Building a Community-Academic Partnership to Expand Workforce Development in Underserved, High-Need/High-Demand Areas

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Health System Partnerships
• Social Work Education
• Workforce Development

Background:

• A large, urban, public, community-based behavioral health system partnered with an academic Master of Social Work (MSW) program.
• The partnership was catalyzed by a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) workforce development initiative.
• The behavioral health system serves a medically underserved urban area and a health care professional shortage area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop infrastructure for training MSW students.
• To expand workforce skills in integrated behavioral health.
• To increase the number of MSW graduates working with medically underserved populations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized principles of partnership building and facilitators.
• Assessed partnership development using process and outcome measures.
• Tracked changes in partnerships and HRSA grant implementation.

Main Results:

• Trained 70 field instructors and engaged 114 MSW students in HRSA field placements (2018-2020).
• Developed 35 community-based field sites, including 4 federally qualified health centers.
• Of 57 surveyed graduates, 66.7% were employed in medically underserved, high-need/high-demand urban areas.

Conclusions:

• Formal agreements, regular communication, and collaborative decision-making fostered partnership sustainability.
• The partnership successfully expanded the behavioral health workforce for underserved populations.
• Training focused on integrated behavioral health, trauma-informed care, cultural awareness, and telebehavioral health.