November 5, 2024 | Announcements & News

WAADAC Workforce Summit

WAADAC, the Voice for Washington State Addiction Professionals, is hosting their Third Annual WAADAC Workforce Summit on Friday, November 15th from 8:00am - 5:00pm at the SeaTac Double Tree Hilton in Seattle.

December 1, 2023 | Announcements & News, Recent Updates

Supporting Mental Health, Tackling Care Shortages

Dr. Anna Ratzliff and Dr. Bill O'Connell discuss the new Behavioral Health Support Specialist role as a new job type to address mental health care shortages.

May 8, 2023 | Announcements & News, Spotlight Topic

Governor Inslee Signs SSB 5189 to Establish BHSS in Washington

The UW Behavioral Health Support Specialist Clinical Training Program is excited to announce that Governor Inslee has signed SSB 5189 into law to establish the role of behavioral health support specialist (BHSS) in Washington.

January 6, 2023 | Announcements & News

Summary Report: 2022 Community Partner Focus Groups

In Summer 2022, the UW BHSS Clinical Training Program team facilitated four virtual focus group sessions to gather statewide feedback about the developing BHSS Clinical Training Program curriculum. Generally, there was endorsement that the BHSS will help to increase access to behavioral health treatment and expand the behavioral health workforce in Washington. Additionally, the competencies were endorsed with several recommendations for improvement.

November 5, 2021 | Announcements & News

To strengthen Washington’s mental health workforce, UW wants to train undergrads as first-line providers

Seattle Times staff reporter Hannah Furfaro features the Behavioral Health Support Specialist Clinical Training program and interviews Dr. Anna Ratzliff and others about the impetus for this work.