April 2026 Newsletter
Upcoming Webinar Series Designed for Housing Staff
Beginning this week, CalMHSA is hosting a webinar series for the HMIS project set-up for the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA). The webinars will be presented in partnership with ABT, a national consulting agency specializing in the housing Continuums of Care (CoC).
Federal law directs CoCs to select their HMIS vendor, and for the 44 CoCs in California there are five HMIS vendors. For this reason, webinar sessions have been organized by HMIS vendors and corresponding counties.
Targeted webinars will be held April 24, April 27 and May 1.
Behavioral health departments are required to enter data into HMIS on anyone served with BHSA Housing Intervention funding; this means that each county’s local HMIS needs to be set up to accept this information.
The trainings are intended for county behavioral health housing staff who interface with the federal HUD HMIS data system, as well as CoC HMIS leads. While the CoC HMIS lead will ultimately be responsible for the HMIS project set-up, they will need each county’s participation to provide the specific information about housing intervention projects.
Questions can be directed to [email protected]
ISL Training, Resources Available for ISL
As DHCS prepares for go-live of Individual Service Level (ISL) requirements in 2027, now is the time for counties to learn more, understand what’s needed, and plan for this major new initiative. To simplify and demystify the new process, CalMHSA has partnered with DHCS to provide analysis, training, resources, and readiness planning for both counties and providers.
This suite of technical assistance will expand throughout the year; explore what’s available now at calmhsa.org/isl-county/:
Trainings:
- On-demand orientation & contracting webinars
- On-demand Housing provider rate setting webinar
- County coaching sessions
- Invoicing templates/process
- Subcontractor provider network web-based training
Resources:
- Housing provider rate setting tools
- ISL-readiness inventory schema
- Boilerplate contract language
- Code set workbooks
Fee Waivers for Peers Seeking CMPSS Certification
Continuing our commitment to strengthening the behavioral health workforce — and expanding the Peers workforce, specifically — CalMHSA is offering a limited fee waiver program for individuals pursuing Certified Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist (CMPSS) certification. Waivers are available for:
- Application fee
- Exam fee
- CMPSS renewal fee
- CMPSS training fee (80-hour core training)
For more information, including eligibility and how to apply, please visit our Fee Waivers Page.
Maintaining Adequate Supervision: Solving for a Critical Issue
CalMHSA’s partnership with Motivo — a provider of virtual clinical supervisors on a HIPAA-compliant platform — is making great inroads in helping counties maintain adequate supervision for their pre-licensed staff. Read the Partnership Spotlight.
“We heard from counties the critical issue they’re facing with limited access to supervisors who have behavioral health expertise,” said Amie Miller, CalMHSA Executive Director. “And we saw a way to help with the Motivo collaboration.”
Participating counties purchase remote individual supervision hours and meet with and select the supervisor best suited for their staff. Each county has access to a dashboard showing supervision hours for each staff. So far, nearly 170 clinicians are receiving clinical supervision through Motivo, with more than 13,000 supervision hours having been delivered.
Motivo expertise includes experience in county behavioral health, community mental health centers, and correctional facilities. Their staff also bring familiarity with evidenced-based practices such as Assertive Community Treatment, Forensic Assertive Community Treatment, and full fidelity wrap. To learn more, email [email protected].
April 23, 2026