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About the
Initiative

Tens of thousands of people across the state suffer from behavioral health and substance use disorders, yet Washington is among the lowest-ranking states in the nation in serving people with mental health challenges. Nearly 25% of adults with a mental illness have reported they could not access care—a situation only exacerbated by the pandemic.

The Washington State Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative

To help address Washington’s persistent behavioral health workforce challenges, the University of Washington School of Social Work has launched the Washington State Behavioral Health Workforce Development Initiative (WDI). With a generous gift from Ballmer Group, the WDI provides two-year grants to master’s students in accredited clinical mental health programs who commit to working in selected Medicaid-receiving community behavioral health agencies and tribal health centers in Washington.

The aim is to significantly decrease student debt and increase the number and diversity of exceptionally prepared graduates who work in the community agencies on which our state’s most vulnerable populations depend.

Goals

The Initiative has identified three goals to strengthen workforce development in Washington state:
Goal 1: Increase the number of well-trained master’s level clinicians committed to working in community based behavioral health agencies in Washington.
Goal 2: Reduce clinical staff turnover.
Goal 3: Create better alignment between graduate training and behavioral health workplace demands. 

Strategies

These six strategies will help the Initiative achieve its goals:
Strategy 1: Reduce or eliminate student debt through conditional grants offered by the Ballmer Behavioral Health Scholarship.
Strategy 2: Target scholarship recruitment efforts at individuals with diverse experience and committed to employment in community behavioral health.
Strategy 3: Create closer relationships between higher education programs and community behavioral health agencies.
Strategy 4: Provide career support to conditional grant recipients of the Ballmer Behavioral Health Scholarship.
Strategy 5: Measure program impact.
Strategy 6: Support better behavioral health policy.

Highlights

The Initiative employs an innovative multi-level approach that is characterized by the following: 

  • Create a statewide scholarship program for master’s level mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, and social work students by providing direct student financial assistance over a four-year period.
  • Provide financial incentives for partner institutions to coordinate and focus existing recruitment efforts on diverse students who are considering community behavioral health as a career.
  • Conduct outreach to all public and private, not-for-profit educational institutions in Washington offering an accredited master’s degree in counseling, marriage and family therapy, or social work.
  • Track key program metrics to support program progress and provide feedback to partners.
  • Work with legislators who have demonstrated interest in behavioral health to build support for workforce-related policy reform.
  • Began Year 1 with a Quick Start program in partnership with social work/counseling programs and an autumn 2021 start.

To find out more about the Ballmer Group gift and its transformative impact on the delivery and quality of behavioral health services in Washington state, read this story.