After several months of leading a joint advocacy effort with physician assistants (PAs), nurse practitioners (NPs), and social workers, HRSA released a $10.3 million FOA for a new integrated substance use disorder training program (ISTP). The ISTP seeks to increase the number of specialized nurse practitioners, physician assistants, health service psychologists, and social workers trained to provide integrated mental health and substance use disorder services in underserved, community-based settings.
Eligible programs for this funding include APA-accredited post-doctoral training programs, and the deadline for applications is Feb. 24, 2021.
This specific funding builds on several years of APA advocacy that began with the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016, when this interprofessional program was first authorized and APA staff successfully advocated for its inclusion of health service psychologists. In addition to psychologists, the program was also authorized to support the training of psychiatrists, PAs, NPs, and social workers. Unfortunately, when Congress appropriated funding for the program in fiscal year 2020, HRSA chose to use the entirety of the funding to support the training of physicians and increase the number of board-certified addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry specialists. In response, APA advocacy staff joined forces with PAs, NPs, and social workers to push back against HRSA and reiterate the original, interprofessional intent of the program. These advocacy efforts led directly to HRSA’s creation of the new ISTP.
For more information, contact Alix Ginsberg, MPH.
