Studies show that a diverse health workforce is important for ensuring patient satisfaction and meeting the needs of underserved populations. However, white providers continue to be overrepresented in the behavioral health workforce compared to the populations they serve. Developing a diverse behavioral health workforce can be challenging due to recruitment and retention issues as well as other factors.

This report describes a study that utilized a survey of underrepresented minority behavioral health providers to identify barriers to recruiting and retaining a diverse behavioral health workforce.