Workforce
About Us
A reliable system needs a reliable workforce. Washington will recruit, prepare, and retain a skilled, diverse behavioral health workforce so young people can access timely, high-quality care in every region.
Purpose
Grow and stabilize the people who deliver care. Improve role clarity, supervision, pay, and everyday tools so staff can focus on families, not paperwork.
What success looks like
Faster first appointments
Shorter time to first appointment because teams have coverage.
Lower vacancy & turnover
Especially in high-need and mid-acuity roles.
Protected supervision
Supervision time is built into contracts and schedules.
Documentation made simple
Staff report tech helps care and reduces admin load.
More bilingual providers
Bicultural, community-rooted providers serving locally.
Today’s workforce gaps
Vacancies in mid-acuity services and school-adjacent roles.
High administrative load that crowds out care.
Limited paid training, supervision, and career ladders.
Shortage of bilingual and culturally responsive providers.
Rural and frontier sites struggle to recruit and retain.
Six-month targets
Vacancy rate down
In priority roles identified by each region.
Target: 6 monthsProtected supervision
In at least three major contracts per region.
Target: 6 monthsOnboarding kit live
Reduces time to first independent visit.
Target: 6 monthsPaid preceptorships
Internships launched with rural/frontier focus.
Target: 6 monthsRole-based templates
Standard documentation across pilot partners.
Target: 6 monthsCore strategies
Six moves to recruit and retain talent, work at top of scope, reduce admin load, and build cultural & linguistic strength.
Recruit where care is needed most
Fund paid internships, practicums, and preceptorships with rural and frontier placements.
Offer hiring incentives tied to service commitment and gap roles.
Partner with Tribal governments, community colleges, and universities for targeted pipelines.
Create return-to-practice pathways for licensed professionals who left the field.
Retain through support and growth
Protect weekly supervision windows in schedules and contracts.
Publish clear ladders with transparent pay bands and competencies.
Provide tuition support and exam prep for key licenses and endorsements.
Offer flexible schedules, evening options, and shared coverage to reduce burnout.
Use every credential at top of scope
Define care team roles for navigation, stabilization, step-down, brief treatment, and ongoing care.
Standardize standing orders and protocols that let teams act quickly within scope.
Expand peer and family partner roles with paid training and clear progression.
Reduce administrative load
One referral form per pathway with required minimum data only.
Smart templates for notes, care plans, and handoffs.
E-signature and text reminders to cut no-shows and rework.
Quarterly “stop doing” reviews to remove steps that do not change decisions.
Build cultural & linguistic capacity
Pay differentials for bilingual service delivery verified by proficiency.
Fund community and Tribal partners to train on local strengths and practices.
Require language access planning in every service contract.
Train all staff in trauma-informed and culturally responsive care.
Train for reliability
Short, modular training that fits into the work week.
Simulation of handoffs, warm transfers, and crisis stabilization scenarios.
Checklist-based onboarding with Day 1, Week 1, and Month 1 milestones.
Field coaching with rapid feedback loops from supervisors.
Pipeline actions
High school and community college outreach with paid summer roles.
Grow-your-own cohorts for medical assistants, counselors, peers, and interpreters.
Licensing navigation help for international graduates and military spouses.
Loan repayment aligned to gap roles and underserved regions.
Measures we will publish
Vacancy & turnover
By role & region.
Time from hire to first independent visit
Supervision hours per FTE
Caseload balance
By role & modality.
Staff experience
On workload, tools, and support.
Share of services by bilingual/bicultural staff
All measures disaggregated by race, language, disability, geography, and payer.
Equity commitments
Prioritize investment in communities with the longest waits and highest turnover.
Pay community and Tribal partners to co-design recruitment and training.
Provide paid time for staff to complete language proficiency and cultural trainings.
Make accommodations and accessible technology standard in hiring and onboarding.
30-60-90 day plan
Days 1–30
Publish role profiles, pay bands, and supervision standards.
Stand up a shared job board and rapid screening process for gap roles.
Launch the common onboarding kit and documentation templates.
Identify three administrative tasks to remove in each region.
Days 31–60
Execute preceptorship and internship MOUs with priority sites.
Protect supervision blocks in schedules and contracts.
Deliver simulation-based handoff training to high-volume teams.
Begin bilingual differential and verify proficiency process.
Days 61–90
Expand grow-your-own cohorts and return-to-practice pathways.
Report on vacancy, turnover, and time to first independent visit.
Publish the first “stop doing” list and reinvest saved time in care.
Validate equity impacts with community and Tribal advisors.
Roles and accountability
Clear owners, visible measures, and practical steps so partners can move in lock-step.
Who does what
Workforce Lead sets standards, tracks measures, and coordinates partners.
Training & Supervision Lead delivers onboarding, simulation, and coaching.
Equity Lead reviews recruitment and retention for gap-closing impact.
Regional Coalitions localize pipelines and coverage plans.
Community & Tribal Partners shape training content and host placements.
Data Lead publishes quarterly workforce dashboards and insights.
Risks and how we manage them
Burnout addressed with protected supervision, flexible scheduling, and admin relief.
Fragmented training solved with shared curricula and modular, role-based content.
Recruitment stalls countered with incentives, pipelines, and rapid hiring steps.
Equity drift prevented by public gap measures and funded community review.
What partners can do now
Add supervision blocks to staff calendars and protect them.
Adopt the common onboarding kit and note templates.
Post open roles to the shared board and commit to rapid response.
Offer a placement or preceptorship slot for students and trainees.
Nominate staff for language proficiency verification and differentials.
Phase gate to reliability
We move forward when regions show the following for two consecutive quarters:
Declining vacancy and turnover in priority roles.
Supervision standards met across contracted providers.
Documented reduction in administrative time per visit.
More services delivered by bilingual and bicultural staff.
Community advisors confirm the workforce changes are working and worth scaling.
The commitment
People deliver care. We will hire well, support well, and keep talented people in the work so families experience timely, consistent, and culturally responsive help in every community.