Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program for Professionals

For program and eligibility questions:
Miryam Gerdine, MPH
301.443.6752
BHWETPro25@hrsa.gov

For financial and budget questions:
Nandini Assar, PhD
301.443.4920
nassar@hrsa.gov

Grants.gov contact center:
800.518.4726
support@grants.gov
Self-service knowledge base

HRSA contact center:
877.464.4772
TTY: 877.897.9910
HRSA contact page

SAM.gov:
866.606.8220
Federal service desk

The Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program for Professionals provides funding to develop and expand experiential training opportunities, such as field placements and internships, to improve the distribution and supply of the behavioral health workforce. The program emphasizes relationships with community-based partners to increase access to quality behavioral health services in high need and high demand areas, such as rural communities.

Objectives:

• Increase the number of new or expanded community partnerships with experiential training sites in high-need and high-demand areas
• Promote collaborative training by using team-based models of care to integrate behavioral health care into interprofessional primary care settings
• Recruit a diverse workforce interested in working with children, adolescents, and young adults
• Recruit, develop, and expand the capacity to train clinical supervisors to support and mentor behavioral health trainees

Required activities:

• Provide stipend support to students who are in their final experiential training (internship or field placement) prior to graduation
• Enhance didactic and experiential training activities that develop trainee competencies in behavioral health and its integration into primary care, school settings, and other sub-specialty care for the development and implementation of interprofessional training
• Create or enhance current evidence-based interprofessional training programs for faculty and field site supervisors supporting BHWET Pro trainees
• Incorporate technology integration by providing options for distance learning, didactic and experiential training activities, and tele-behavioral health services, and by increasing digital health literacy
• Establish relationships with community-based partners to assist students with job placement after graduation

Eligible applicants include:

• Accredited institutions of higher education or accredited professional training programs that are establishing or expanding internships or other field placement programs in mental health in:
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • School psychology
  • Behavioral pediatrics
  • Psychiatric nursing
  • Social work
  • School social work
  • Substance use disorder prevention and treatment
  • Marriage and family therapy
  • Occupational therapy
  • School counseling
  • Professional counseling
• Accredited doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral programs of health service psychology for the development and implementation of interdisciplinary training of psychology graduate students for providing behavioral health services, including trauma-informed care and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services, as well as the development of faculty in health service psychology
• Accredited master's and doctoral degree programs of social work for the development and implementation of interdisciplinary training of social work graduate students for providing behavioral health services, including trauma-informed care and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services, and the development of faculty in social work

Types of eligible applicants:

• Public and private institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) IRS status
• State, county, city, township, and special district governments, including the District of Columbia, domestic territories, and freely associated states
• Domestic faith-based and community-based organizations
• Hospitals
• HRSA-funded health centers
• Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
• Rural Health Clinics
• Other community-based clinical settings
• Native American tribal governments
• Native American tribal organizations
• Recipients of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals who have funding that ends on June 30, 2025, can apply as a “Competing Continuation” applicant.
• Previous recipients whose funding ended before July 1, 2021, should apply as a “New” applicant.

Award ceiling: $600,000 per year
Project period: 4 years
Estimated number of awards: 101
Estimated total program funding: $59,600,000

Matching is only required for doctoral-level psychology, psychiatry, behavioral pediatrics, and psychiatric nursing internships, where applicable, to cover any student stipend costs beyond $32,500 per geographic reimbursement requirements set by the applicable association.

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.