San Francisco Bay Area Integrated Behavioral Health MSW Training Program

IBH Program03

Beginning in academic year 2017-18, CalSWEC’s IBH Program has received funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) program for three training projects. All three have used a multi-level approach to training, resource development, and community capacity building to enhance and expand the behavioral health workforce providing services to medically underserved and high demand, high need communities and populations.

From academic year 2018-19 to 2020-21, CalSWEC has received funding from the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) initiative of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for the Northern California Integrated Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment MSW Training Program, a regional stipend and training program available to second-year MSW students at UC Berkeley, California State University East Bay, San Jose State University, and Cal Poly Humboldt University.

The program’s goal was to expand access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUD) in high demand, high need areas of California’s Bay Area and Superior Region. It utilized a multi-level approach to training, resource development, and capacity building intended to support a sustainable plan to expand access to MAT services in these regions.

The SUD program focused on developing and substantially expanding field partnerships between regional MSW programs and local health centers that offer MAT. This included developing and disseminating MAT training resources for MSW program faculty as well as MSW field training site supervisors and agency staff. SUD trainees completed specialized academic and field training that prepared them to provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders and other substance use disorders in community health centers.

In exchange for $10,000 in stipend support, SUD trainees committed to seeking employment in behavioral health settings that offer MAT services to medically underserved and high demand, high need communities and populations after graduation. With the expansion of California’s statewide hub-and-spoke system and as more providers adopt the integrated care models, SUD trainees are uniquely equipped to become leaders in the delivery of team-based, interprofessional MAT services.

Recently renewed for academic year 2021-2025, the IBH Training Program is focused on enhancing regional capacity to provide high-quality integrated behavioral health care to such communities in the Bay Area, with a special focus on enhancing service at sites that have been heavily impacted by increased enrollment associated with California’s Medi-Cal expansion plan. 

The IBH Training program provides academic, field, and simulation-based training to MSW students focused on delivering team-based interprofessional care, with the goal of preparing them to provide high quality behavioral health care that is integrated with primary care. Program-affiliated academic and field faculty participate in interprofessional training intended to enhance academic and field instruction in IBH practices and strengthen the degree to which the IBH model is addressed in MSW education. Field site supervisors are also asked to participate in training and capacity building efforts focused on enhancing the implementation of IBH practices in service settings. 

In exchange for $10,000 in stipend support, IBH trainees commit to seeking employment in behavioral health settings that provide care to medically underserved and high demand, high need communities and populations after graduation. With California’s ambitious Medi-Cal expansion plans and as more providers adopt integrated care models, IBH trainees are uniquely equipped to become leaders in the delivery of team-based, multidisciplinary integrated care.

To access IBH MSW Stipend Program forms, helpful links, and other resources, please visit the Resources page of this site.