SAMHSA Releases Guide for Expanding Community-Based BH Workforce

The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) has released a new resource, “Practical Guide for Expanding the Community-Based Behavioral Health Workforce”, which presents best practices for expanding community-initiated prevention and care, information on the role of behavioral health specialists, examples of community-based models of care, and resources for communities working to ensure community members’ well-being.

Key recommendations include the expansion of Community Initiated Care (CIC) models and the utilization of Behavioral Health Support Specialists (BHSS), which are non-clinical, highly trained staff behavioral health paraprofessionals that support the continuum of care. BHSS can include: Community Health Workers, Crisis Response Staff, Doulas, Harm Reduction workers, Paraprofessionals, Patient Navigators, Peer Specialists, Prevention Specialists, or BH Aides.

Community Initiated Care (CIC) and Behavioral Health Support Specialists (BHSS) encourage community members to help address BH needs by building on community relationships, expanding the reach beyond traditional medical settings into the community and reducing barriers to care. CIC and BHSS are not intended to replace clinical providers, rather to supplement and strengthen the BH workforce by offering community-driven programs that meet the needs of community members. Communities may need to address infrastructure issues to support and expand CIC and BHSS roles, including ensuring necessary education, training, and certification opportunities; developing strong collaboration and community partnerships; addressing program evaluation and data needs; and building sustainable funding.

To mitigate potential infrastructure challenges in the adoption of CIC and BHSS models, the guide provides several key recommendations, including:

1. Expanding education and training pathways for community-initiated care (CIC) providers and behavioral health support specialists (BHSS) that expand the community-based behavioral health workforce.
2. Expanding career pathways for CIC and BHSS as early as grades K-12 that may also be developed through partnerships with the education sector, employers, and community-based organizations and through community colleges.
3. Expand certification and licensing opportunities related to BHSS roles to standardized training, education, and competencies.
4. Improve the collection and analyzing of community-based outcomes to measure CIC outcomes.
5. Increase low reimbursement rates for CIC interventions under Medicaid FFS financing.