Purpose

The purpose of the program is to grow Hawaiʻi’s workforce to help respond to and combat the challenges of mental health and substance abuse. The grant is aimed at addressing the challenges of substance use disorders in Hawaiʻi communities. It will allow 88 students to become trained substance use disorders counselors over the next 4 years, at no cost to the students.

Goals

• Establish relationships with community-based partners to expand and improve access to quality behavioral health services including but not limited to OUD and other SUD prevention, treatment recovery services in high need and high demand areas.
• Promote collaborative training by utilizing team-based models of care in integrated and interprofessional behavioral health and primary care settings.
• Recruit a workforce that reflects participation in the institutions’ programs of individuals and groups from different racial, ethnic, cultural, geographic, religious, linguistic, and class backgrounds, and different genders and sexual orientations, interested in serving high need and high demand areas.

HRSA Workforce Program Aims 

• Access
  • makes it easier for people to access healthcare
• Supply
  • balance the supply of health workers with the demand for care
• Distribution
  • improve distribution of the health workforce
• Quality
  • improve the quality of the health workforce and the care they provide