The Center of Excellence for Children’s Behavioral Health provides training, technical assistance, and programmatic implementation support of evidence-based interventions to aid provider organizations and state partners in advancing the behavioral health workforce.

Workforce development-related activities are informed by evidence-based methods and are centered on helping providers and supporting agencies develop a strategic approach to program implementation through increased workforce capacity. The Center of Excellence facilitates all stages of workforce development from initial strategy design through training exercises and ongoing evaluation. Curricula are designed to ensure ongoing quality improvement and post-training sustainability.

The Center of Excellence’s approach to workforce development is guided by principles derived both from scientific evidence, as well as practice-based knowledge. The center believes the behavioral health system benefits most from skills development grounded in:

• Individualized training and education
• Evidence-based practice
• Engaging and creative learning methodologies
• Peer support
• Opportunity for reflection, dialogue, and critical thinking
• Ongoing professional development using the scientist-practitioner model