Apr 28, 2023
Why This Matters
In a move to further strengthen and support California’s health care workforce, these awards will support the mentorship of health care professionals early in their careers, improving access to behavioral health services, particularly in underserved communities throughout the state.
SACRAMENTO—Today California, through the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), awarded more than $17 million to 39 nonprofit providers and tribal organizations in underserved areas to expand their in-house behavioral health workforce. Through the DHCS’ Mentored Internship Programs, each entity will receive up to $500,000 to enhance and build their behavioral health substance use disorder workforce, focusing on resources to expand prevention, treatment, and recovery skills for those working with individuals with or at risk of developing an opioid use disorder.
The Mentored Internship Program will enhance the professional development of diverse students, grow the future behavioral health workforce with comprehensive training to help mitigate the opioid crisis.
“California needs more health care workers and through this mentorship program, we are supporting young professionals at the start of their careers and equipping them with the skills needed to help tackle the opioid crisis,” said Governor Newsom. “The grants going out today will help ensure that our health care workforce better reflects the communities they serve, and help expand access to critical behavioral health services for all Californians.”
“Today’s awards support the Administration’s ongoing commitment to address the opioid epidemic,” said DHCS Director Baass. “The Department of Health Care Services is working with community partners throughout the state to build a robust workforce of behavioral health professionals to serve California’s many diverse communities.”
Today’s awards to organizations in underserved and diverse communities are part of the Behavioral Health Workforce Development initiative, funded by Opioid Settlement Funds through December 31, 2024. To date, 163 provider organizations have received funding under the Mentor Internship Programs.
Grants Making A Difference
- “I’m happy to report that we have retained as employees 100 percent of our Mentored Internship Program interns,” said Dr. Myra Saltoun, Director of Clinical Training at current grantee CASA Pacifica, a provider of mental health services in Ventura County serving at-risk children and their families. “The one-on-one mentorship promotes a comfort zone in which interns can ask questions and seek guidance. Interns are exposed to a variety of mental health professions while in the program, and by the time they complete the internship, they have found an area or two about which they are passionate. They complete the program feeling more confident and ready to pursue higher education. Our mentors are also enjoying the opportunity to mentor students and feel their fresh ideas and enthusiasm enrich our program and client lives. We have established stronger relationships with our educational partners that will last beyond the funding of this grant.”
- “I had the pleasure of working with RCS as an intern during graduate school. Throughout my internship, I gained valuable skills and knowledge. The experience of my internship made me feel supported, valued, and empowered as a clinician,” said Maritsa Garcia Rendon, who was hired as a full-time clinical counselor by grantee Rebekah Children’s Services (RCS), a mental health provider in Santa Clara County. After completing the Mentored Internship Program, she noted that the internship experience led her to choosing a full-time position with RCS.
Additional Details
The Mentored Internship Program was established in 2022 in response to a variety of California-specific behavioral health workforce needs assessments and recommendations that showed a shortage of professionals across the spectrum of behavioral health careers. This program is part of California’s broader efforts to expand the State’s behavioral health workforce through the Behavioral Health Workforce Development initiative, which seeks to improve access to behavioral health services across the state, and to provide opportunities for students 18 years of age and older and at multiple stages of their education to gain practical on-the-job experience. Students in such fields as social work, public health, and psychology are encouraged to serve as interns, as are students pursuing associate degrees at community colleges, undergraduate and graduate students, and students or recent graduates of high school or alternative high school.
Bigger Picture
Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated more than $1 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis by removing opioids from the streets, providing resources to California communities in need, and increasing education and awareness to prevent opioid addiction and death. DHCS is investing more than $450 million in various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities in fiscal year 2022-23.
Apr 18, 2023
DHCS held a webinar on Considerations for Allocating Opioid Settlement Funds on April 4, 2023. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation and a recording of the presentation are now available on the DHCS OSF webpage.
DHCS has held previous webinars on reporting requirements for California cities and counties receiving opioid funds, as well as allowable expenses with the settlement funds. These slides and recordings are also available on the DHCS OSF webpage.
In addition to webinars, DHCS has posted the following resources for cities and counties receiving opioid settlement funds:
- For clarification on common questions regarding expenditure and reporting requirements, please refer to the Opioid Settlement Funds Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) resource.
- For a list of allowable activities, please refer to the Allowable Expendituresresource, which includes California’s designated High Impact Abatement Activities and a list of opioid remediation activities from Exhibit E of the National Settlement Agreements.
- Subdivisions interested in receiving technical assistance from DHCS staff should complete the Technical Assistance Form and send their completed form to OSF@dhcs.ca.gov.
Questions?
