State launches Medi‑Cal Behavioral Health Recruitment and Retention Program, details funding, eligibility and deadlines

The Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) on a webinar launched the Medi‑Cal Behavioral Health Recruitment and Retention Program (MBH RRP), part of the statewide BH Connect workforce initiative, announcing that the state — in partnership with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) — expects to invest up to $1.9 billion across five workforce programs from 2025 through 2029 and more than $196 million is available in the first funding cycle, officials said.

Angela Brand, section chief for behavioral health policy at HCAI, said the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved the BH Connect 1115 demonstration waiver in December 2024. "This approval unlocks the ability to redesign and modernize our behavioral health system, expanding access, improving quality, and supporting community‑based behavioral health services," Brand said.

The MBH RRP is an organizational grant with an individual award element, Don Burgess, a program presenter, said. Organizations apply for funding and, if awarded, will then direct practitioners to individual awards. Funds will be distributed to organizational grantees as annual prospective payments for calendar years 2027–2029; organizations are responsible for selecting individuals, disbursing awards and monitoring service obligations.

Funding and allowable uses: officials said the first‑cycle pot exceeds $196 million and described several award categories: recruitment bonuses (up to $20,000 per practitioner), retention bonuses (up to $4,000), student recruitment bonuses (up to $50,000), licensing or certification fees (up to $1,500 per practitioner), supervision support (up to $35,000 per organizational awardee per year) and backfill for evidence‑based practice training (no service obligation). Individual awardees will incur service obligations of two to four years depending on award amount; HCAI defines full‑time for these obligations as at least 32 hours per week of direct client care (30 hours for school‑based settings), which can include telehealth, documentation and first‑line supervision.

Schedule and deadlines: Charles Foust, program manager on HCAI's grants team, said organizational applications will open in June 2026 and close July 15, 2026; tentative award notices are expected in October 2026, with grant agreements issued in November 2026 and individual applications available beginning December 2026. Organizations should expect to receive prospective payments in 2027–2029; HCAI said no payments to grantees will be made after Oct. 31, 2029, and all individual service obligations must be completed by Dec. 31, 2033. "We do have to have all the funds pushed your way by the end of September 2029," Nathaniel Dixon of HKI said when answering a question about installment payments.

Eligibility and verification: eligible organizational applicants must meet Medi‑Cal safety‑net definitions (for example, federally qualified health centers, community mental health centers, rural health clinics and hospitals or other behavioral health sites that meet payer‑mix thresholds). County behavioral health authorities may apply only when they act as direct Medi‑Cal service providers, not as behavioral health plans or third‑party administrators. The application collects payer‑mix percentages by site and HCAI may request documentation to verify those percentages during review.

Key clarifications from the Q&A: HCAI staff said the BH Connect special terms and conditions do not allow administrative funds for applicant administrative overhead and left it to organizations to determine if the opportunity suits them. HKI and HCAI also said they will allow payment flexibility (for example, installment payments) so long as the organization bills HCAI for the amounts paid in the relevant year and the program's statutory cutoff for pushing funds to organizations is respected. On enforcement of repayment when service obligations are breached, HCAI said grantees must return funds to HCAI within eight months of a breach date if they cannot recoup amounts from the individual, and organizations should consult employment counsel on how AB 692 (a state law cited by an attendee) affects recovery from a separated employee.

Other practical notes: applicants should prepare current FTE counts for listed sites (the application asks for existing FTEs), may pick which funding categories to request (they do not have to apply for all categories), and may apply either as a single organizational application covering multiple sites or submit a separate application per site — but HCAI will honor only one approach for a given parent organization. The webinar panel recommended applicants email MBHRRP@hcai.ca.gov for portal issues and technical assistance and said the recording and slide deck will be posted to the program webpage within 7–10 business days.

What happens next: organizations that receive tentative awards will be required to submit a detailed budget (site and category allocations) and sign grant agreements within seven business days of an award offer. Grantees must submit annual financial and activity reports as specified in the grant agreement and are subject to post‑award reporting and recoupment provisions.

Contact and resources: HCAI staff directed attendees to the program webpage, grant guide, informational flyer and the MBH RRP inbox (MBHRRP@hcai.ca.gov) for follow‑up questions, and provided a BH Connect helpline (916‑326‑3899). The organizational application deadline is July 15, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.

The webinar closed after a short Q&A; HCAI said it will publish the recording and slides and provide additional technical assistance ahead of organizational applications opening.