Capacity Building and Retention of Oregon’s Behavioral Health Workforce
Our goals:
- Increase behavioral health system capacity to provide care that deeply embeds practices and promotes principles of health equity, cultural responsiveness, de-stigmatization of services, restorative healing and community empowerment.
- Develop and invest in a culturally specific workforce and increase access to culturally responsive services and interventions.
- Engage communities through shared decision-making to build structures, processes, resources and supports for increasing recruitment and retention of a culturally specific behavioral health workforce.
Initial Behavioral Health Incentives
House Bill 4071 (2022) and House Bill 2949 (2021) direct Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to increase the recruitment and retention of behavioral health providers who:
- Are people of color, tribal members, or residents of rural areas of Oregon, and
- Can provide culturally responsive care for diverse communities.
To do this, OHA created the
Behavioral Health Workforce Incentives program. The program's funding includes:
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$60 million to develop a diverse behavioral health workforce in licensed and non-licensed occupations through scholarships,
loan repayment, retention and peer workforce development.
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$20 million for clinical supervision grants. These are for licensed behavioral health providers to supervise associates or other individuals so they complete the supervised clinical experience required to obtain a license to practice.
View the program's progress on the BHWI Dashboard page
Partnerships and Incentives
OHA has awarded workforce incentive funding to Oregon’s crisis hotline providers. Northwest Human Services and Lines for Life will use these funds to support recruitment and retention efforts, including education and training programs, graduate stipends, and loan repayment initiatives, all aimed at strengthening Oregon’s behavioral health crisis system.
OHA has partnered with the Nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon to increase behavioral health services to American Indians and Alaskan Natives living in Oregon.
OHA has awarded workforce incentive funding to three Oregon high school behavioral health career and technical education programs. Salem-Keizer, Lane County, and Sunset-Beaverton school districts will use these funds to establish authentic behavioral health workforce training for students at the high school level. Incentive funding will support:
- Paid internship scholarships
- Culturally specific classes, training, and certifications
- Paid transportation for rural students to/from internship locations
- Suicide Intervention training and certifications for program teachers
- Restorative justice training programs
OHA has awarded child and family workforce incentive funding to Oregon Health & Science University to expand their residency training program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Developmental Pediatrics Fellowships. Incentive funding will support:
- Addressing the workforce shortage in children's mental health programs by increasing the number of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists in Oregon
- Diversifying the ethnocultural and intersectional make-up of child and youth physicians
- Expanding fellowship training opportunities into a community hospital setting and supporting services for rural patients
OHA has awarded more than 40 grants to individuals and behavioral health programs.
OHA granted funding to Oregon's Board of Licensed Social Workers (BLSW) and the Mental Health and Addiction Certification Board of Oregon (MHACBO) to cover licensing and renewal fees for licensed and certified providers in Oregon:
- For Board of Licensed Social Workers license applications, active Feb. 1, 2023 through Feb. 19, 2024
- For Association of Social Work Boards Licensing Exam, active Jan. 12, 2023, through Feb. 19, 2024
- For Mental Health and Addiction Certification Board testing, registration or renewal, active Dec. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2024
Questions and Answers: Waiver Programs for Oregon Social Worker Exams and Licensing Fees
Behavioral health providers can use these grants to offer educational incentives to support staff recruitment, advancement and retention, such as:
- Scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students going into the behavioral health care field
- Loan forgiveness and repayment incentives
- Tuition assistance
- Stipends for students enrolled in graduate behavioral health care educational programs
Learn more about this grant opportunity.
OHA has partnered with Oregon's community mental health programs to increase and support the recruitment and retention of behavioral health providers.
OHA has also awarded funds for culturally responsive programs to provide training, professional development, and recruitment/retention bonuses for the peer workforce.
OHA has awarded five grants for higher education and community-based programs to offer scholarship opportunities to underserved students pursuing an education in behavioral health.
OHA has awarded 8 grants for programs to provide tuition assistance and stipends for graduate-level students and professionals.
OHA's Student Loan Repayment Program has awarded over 250 individuals repayment funds for the culturally specific and equity-driven work they provide people in Oregon.