Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program - The Altruistic Behavior Institute’s Rural and Tribal Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program at Cal Poly Humboldt will increase the supply of behavioral health professionals and improve the distribution of a well-trained behavioral health workforce in rural and Tribal communities of remote Northwestern California. Project goals, objectives, milestones, and expected outcomes will be achieved through providing financial support to 40 trainees and their respective experiential training sites along with development, delivery, and evaluation of additional coursework, external training opportunities, and in-service training related to team-based care in behavioral health services for children, adolescents, young adults, and their families in rural and Tribal communities of far Northwestern California. Continuation of this program will allow for strengthened behavioral health workforce opportunities in underserved medical communities and health profession shortage areas with one of the largest populations of Native Americans in rural California. All trainees will be expected to seek employment in rural and Tribal behavioral health settings upon graduation. Cal Poly Humboldt’s program has demonstrated the ability to train psychology, psychiatry, and social work professionals to work in integrated care settings and has documented an average increase in the Center for Integrated Health Solutions’ “Six Levels of Collaboration/Integration” of 50%, from approximately 3.0 to 4.5. In addition to this requested Funding Priority, the program meets Funding Preference Qualification 1 by placing 100% of program graduates in medically unserved communities. The program for which continuation is requested has demonstrated a 275% increase in new and expanded community partnerships with experiential training sites in high-need and high-demand areas from 2021-2024. Cal Poly Humboldt’s MSW program was built ground-up by and for the rural and Tribal communities we serve. We know, as national research demonstrates, that the best way to strengthen the behavioral health workforce in rural and Tribal communities is to “grow your own.” These are the folks most likely to stick around. Our program has had great success with this model. Continuation of the Rural and Tribal Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program will produce measurable results and enduring outcomes.
