The UNC-BHWRC will undertake 10 projects in year one that address national-level planning and policy-relevant research questions related to the behavioral health workforce. Our studies are designed to inform the strategic aims of both HRSA—to target funding toward programs and training that improve access to, supply of, distribution, diversity, and quality of behavioral health workforce—and SAMHSA—to strengthen the behavioral health workforce to better meet the behavioral health needs of individuals, communities, and service providers.
Assessing the extent to which CPSS training programs prepared the peer workforce and identifying areas of continued training needs.
Understanding the pipeline of diverse Bachelor of Social Work graduates to Master of Social Work programs to assess how student demographics, educational programs, and loan debt burden impact pathways into the profession.
Analyzing the geographic location of three behavioral health professions across a standardized index of area disadvantage.
Investigating the extent to which transitional age youth receive behavioral health screenings and the settings in which they are delivered.
Examining demographic and diagnostic differences in treatments for child mental health among provider types and insurance status.
Filling the knowledge gap on the harm reduction workforce.
A national survey to peer recovery support specialists regarding their experiences of burnout and intentions to remain active members of the behavioral health workforce.
Investigating the perinatal mental health workforce across the U.S.
Examining how experiences with medically underserved populations during the education of behavioral health professionals affects their satisfaction and retention when subsequently working in safety net settings.
Examining the use of virtual care to understand who is providing tele-behavioral health services at FQHCs.
Identification of how addiction counselors are identified within each state and describing the proportion of states that permit addiction counselors to reimbursed for their services.
Observing the rate of Psychiatric Collaborative Care Management (CoCM) codes across patient age, gender, diagnosis, and provider type.
Investigating the inclusion of perinatal service delivery at mental health and substance use treatment facilities in the U.S.
A survey of school administrators to understand and describe the workforce providing school-based behavioral health care.
Characterizing staffing approaches used by CCBHC clinics participating in the 2018-2019 demonstration and determining how and whether staffing approaches were correlated with clinic performance.
Identifying educational pathways into graduate-level behavioral health professions and assessing associations between pathways and individual and employment characteristics
Identifying the features of behavioral health clinicians’ work and jobs correlated with how long they anticipate remaining in their safety net practices
Exploring the distribution of geriatric fellowships by physician specialty and surveying geriatric fellowship program directors
