The UW BHSS Workforce Development Project is a catalyst for developing a bachelor level mental and behavioral provider known as the Behavioral Health Support Specialist, or BHSS. A BHSS provides brief, culturally responsive evidence based psychosocial interventions under supervision for common mental and behavioral health conditions in a stepped care model.
 
Led by Bill O’Connell, EdD and Anna Ratzliff, MD, PhD, the BHSS program has authored a competency framework, implementation guide, and educator’s guide with a model curriculum. UW continues to provide a centralized infrastructure to help implement curricular, training, and policy solutions that will help scale the role statewide. The Health Care Authority issued billing and payment guidance for the BHSS on January 1, 2026, and the Department of Health (DOH) began issuing the BHSS certification in April.
 
As of May 22, three people have obtained BHSS certification and 23 more have pending applications and are likely preparing to take the state jurisprudence exam for BHSS. These people graduated in June 2025. We expect about 75-100 graduates to be eligible for certification after graduations in Spring 2026 from DOH approved BHSS programs.
 
There are currently five approved programs at Centralia College, Eastern Washington University, Evergreen College, Lake Washington Technical Institute, and Spokane Falls Community College. These schools offer either a bachelor’s in psychology or a bachelor’s of applied science in behavioral health, and they have integrated the UW BHSS competency framework into their existing four-year degree programs.
 
Five additional colleges have submitted their applications for DOH approval as of Spring quarter including Big Bend Community College, Central Washington University, Edmonds College, and Olympic College. Additionally, five more schools representing the Northwest, Puget Sound, and Tri-Cities regions are conducting a self-study to explore the possibility of curricular integration. 
 
A goal of this ongoing project is to establish a BHSS education program in almost every corner of the state so that people are trained where they are likely to live and work. The success of this work is inspiring other states to consider adopting the UW model to develop their own bachelor level workforce to improve access to care.