioral health workforce projections, including estimates of supply and demand from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). It is interested in understanding: What is known about the current number of certain behavioral health professionals in the workforce. What is known about the federal

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Guide to Recruiting and Retaining Psychiatrists

Finding a psychiatrist to work in a community behavioral health program or community health center has become exceptionally difficult. The pipeline of new psychiatrists does not match the demand. Many are being drawn from community-based programs to hospitals and health systems. In many states, up to 50% of psychiatrists are in private practice and refuse

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The Post COVID-19 Behavioral Workforce Challenge

by Michael T. Flaherty, Ph.D. Board Chair, Annapolis Coalition of Behavioral Health Workforce The COVID-19 pandemic has identified and catalyzed unprecedented needs and changes that must be made in today’s behavioral health care and its workforce. During the pandemic 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, and unmet mental

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Annapolis Coalition Reviews Learning Collaboratives

The Annapolis Coalition was commissioned by the National Coordinating Office of the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network to conduct a review of learning collaboratives. Learning collaboratives have been widely used in general healthcare and in behavioral health as a strategy for quality improvement and implementation of evidence-based practices. This review was to assist technical

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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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ATTC Releases Whitepaper: Preparing Students to Work in Integrated Health Care Systems

The Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network (ATTC) released its recently published whitepaper about preparing generalist, specialist and behavioral health providers for practice in an integrated setting, asserting that substance use disorders prevention, treatment and recovery services are becoming more integrated with mental health and general healthcare.   The paper notes that existing pre-service educational programs

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States Solutions Webinar Series Continues

The quarterly State Solutions in Workforce webinar series, which launched last fall, continues highlighting innovative practices by the states in developing the substance use and mental health workforce. A recording of the first webinar, which took place in September and highlighted initiatives in Nebraska, is available online here. January’s webinar highlighted the workforce development effort in Connecticut under

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