The Council has made the very difficult decision to cancel the June 2020 Washington Behavioral Healthcare Conference (WBHC).  While the conference is a ways out, and we hope that the public health risk will have passed and group restrictions will have been lifted by then, there is so much uncertainty and related anxiety attached to the COVID-19 virus that we feel this is the best course of action. Our top priority is our community’s health and safety, and as healthcare...

BH Providers Connect is a listserv where Washington’s community of behavioral health providers, including licensed behavioral health agencies, suboxone providers, clubhouses, peer run organizations, community-based recovery support providers, Recovery Helpline staff, prevention providers, behavioral health researchers, and other agencies providing behavioral health interventions can communicate with each other as we all work through the COVID-19 crisis in our state. To learn more and sign up, click here! BH Providers Connect is made possible by funding from DBHR and the Health...

In recent months, the Washington Council for Behavioral Health has been working with the UW AIMS Center to develop more in-depth content expertise related to integrating primary care into behavioral health settings.  As a result of that collaboration, we are happy to announce the development of a Training & TA package that could be built into Project 2A Bidirectional Integration project proposals that are submitted via the Accountable Communities of Health under the Medicaid Transformation Demonstration. The training is also...

The Value-Based Payment Practice Transformation Academy, a partnership between the Healthier Washington Practice Transformation Support Hub, the National Council for Behavioral Health and the Washington Council for Behavioral Health, held its in-person kick-off meeting on October 20th, 2017. Representatives from the 20 participating agencies had an opportunity to actively participate in learning activities with Hub and National Council coaches as well as interact and share ideas with each other. The Academy will continue through January, 2018 with monthly webinars for…

A record crowd of more than 700 attendees gathered in Vancouver, Washington beginning June 14th for this year’s Washington Behavioral Health Conference (WBHC). The three-day event featured keynote speakers including Kevin Briggs, a former California Highway Patrol sergeant responsible for the Golden Gate Bridge; Hank Steadman, PhD, a sociologist and expert in jail diversion programs; and Victoria Maxwell, an actress and mental health advocate. This year’s conference included a new track: Cultural Awareness & Diversity, with topics such as “Engaging…