Mar 20, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded $1.75 million to 25 programs through the California Residency Program Collaborative Project. This collaborative will advance the training of primary care doctors in the field of substance use disorders (SUD), including stimulants and opioids. The training will also improve the patient care experience and promote patient-centric and evidence-based care.
“We must equip physicians in California with skills to recognize, diagnose, and treat substance use disorders. This project continues to give residency programs the tools they need to make this a reality,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
Why This is Important
The project is improving education, outreach, and treatment for patients with SUDs and opioid use disorders (OUD), with a particular focus on serving vulnerable populations, promoting harm reduction, addressing fentanyl, and increasing Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services. MAT is the use of medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, which are effective in the treatment of OUDs and can help some people sustain recovery.
Twenty-five entities are receiving awards to help provide MAT services to implement the project from January 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. Grantees include accredited residency programs (by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) that train physicians in emergency medicine, family medicine, general internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. This project helps transform the practices of multiple physician specialties and their care teams and improve patient care in SUD/OUD and addiction.
Additional Background
The SUD training is funded by the State Opioid Response III grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It’s part of DHCS’ broader efforts to address SUD, collectively known as the California MAT Expansion Project, to increase access to MAT, reduce unmet treatment need, and reduce opioid overdose-related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. For more information, please visit the DHCS California MAT Expansion Project Overview webpage.
Since coming into office, Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated more than $1 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis by removing opioids from the streets, providing resources to California communities in need, and increasing education and awareness to prevent harm in the first place.
In fiscal year 2022-23, DHCS is investing more than $558 million in various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities. Today’s awards continue efforts by DHCS in recent months to tackle SUDs/OUDs, including:
Mar 20, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today announced it will launch the Behavioral Health Virtual Services Platform, a new technology-enabled services solution for all children, youth, and families in California, in January 2024. The platform is part of Governor Newsom’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health and the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), a $4.7 billion investment in youth behavioral health.
Why This is Important
This platform will support the delivery of equitable, appropriate, and timely behavioral health services from prevention to treatment to recovery. The platform will also provide support and resources, such as interactive digital education, self-monitoring tools, application-based games, and mindfulness exercises, as well as offer access to free, on-demand one-on-one coaching and counseling supports. It will be available as a downloadable smart phone application (on IOS and Android devices) and via a website portal and telephone.
What State Health Leaders Are Saying
“This platform will increase access to early, upstream supports that over time will reduce the overall need for services delivered in emergency departments and psychiatric hospitals, as well as through crisis services, by providing young people with an outlet to address loneliness, sadness, anxiety, school and family stressors, and other issues affecting children, youth, and young adults,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health & Human Services Agency. “Our goal is to offer an upstream option for young people to get the support they need.”
“Through this initiative, we are reimagining behavioral health, emotional well-being, and resiliency for all children, youth, and families in California by delivering equitable, appropriate, timely, and accessible mental health and substance use services and supports through an innovative and up-stream focused approach, including accessibility via a smartphone application,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
How We Got Here
Over the past 18 months, DHCS engaged with more than 1,000 unique and diverse stakeholders and key implementation partners across California, including youth, families (including caregivers), local educational agencies and educators, health care providers and payers, behavioral health experts, and community-based organizations, among others.
DHCS prioritized hearing from children, youth, and families, with more than 300-plus children and youth engaged via focus groups, surveys, and regular advisory body meetings. DHCS also engaged diverse populations, regions, and age groups, including individuals from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities, as well as other historically underserved populations (e.g., rural communities, families experiencing homelessness, justice-involved individuals, and foster youth).
In planning and designing this new solution, DHCS vetted more than 450 vendors with existing digital behavioral health platforms and content. This was done through an extensive market scan, a Request for Information, and numerous vendor demonstrations.
DHCS selected Kooth to support the delivery of equitable, appropriate, and timely behavioral health services to youth and young adults (ages 13-25). Kooth will also integrate with other partners to provide a seamless user experience, including providing services and supports to children (ages 0-12) and their parents/caregivers.
Additionally, DHCS is working with potential vendors to provide a statewide e-Consult service for pediatric and primary care providers to connect with behavioral health providers. This will strengthen the workforce and improve the capacity of primary care providers and pediatricians to provide behavioral health treatment to children, youth, and young adults. To date, DHCS has engaged extensively with leading experts on e-Consult services and, in the coming weeks, will launch a workgroup representing primary care providers, pediatricians, and behavioral health experts to inform the design of this statewide solution.
