New Study Reveals Gaps and Opportunities in Oregon’s Behavioral Health Workforce
The Behavioral Health Talent Assessment developed by Advocates for Human Potential recommends strategies for recruiting and retaining diverse talent
The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) has released a new report that identifies pathways for Oregonians to behavioral health careers, and evaluates barriers and opportunities for recruiting, training, and retaining a diverse behavioral health workforce. The Oregon Behavioral Health Talent Assessment and corresponding career pathways map were developed for the HECC by Advocates for Human Potential (AHP) and were presented at the Healthcare Industry Consortium’s first-quarter public meeting on January 28th.
The purpose of this assessment is to understand behavioral health workforce needs, inform program options that prioritize critical-shortage occupations, and grow and diversify the supply and distribution of the behavioral health workforce. The assessment is also intended to project future workforce demand, as well as the demand for education and training programs across Oregon.
Key findings include:
- Among Oregon’s 36 rural and frontier counties, 32 lack even one provider per 1,000 residents.
- Major factors contributing to the state’s behavioral health workforce shortage include:
- insufficient preparation for behavior health fields in the educational system (for example, lack of career exposure, lack of behavioral health programs in rural areas, low graduation rates in Oregon bachelor’s programs among behavioral-health related majors);
- worker burnout resulting from high caseloads, as well as the trauma and emotional exhaustion associated with working under difficult conditions;
- low pay and limited advancement opportunities; and
- other systemic issues such as high administrative burdens, lack of resources, complicated career pathways, unmanageable expectations, and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
Key recommendations include:
- Increase awareness of behavioral health career pathways, including postsecondary education programs, credentials, and related wraparound supports and services.
- Investigate current trends among learners and workers in the behavioral health sector—identifying, for example, reasons for turnover, as well as potential solutions.
- Infuse the principles of equity and inclusion to diversify and expand talent, using strategies that include:
- focusing on rural and culturally relevant services;
- expanding training that prepares a culturally responsive workforce, beginning with training leaders; and
- identifying and reduce barriers for individuals from communities of color who are seeking a career in behavioral health.
“From researchers to direct service providers, the voices informing this report reflect that Oregon is experiencing a behavioral health staffing crisis,” said Jennifer Purcell, director of Future Ready Oregon at the HECC. “In compiling this report with AHP, the HECC set out to understand the full scope of behavioral health workforce gaps and needs across the state. Many thanks to the Steering Committee partners who contributed their expertise to this robust assessment. The path to reinvigorated and sustainable talent resources will be a long and multifaceted one, but the impact it will have on the people of Oregon and our behavioral health workforce alike is well worth the effort.”
Click here to watch AHP’s presentation to the Healthcare Consortium (beginning at 7:25:00).
Update on the Industry Consortia’s First-Quarter Activities
Healthcare Consortium first-quarter meeting in review
The Healthcare Industry Consortium convened virtually on January 28th for its first quarterly meeting of 2025. Consortium members heard presentations and reviewed priorities for the new year. In addition to AHP’s presentation on the Behavioral Health Talent Assessment (see above), the Consortium heard from HECC staff, who shared updates on the Future Ready Oregon Year Three Annual Report, Future Ready Oregon Workforce Ready Grants in the healthcare sector, and 2025 legislative updates. In the coming months, the Consortium’s work will focus on:
- reconvening the Nursing Demand Planning Workgroup;
- convening the Behavioral Health Workforce Workgroup to build on the findings and recommendations from the Behavioral Health Talent Assessment;
- reviewing and assessing how employer focus group findings from summer 2024 can be leveraged by the Nursing and Behavioral Health Workgroups; and
- identifying lessons learned from the Workforce Ready Grant projects in healthcare.
Mark your calendars: upcoming Consortia quarterly public meetings
- Manufacturing Consortium
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Technology Consortium: February 25, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (virtual)
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Healthcare Consortium: April 22, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (location TBD)
All Industry Consortia quarterly meetings are open to the public to attend. This year, the first-quarter meetings are convening virtually; all subsequent quarterly meetings in 2025 will be held in person with an option to listen online. Find more information on the HECC’s Industry Consortia page.
2025 Legislative Session
During each legislative session, the HECC presents to legislative committees and advises the Oregon Legislature and the Governor on topics of critical concern to Oregon postsecondary education and training. The 2025 legislative session began last month. You can keep informed about the HECC’s legislative engagement, including agency testimony and presentations, on our legislative resources page.
One key role of the HECC is to present on the comprehensive funding needs for the postsecondary education and workforce system and the impact of the Governor’s Recommended Budget (GRB) for this system. These presentations are made to the Joint Ways & Means Education Subcommittee to inform the development of the final 2025-2027 Legislatively Approved Budget (LAB). This set of presentations is expected to span several days later this spring. You can read our fact sheet on the GRB below here: HECC Fact Sheet on GRB 2025-27, last updated Dec. 11, 2024.
On January 30, 2025, the Joint Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Education heard an informational presentation by the HECC on Future Ready Oregon, including updates on Career Pathways, Credit for Prior Learning, and the Future Ready Oregon Year Three Annual Report. Click here to view the recording.
Other Future Ready Oregon resources related to the 2025 legislative session include the HECC’s fact sheet on House Bill 3029: Future Ready Oregon and Continuing Workforce Investments.
Partner News: Workforce Development – Federal Funding Opportunity
The Health Resources and Service Administration has released a new funding opportunity to develop and expand community-based experiential training to increase the skills, knowledge, and capacity of students preparing to become mental health workers, peer support specialists, and other behavioral health paraprofessionals. Click here for full details about the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals (BHWET) (NFLP) (HRSA-25-066) Grant Funding Opportunity. The application deadline is March 18, 2025.
This grant opportunity is administered by a government agency external to the HECC. For more information, readers should contact the administering agency directly.
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