Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals | HRSA 25 066

Opportunity Information: Apply for HRSA 25 066

The Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program for Paraprofessionals is a federal grant opportunity from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designed to strengthen the behavioral health workforce by investing in hands-on, community-based training. The central goal is to develop and expand experiential learning opportunities, especially field placements and internships, so that students and trainees preparing for paraprofessional behavioral health roles can build real-world skills, practical knowledge, and the capacity to serve communities effectively. The program is aimed at people moving into roles such as mental health workers, peer support specialists, and related behavioral health paraprofessional positions, with an emphasis on increasing workforce readiness through structured training experiences that happen in community and clinical settings rather than only in classrooms.

A major priority of this opportunity is preparing trainees to work with children, adolescents, and transitional-age youth, particularly those who have experienced trauma and may be at higher risk for behavioral health challenges. HRSA highlights conditions such as anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder as key areas of concern. In practice, this means applicants are expected to design training that helps paraprofessionals understand trauma and its effects, recognize early signs of behavioral health needs among young people, and support individuals and families in ways that are developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive.

Another core feature is the program focus on interprofessional education and collaboration. HRSA is pushing training models that reflect team-based care, especially in integrated settings where behavioral health and primary care work together. The intent is to help build a workforce that is comfortable collaborating across disciplines (for example, paraprofessionals working alongside primary care providers, behavioral health clinicians, case managers, and community health workers). This team-based approach is meant to improve care coordination and expand access, while also helping distribute a well-trained workforce into communities that need it most.

The NOFO (Notice of Funding Opportunity) separates training into two levels. Level 1 is pre-service training and includes both didactic instruction and experiential field training such as placements and internships. This is the main pathway and covers paraprofessional training that is not part of a formal registered apprenticeship. Level 2 is in-service training and is optional; it must take place at a registered U.S. Department of Labor apprenticeship site. Importantly, applicants do not have to propose Level 2 to be eligible. However, proposals that include Level 2 can receive a scoring advantage, specifically an additional 5 points in the Response/Approach criterion (Criteria 2), which can matter in a competitive review process.

Eligibility is broad but limited to domestic organizations, meaning entities located in the 50 U.S. states and certain U.S. territories and freely associated states listed in the NOFO (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau). Eligible applicants include accredited public and private institutions of higher education (including universities, community colleges, and technical schools), nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), faith-based and community-based organizations, hospitals, HRSA-funded health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health clinics, other community-based clinical settings, and government entities at the state, county, city/township, special district, and independent school district levels. Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and Native American tribal organizations are also eligible. Individuals are explicitly not eligible to apply.

The grant is listed as a discretionary HRSA grant under Funding Opportunity Number HRSA-25-066 and CFDA (Assistance Listing) 93.732, within the Health funding activity category. The application closing date is March 18, 2025, and HRSA anticipates making about 29 awards. The posted award ceiling is listed as 0 in the provided source data, which typically indicates that the ceiling is either not specified in the summary field or is described elsewhere in the full NOFO, so applicants usually need to confirm funding limits and budget rules by reviewing the complete announcement.

The NOFO also clarifies how prior recipients should apply. Current BHWET Paraprofessionals award recipients whose funding ends on August 31, 2025 may apply as Competing Continuation applicants as long as they are not proposing a change in scope. Organizations that previously received BHWET Paraprofessionals funding that ended before September 1, 2021 are directed to apply as new applicants. Overall, this opportunity is structured to grow the pipeline of trained paraprofessionals, expand training capacity through community-based experiences, and steer the workforce toward high-need and high-demand areas, especially where youth trauma and behavioral health risks are most pressing.

• The Health Resources and Services Administration in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Paraprofessionals" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.732.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-01-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-03-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 29 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Others.

Apply for HRSA 25 066

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: