Published on : September 4, 2024
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $65.7 Million in Prevention, Treatment, and Workforce Enhancement Awards and Funding Opportunities
Last week, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced over $65 million in grant awards and notices of funding opportunity to tackle the current health and substance use crises, as outlined in President Biden’s Unity Agenda. Through the Strategic Prevention Framework—Partnerships for Success program, $25.7 million will be provided to assist colleges and universities, among other entities to develop and deliver substance use prevention services.Notably, within the $49.1 million in awards, MSWs are eligible for the following programs:
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Provider’s Clinical Support System Universities—($5.7 million)
$15 million will go to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Planning Grants, which aim to provide states with resources to develop certification systems for CCBHCs and establish payment systems that allow Medicaid reimbursable behavioral health services for licensed social workers.
CSWE continues to support the increase in funding for vital HHS substance and behavioral health programs and will continue advocating for these and increased support for the behavioral health workforce.
Financial Value Transparency Education Regulations and Social Work
In May 2023, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), in an effort to increase accountability and transparency within the postsecondary sector, announced a nearly 1,000-page notice of proposed rulemaking to restart the Gainful Employment regulations which included increasing transparency to the true cost and financial outcomes of almost all undergraduate and graduate degree programs. While the GE regulations will primarily impact proprietary institutions, disclosure and certification requirements will be increased for all institutions of higher education.
During the open comment period before the final rules were published last year, CSWE voiced concerns on the impact these new rules could have on the future of social work. In result, CSWE successfully expanded the period of research and determination for this degree program. The new rules went into effect July 1 of this year. With some continued pushback from on implementation of these reporting requirements, CSWE will continue to advocate for regulations that support social work careers, and voice concerns over regulations that could negatively impact social workers and social work programming. For more information on our comments and what this means for social work, please refer to the most recent post on Spark.