Scalable Strategies to Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce

The behavioral health workforce shortage is one of the most urgent challenges facing our nation. This report highlights how leading behavioral health organizations across the country are equipping providers without a clinical license to deliver core evidence-based behavioral health interventions under structured supervision. To understand how these approaches are being implemented on the ground, the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute conducted key informant interviews with 11 organizations pioneering workforce innovations within integrated care settings throughout the United States and published a white paper titled “Scalable Strategies to Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce.”

Key Findings

Four successful strategies emerged from those key stakeholder interviews:

• Employing behavioral health care managers (BHCM) with bachelors-level training within the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM);
• Training community members with high school diplomas or high school equivalency (HSE) credentials to deliver culturally grounded behavioral health support services;
• Building internship and practicum models that strengthen early-career training pipelines; and
• Partnering with higher education institutions to develop scalable, skills- and competency-based training pathways into behavioral health support roles.

Together, these strategies point to several clear paths for policymakers and system leaders. By investing in competency-based training, supervision, and reimbursement models, we can equip providers without a clinical license to deliver, not just refer to, evidence-based behavioral health care within their scope of practice, creating a workforce that is accessible, equitable, sustainable, and representative of the communities most impacted by today’s behavioral health crisis.

Scalable Strategies to Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce

To read and download the full whitepaper, click here.