Workforce Solutions Jam: Aligning Across Levers of Change

Addressing the workforce crisis requires a comprehensive approach that aligns and “pulls” multiple levers of change in concert and over time to create meaningful impact. A combination of infrastructure development and the implementation of workforce strategies has shown promising results in one state, via a collaborative and intentional approach to advancing workforce solutions.

Key highlights of this month’s jam include:

• Meeting a state commissioner and learning how they are leading a major workforce development effort throughout their state.
• Hearing about one state’s experience designing a workforce collaborative and implementing the state’s first strategic action plan specifically devoted to the behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disabilities workforce.
• Learning examples of actionable infrastructure-building mechanisms and promising workforce strategies that can be applied in other states and localities.
• Understanding recent state-enacted legislation focused on behavioral health loan forgiveness, alternative paths to licensure/removing exam requirements and examples of strengthening recruitment and education.
• Exploring a summary crosswalk of more than 400 workforce recommendations from published reports that serves as an actionable roadmap for addressing the workforce crisis.

The Workforce Solutions Jam is a monthly webinar to build national momentum and encourage collaboration through the Center for Workforce Solutions, hosted as a partnership between the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, the College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL) and Health Management Associates (HMA).