Expanding the Behavioral Health Workforce: What Works with Paraprofessionals

Millions of people are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage, while the cost of private insurance continues to rise. At the same time, wait times for mental health and substance use treatment are long, and shortages persist across the behavioral health workforce. To address both cost and access challenges, some programs rely on paraprofessionals, including community health workers (CHW) and peers, to deliver behavioral health interventions. Key Questions include: What best practices exist for training and supporting paraprofessionals? Which interventions work well, and which do not? What are the advantages and limitations of this approach, and how can these programs be sustained? 

Please join the Behavioral Health Workgroup for a session exploring the use of paraprofessionals in mental health and substance use care. Dr. Jessica Magidson, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland-College Park, will share research findings and best practices in peer and lay health worker delivery of behavioral health interventions. Monica Guerrero Vazquez and Dr. Sarah Polk of Centro Sol will share findings and recommendations from two CHW-led interventions in the Latino community, one focused on depression and one on teen suicide prevention. Leigh Ann Eagle and Wendy Farthing of the Living Well Center of Excellence will discuss lessons from implementing PEARLS, a home-based depression intervention for older adults delivered by non-clinicians. 

This meeting is for Maryland Philanthropy Network members and invited guests only. In-person attendance is encouraged.