National publication highlights Nebraska’s behavioral health workforce model
A paper published recently in the journal Psychiatric Services describes how Nebraska turned $25.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief funding into a coordinated behavioral health workforce initiative, and how the model is drawing attention from federal agencies and other states.
The study, "Leveraging emergency relief funding for behavioral health workforce development: Policy lessons from Nebraska's experience," was led by Jessica Buche, director of the ARPA awards program at BHECN. Co-authors include Caitlyn Wayment, ARPA awards manager and Marley Doyle, MD, BHECN director.
BHECN – short for Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska – administered ARPA funds across four priorities: behavioral health training and education, telebehavioral health expansion in rural areas, COVID-19 workforce recovery and financial incentives for clinical supervision.
Funds supported 105 projects across Nebraska, with over half awarded to rural organizations or those serving rural communities. Administrative costs incurred by BHECN totaled less than 6% of the award.
Key outcomes included paid clinical training for approximately 390 graduate interns, addressing a longstanding gap since most behavioral health internships are unpaid, and a nearly 200% increase in capacity the clinical supervision of provisionally licensed providers. Rural organizations were assisted in obtaining telebehavioral health equipment in addition to recruiting and retaining providers through targeted financial incentives, some in positions that had been vacant for months.
"These investments helped address barriers that have challenged the behavioral health workforce for years," Dr. Doyle said. "By supporting graduate trainees, expanding supervision capacity, and investing in rural communities, Nebraska was able to strengthen both the current workforce and the pathway of future providers."
A distinguishing feature of Nebraska's approach was the inclusion of formal program evaluation. The resulting data is now informing workforce policy beyond the state, drawing interest from HRSA, the American Psychological Association and other states exploring similar behavioral health workforce initiatives.
"The data about this type of programming just didn't exist before," Buche said. "That doesn't happen without the evaluation infrastructure we built."
While the ARPA funding period concludes in December 2026, the work will continue. BHECN has secured additional support through the Weitz Family Foundation and Nebraska’s Region 6 Behavioral Healthcare Opioid Settlement Funds to sustain key workforce development initiatives, helping ensure that provisionally licensed behavioral health providers across Nebraska continue to benefit from the model's success.