Workforce

Infrastructure #1: 
Implement strategies to increase recruitment and retention to strengthen the behavioral health professional workforce.

Sponsored by:

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Project Information

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The IBHC Workforce Implementation Team voted to pursue three action items.  

#1 Expand Behavioral Health Training Programs. The team supporting this action item conducted a survey of program directors of behavioral health academic programs at Idaho’s postsecondary institutions to determine the program capacity for each type of degree or certification and requirements for internship and practicum. Their written report about the survey results is under review.

#2 Professionalizing and strengthening the paraprofessional Peer Support Specialists, Certified Recovery Coaches, Certified Peer Recovery Coaches, and Peer and Family Support Specialists Workforce. This action team intended to conduct a comprehensive workforce analysis of these occupations, work with the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) to update the Idaho statues, as well as conduct focus groups to understand the challenges of this occupation. Meanwhile, the IBHC Criminal Justice-Continuum of Care has an action item to expand peer recovery services.  This team simultaneously determined that the peer support paraprofessional occupation needed strengthening and developed parallel objectives. The two action teams from both implementation teams met, and the CJ-CoC team transferred their certification-related objective to the Workforce team.  However, as of December 1, 2025, peer support services were no longer an allowable Medicaid service in Idaho causing both teams to revisit their scopes of work. The 2026 legislative session temporarily restored the funding for one year, and the work has tentatively resumed.

#3 Addressing Rural and Frontier Workforce Gaps. This team used available research and reports to identify national and Idaho-specific workforce challenges, as well as best practices and existing initiatives. They have developed five proposals for expanding workforce in underserved areas, which are currently under review.