SiS March Spotlight: IL Behavioral Health Workforce Center
The Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Center (BHWC) and its Integrated Care Initiative
The Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Center (BHWC) is funded by the Illinois DHS Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery and administered by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE). The Center’s primary purpose is to strengthen Illinois’ behavioral health system by expanding access to effective services through coordinated workforce recruitment, education, retention and policy initiatives.
Established through the Behavioral Health Workforce Act, the Center uses data-driven strategies to expand workforce capacity, improve training quality, and support providers across all regions, particularly in Central and Southern Illinois where shortages are most acute.
BHWC operates two regional hubs: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine (SIU SOM) and University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Jane Addams College of Social Work (JACSW).
Below are recent updates from 2025 and highlights of opportunities for providers to engage with the BHWC in 2026.
In October 2025, the BHWC released its Fiscal Year 2026-2028 Strategic Plan, which outlines a bold, collaborative roadmap to expand, diversify and strengthen Illinois’ behavioral health workforce.
Recognizing that effective staff retention is essential for delivering quality care and reducing the challenges of turnover, the BHWC launched the Retention Toolkitoffering practical strategies adaptable to different organizational needs.
The BHWC released the 2025 Behavioral Health Workforce Report, which analyzes statewide and regional workforce gaps and educational programs and includes recommendations for continued study.
The BHWC also published its biennial legislative report highlighting accomplishments from the last two years. Both reports are available on the BHWC website.
Events & Training Opportunities
There are many ways for Behavioral Health practitioners to connect with the BHWC. From in-person events to live virtual training, providers can choose what best fits their schedule. Below is a streamlined list of upcoming free BHWC trainings, events, and engagement opportunities.
Upcoming opportunities include:
In-person Events
Springfield, IL April 7th - Employee Retention event
April 2026- Recovery Support Specialist in-person events (registration details coming soon)
Free Trainings with CEUs
Supervision Trainings
New cohort of the Supervision Learning Collaborative to launch in Spring 2026.
Upcoming monthly virtual supervision training sessions:
Monthly sessions held from 12- 1 p.m. cover rotating behavioral health topics.
Participants receive one free Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit per session.
Topics include:
Asynchronous Trainings
Access 13 self-paced trainings on the BHWC website at any time
Other Opportunities to Engage
Join a provider advisory group
Post job openings on the BHWC Jobs Board
Follow BHWC on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook
Sign-up for the monthly BHWC Newsletter
Integrated Care Initiative
The Integrated Care (IC) Initiative at UIC is focused on supporting the needs of behavioral health providers working in medical care settings, including co-located and collaborative models such as the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model and the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM).
Recent Activities:
Developed and distributed a statewide needs assessment survey to better understand the experiences and challenges of behavioral health providers in Integrated Care (IC) settings. Results will be published on the BHWC website soon.
Created a Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) Training & Implementation Initiative guided by statewide advisory group feedback. The initiative provides funding and coordination for IC settings to train BH providers to use SFBT. Applications for the fourth round of funding are now closed, with plans to select additional sites in 2026.
Hosts monthly virtual Integrated Care Advisory Group meetings composed of statewide providers that provide insights and recommendations that inform the development of training and retention support to IC settings, as well as efforts to increase entry into the behavioral health workforce. The group is currently open to new members.
Initiated development of an Integrated Care Mentoring Pilot designed to connect behavioral health professionals with students and providers interested in exploring integrated care career pathways. The pilot aims to increase interest and entry into integrated behavioral health roles, with more information to be shared soon.
We look forward to continued partnership with AHE providers statewide. To learn more about the BHWC’s work, please visit illinoisbhwc.org. To join an advisory group or to ask questions, please contact Adriana Scurto, LCSW, Initiative Coordinator, at ascurto@uic.edu .