Governor Kotek Announces Behavioral Health Workforce Grant Awardees

Salem, OR — Today, Governor Tina Kotek announced that the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is issuing $4 million in grants to organizations to help retain and recruit behavioral health providers in high-need communities across Oregon. The funding is from House Bill 2024, which was passed by the Oregon Legislature last year.

“Oregonians deserve access to mental health and addiction care no matter where they live, and that access is only possible with a strong, supported workforce,” Governor Kotek said. “These investments will assist communities to strengthen culturally responsive care and build a more sustainable behavioral health system for the long term.”

In addition to serving Oregon’s major urban areas, 18 of the 26 awards will specifically serve rural or remote communities, furthering OHA’s goal of lowering barriers to health care access for all people in Oregon. Over $1.3 million will support the work of small businesses and community organizations. By investing in Oregon’s essential health care workers, OHA and partners hope to increase access to lifesaving care for patients with complex behavioral health needs while creating pathways to good-paying jobs across the state.

Notable grants announced today include:

• $219,700: Clatsop Behavioral Health, serving the North Coast
• $219,700: La Clinica, serving Southern Oregon and other locations
• $219,700: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
• $174,572: The Next Door, serving the Hood River Valley
• $172,108: Neurotherapeutic Pediatrics, serving the Portland Metro Area
• $144,700: Lincoln County, serving the Central Coast
• $144,700: Tillamook Family, serving the Central Coast
• $144,700: Oregon Community Programs, serving the Willamette Valley and statewide
• $104,460: Center for Family Development, serving Eugene and the Southern Willamette Valley
• $94,700: Raices de Bienestar, serving the Portland Metro Area

Grants will support education and workforce incentives that include scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students entering the behavioral health field, loan forgiveness and loan repayment incentives, tuition assistance, and stipends for students enrolled in graduate-level behavioral health education programs.

House Bill 2024 directed OHA to invest $4.75 million in education incentives that address Oregon’s growing need for a skilled and sustainable behavioral health workforce. Of that amount, $4 million was distributed through a competitive request for grant applications. The remaining $750,000 was set aside to support critical services statewide. In honoring the government-to-government relationship with the Nine Federally Recognized Tribes in Oregon, OHA has a Tribal set-aside that was made available to recruit and retain behavioral health providers in Tribal communities. An additional $250,000 will support the recruitment and retention of the workforce supporting Oregon’s suicide prevention hotlines.

“This funding represents a meaningful step toward building a stronger, more stable behavioral health workforce for Oregon,” said OHA’s Behavioral Health Division Director Ebony Clarke. “By investing in education and retention incentives, we are supporting current and future providers in our rural and remote communities, in addition to improving access to culturally responsive behavioral health care in communities with the greatest need.”

The investments reflect an important commitment to addressing workforce shortages across the state. For more information about OHA’s behavioral health workforce grants, visit here.

Governor Kotek has made addressing Oregon's behavioral health workforce crisis a top priority. She commissioned the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to conduct the Behavioral Health Talent Assessment, performing new analysis, and consolidating years of important, yet siloed research into one comprehensive resource with over 60 recommendations. She then established the Behavioral Health Talent Council, chaired by First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson, a former social worker with experience working with individuals with serious mental illness, to transform the recommendations into actionable plans for implementation. The Council will deliver its final report this month with comprehensive strategies to expand the workforce, streamline licensing and credentialing, and retain and support the providers serving individuals on the Oregon Health Plan.

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