CFAs: Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals (US)

This program aims to increase the supply of behavioral health professionals and improve the distribution of a well-trained behavioral health workforce. The program has a specific focus on increasing access to behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and young adults.

Objectives

• Increase the number of new or expanded community partnerships with experiential training sites in high-need and high-demand areas.
• Promote collaborative training by using team-based models of care to integrate behavioral health care into inter professional primary care settings.
• Recruit a diverse workforce interested in working with children, adolescents, and young adults.
• Recruit, develop, and expand the capacity to train clinical supervisors to support and mentor behavioral health trainees.

Funding Information

• Expected total available funding in 2025: $59,600,000
• Funding range per award: Up to $600,000 annually
• They plan to fund awards in four 12-month budget periods for a total 4-year period of performance from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2029.

Eligible Activities

• The BHWET Program for Professionals was established in 2014 to enhance and expand the behavioral health workforce by supporting professionals and paraprofessionals to:
  • Increase access to behavioral health care services in medically underserved communities.
  • Develop interprofessional training and behavioral health integration.
  • Implement experiential training in settings that serve children, adolescents, and transitional age youth.

Eligibility Criteria

• You can apply if you are one of the following:
  • Accredited institutions of higher education or accredited professional training programs that are establishing or expanding internships or other field placement programs in mental health in psychiatry, psychology, school psychology, behavioral pediatrics, psychiatric nursing (which may include master’s and doctoral level programs), social work, school social work, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) prevention and treatment, marriage and family therapy, occupational therapy (which may include master’s and doctoral level programs), school counseling, or professional counseling, including such programs with a focus on child and adolescent mental health, trauma, and transitional-age youth.
  • Accredited doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral residency programs of health service psychology (including clinical psychology, counseling, and school psychology) for the development and implementation of interprofessional training of psychology graduate students for providing behavioral health services, including trauma-informed care and SUD prevention and treatment services, as well as the development of faculty in health service psychology.
  • Accredited master’s and doctoral degree programs of social work for the development and implementation of interprofessional training of social work graduate students for providing behavioral health services, including trauma informed care and SUD prevention and treatment services, and the development of faculty in social work.
• Your training program must be either:
  • Accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency, as specified by the U.S. Department of Education, or
  • Approved by a state or tribal government to provide a behavioral health related training program.
• To receive support under this program, a trainee must be one of the following:
  • A U.S. citizen or non-citizen national.
  • An individual lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States.
  • Any other “qualified alien” under section 431(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104–193, as amended.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.