San Diego County is seeking feedback from local organizations as part of a strategy to increase the number of regional behavioral health workers, officials announced over the weekend.
According to a news release, beginning Tuesday and running through Friday, the county will hold virtual input meetings featuring two sessions on these programs:
-- Nurse practitioner, by supporting students with educational and clinical experience in public behavioral health settings;
-- Behavioral health apprenticeship network, providing apprenticeships to help people become substance-use disorder counselors, case managers, community health workers, along with other in-demand roles;
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-- Grants for training, placing, and retaining peer support specialists; and
-- Paid social work, counseling, and therapy internships in public behavioral health settings to master's level social work, counseling, and therapy students.
A county workforce assessment completed in 2022 found that an additional 18,500 behavioral health workers "will be needed to meet anticipated demand for mental health and substance use disorder treatment services in the region by 2027," officials said.
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Seventy-five million dollars in funding is available via the state Mental Health Services Act, according to the county.
The Policy & Innovation Center, based in San Diego, will administer the county's ELEVATE Behavioral Health Workforce Fund and host the first informational sessions, county officials said.
According to the county, the workforce fund will support qualifying students, behavioral health professionals and those with lived mental health and substance use experience in accessing training or to advance their educational degrees.
The program is anticipated to support about 2,800 people over five years, officials said, adding that funding may be available by this fall.
