Workforce
The Legislature announced their proposals and priorities for investing even more for California health and behavioral health workforce than the Governor’s $1.7 billion. Notably, the Legislature’s budget would invest an additional $532.5 million over five years at the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) for workforce development programs to support providers of public health, behavioral health, primary care, and reproductive health services. The package also invests $200 million in behavioral health programs, $195.5 million in public health programs, $116 million in primary care programs, and $21 million on reproductive health programs. The $200m breaks down like this:
- Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Fellowship Programs – $25 million annually for two years to support additional slots for Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Fellowship programs.
- Graduate Medical Education and Loan Repayment for Psychiatrists – $19 million annually for two years to support two training programs for psychiatrists: 1) $7.5 million annually for two years for graduate medical education slots for psychiatrists, and 2) $11.5 million annually for two years to support loan repayment for psychiatrists that agree to a five year service commitment at a State Hospital, with a weekly rotation to provide behavioral health interventions in local public behavioral health systems.
- University and College Training Grants for Behavioral Health Professionals – $26 million annually for two years to support 4,350 licensed behavioral health professionals through grants to existing university and college training programs, including partnerships with the public sector.
- Expand Masters in Social Work (MSW) Slots at Public Schools of Social Work – $30 million annually for two years to support grants to public schools of social work to immediately expand the number of MSW students. $27 million would support the 18 California State University programs and $3 million would support the two University of California programs.
You may view a full summary with more details on the Legislature’s workforce investment proposal, here.
