Funded through the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) initiative of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) from academic year 2018-19 to 2020-21, the Northern California Integrated Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment MSW Training Program was 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.