Background on Partnership With Kooth
Founded in 2002, Kooth is a pioneer in youth-focused digital behavioral health. Its platform is accessible to more than eight million teens and young adults, providing a welcoming place for support without barriers, waiting lists, or stigma. “We’re excited to partner with DHCS and the State of California to help transform access to digital behavioral health support for youth across the state. Working together, we believe this represents a step-change in providing early and responsive access to behavioral health care to help address the growing youth mental health crisis,” said Kooth CEO Tim Barker.
In partnership with DHCS, Kooth will conduct extensive user-testing to obtain input from youth, families, and key partners about the design, content creation, and functionality of the platform to ensure it meets the needs of California’s youth. These activities will continue prior to and post go-live in January 2024. Also, through partnerships with key partners, such as schools, primary care providers, and behavioral health experts, Kooth will help build awareness and drive adoption of the platform before and after launch.
For more information, please visit the DHCS CYBHI webpage.
Mar 13, 2023
SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded $12 million to 44 programs through the California Youth Opioid Response (CA YOR) project, and $9.6 million to 28 entities through the Low-Barrier Opioid Treatment at Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) project. This is the latest investment in a running total of more than half a billion dollars to help prevent opioid overuse and addiction, address opioid use disorders safely and effectively, and reduce overdose deaths.
“DHCS continues to fight for the health of our youth and other vulnerable individuals through programs that strive to increase opioid and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services for people in need. We recognize that early and effective intervention is essential,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
Why This is Important
While overdoses and overdose deaths have increased among all populations, the rate among youth has risen faster than other populations. Based upon reports of prior CA YOR grantees, many youth are unaware that methamphetamine, counterfeit benzodiazepines, or other drugs they take may contain fentanyl. The stakes are particularly high given the presence of fentanyl and chemically similar compounds in the illicit drug supply chain. The younger the age of first substance use, the stronger the risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD).
Also, low-barrier treatment actively seeks to identify, reduce, or eliminate hurdles to people with opioid use disorder (OUD) and co-occurring conditions from being able to access, initiate, and continue OUD treatment. A key feature of this approach is the co-location of treatment services, including patient assessment and prescribing with syringe access and other harm reduction services that prospective patients are already utilizing. More than 60 SSPs in California support the health and safety of more than 150,000 people who use drugs each year.
CA YOR Project
Awardees will receive funds for the period of April 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, to support prevention, treatment, and recovery services for youth (ages 12-24) with or at risk of an OUD and/or stimulant use disorder (StUD). The CA YOR project aims to strengthen capacity and increase access for the treatment of OUD/StUDs and to reduce opioid overdose-related deaths among youth through evidence-based practices. Eligible awardees are nonprofit or for-profit businesses, Tribal authorities, state or local government agencies, schools, and school districts.
Low-Barrier Opioid Treatment at SSPs
This project supports the integration of opioid treatment services and other harm reduction services into existing sites to increase the number of SSP sites where OUD treatment services are available and the number of SSP participants engaged in treatment. Eligible awardees include SSPs able to provide health care services in California, directly or in collaboration with one or more health care organizations, sufficient to provide assessment, prescription, and management of medication for the treatment of OUD.
Awarded organizations will be required to demonstrate specific ways in which they will promote equitable access to services offered by the project, including, but not limited to, approaches designed to ensure that Black/African-American, Indigenous, and people of color are able to access services safely and equitably. The awarded SSPs will be able to utilize funds from March 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
“It is imperative that California continues to expand not only access to treatment for an opioid use disorder, but to also provide an increase in harm reduction services,” said Tyler Sadwith, Deputy Director of DHCS Behavioral Health.
Both projects are funded by the State Opioid Response III grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They are part of DHCS’ broader efforts to address SUD, collectively known as the California MAT Expansion Project, to increase access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), reduce unmet treatment need, and reduce opioid overdose-related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. For more information, please visit the DHCS California MAT Expansion Project Overview webpage.
Additonal Background:
Since coming into office, Governor Gavin Newsom has dedicated more than $1 billion in funding to fight the opioid crisis by removing opioids from the streets, providing resources to California communities in need, and increasing education and awareness to prevent harm in the first place.
In fiscal year 2022-23, DHCS is investing more than $558 million in various opioid prevention and treatment grant activities. Today’s project awards are just two of several efforts made by DHCS in recent months to tackle SUDs/OUDs, including $4.6 million to emergency departments to train behavioral health navigators, $2.4 million for the MAT in Jails and Drug Courts Project, $2 million for the California Native MAT Network for Healing and Recovery Project, $4 million to 54 driving under the influence programs for resources and treatment, $52 million invested in opioid prevention and treatment services, $12 million to tackle youth opioid use, $3.4 million to transform medical practices to address the opioid crisis, and $58.5 million for youth substance use prevention.
