This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP) Paraprofessionals program. The purpose of this program is to enhance community-based experiential training for students preparing to become peer support specialists and other types of behavioral health-related paraprofessionals with a focus on Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and other Substance Use Disorders (SUD) prevention, treatment and recovery services. Consistent with the statutory authority, applicants must also demonstrate a special focus on preservice or in-service training of paraprofessional child and adolescent mental health workers to understand the specific concerns of children, adolescents, and transitional-age youth in high need and high demand areas who are at risk for behavioral health disorders. The program is designed to expand and improve direct access to quality treatment and foster an integrated and/or interprofessional approach to address OUD and other SUD treatment emphasizing the role of the family and lived experience of the consumer through academic, community and non-traditional community organization partnerships. The program also supports career development in behavioral health for paraprofessional career progression as well as the development of skills and expertise of staff, facilitators, and training instructors in prevention, treatment, and recovery services of OUD and other SUDs. Award recipients will impact the behavioral health workforce by increasing the number of behavioral health-related paraprofessionals and transforming integrated and interprofessional teams to effectively prevent and treat OUD and other SUDs in community-based practices.
