Mental Health Expansion

Office of Academic Affiliations (10A2D)

On September 25, 2012, OAA issued a Request for Proposals (RFP), targeting an expansion of Mental Health professions (Nursing, Pharmacy, Psychiatry, Psychology, and Social Work) clinical education in VA. The RFP called for expansion of existing accredited programs in either General Outpatient Mental Health Clinics operating as interprofessional teams or Patient Aligned Care Teams with true Mental Health Integration.

Proposals were submitted by 52 VA facilities, requesting 237 positions. A two phase review process, designed to ensure that proposed programs could deliver high quality clinical education resulted in the approval of 202.6 positions at 43 facilities that will begin in AY2013-14. These included 86.6 positions for Outpatient Mental Health Interprofessional Teams and 116 positions for PACTs with Mental Health Integration:

Discussions have already begun for development of Phase II of this initiative. We anticipate issuing an RFP in Spring 2013 delineating expected directions for the next phase of Mental Health Clinical Education Expansion.