Workforce Solutions Overview

As demand for behavioral health services continues to outpace workforce recruitment for county behavioral health departments, CalMHSA has created a range of programs to help counties address their workforce shortages. These includes services to fill the need for supervision, staffing, retention, and building a future workforce pipeline.

Project Cultivate, a Master’s Level Training Program 

A partnership with Palo Alto University to offer a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program for selected county staff:

  • County covers tuition and fees
  • Staff accept a service commitment with the county for a designated length of time
  • Training emphasis on two areas: Marriage, Family and Child Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  • Deadline to apply for spring 2024: March 3 

Remote Supervision 

Virtual clinical supervision through a HIPAA-compliant platform helps to fill a gap for counties that have pre-licensed staff but do not have access to enough clinical supervisors:

  • Counties purchase remote individual supervision hours for pre-licensed staff
  • All supervisors in the program will complete a training to orient them to the Medi-Cal core client populations within county behavioral health
  • Counties also have the option to purchase Triad supervision (two associates, one supervisor)
  • Group supervision (three to eight associates, one supervisor)

Temporary Clinical Staffing/Permanent Staff Recruitment  

Supporting county behavioral health departments with both temporary and permanent in-person and remote clinical staffing:

  • Counties can purchase clinical hourly staff time for 17 identified clinical positions
  • Addresses short-term and long-term program needs
  • Joint Commission staffing agency

Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist Offerings 

To continue to strengthen counties’ Peer workforce, counties may elect to pay for certification fees for Peer workers by purchasing items related to Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist certification.

Workforce Loan Repayment 

This new program offers counties additional loan repayment opportunities. It includes $50,000 per recipient for individuals identified by counties and for positions that are hard to fill or retain, in exchange for a three-year service commitment.

For more information, email [email protected]