Building Behavioral Health Capacity in Every Care Team
May 14th, 2026
In response to workforce shortages in licensed mental health professionals, the California Quality Collaborative (CQC), through its Behavioral Health Integration Initiative, sponsored eight individuals from collaborative participants to complete the Lay Counselor Academy (LCA) in 2025. The 14-week training equips care team members such as community health workers and medical assistants with the skills and knowledge to deliver empathic, evidence-based behavioral health support and expand access to culturally responsive services.
The LCA is designed to build frontline behavioral health capacity in nonlicensed professionals, including community health workers, case managers and other frontline staff. Through the course, participants developed practical, evidence-based mental health counseling skills that strengthened confidence, clarified roles and improved patient engagement.
After the LCA, CQC conducted interviews with participants and their supervisors, as well as reviewed course survey responses. Interviews with participants and supervisors showed that the LCA supported not only skill development, but meaningful shifts in mindset, scope and care delivery. Participants moved beyond task-based support toward more intentional, relationship-centered behavioral health work, while supervisors reported clearer role definition and stronger team integration.
Skills and Confidence in Patient Support
Across the organizations that participated in the LCA, which included Chinese Hospital, Community Memorial Health System, Mallu Reddy MD Inc and Sharp Rees Stealy, the LCA trainees demonstrated stronger communication, active listening and greater confidence guiding patients through behavioral health screenings with empathy and flexibility.
One physician noted their front office team member “has developed great communication skills and rapport with patients,” highlighting a shift from administrative responsibilities to direct patient care alongside clinical staff. At Chinese Hospital, one supervisor emphasized the value of skill development and capacity‑building, describing deeper, more confident patient interactions.
Participants reported increased comfort using open‑ended questions and relational techniques: one trainee entered the program unsure and fearful of saying the wrong thing but left with practical skills and a stronger sense of professional confidence. Participants demonstrated a 30.82‑point increase (on a 0–100 scale) in confidence supporting individuals with mental and emotional health challenges, translating into more grounded engagement and broader readiness across behavioral health needs.
Role Clarity, Reduced Drift
Teams consistently reported that the LCA participation clarified the lay counselor role within care teams equipping staff to engage more intentionally in behavioral health conversations while reinforcing clear role boundaries. Improved clarity supported cross‑team collaboration and shared accountability for behavioral health support, reducing uncertainty about scope while strengthening integration within clinical workflows.
The LCA not only strengthened existing roles, but also enabled staff to assume new clinical and project leadership responsibilities. One trainee is launching an initiative supporting patients with schizophrenia, while another is leading a brain health screening project that includes memory assessments and referral protocols. In collaboration with leadership, trainees are identifying patients in need and helping design workflows that connect patients with social work or appropriate levels of care. These developments underscore the return on investment of structured behavioral health training and sustained mentorship.
From Fixing Problems to Guiding People
Participants described a meaningful mindset shift moving away from “fix” problems and toward guiding patients through reflection and emotional regulation. Grounding techniques, mindful breathing and presence became central tools, particularly during intake and crisis situations.
One participant shared:
“I’ve learned the value of just being present—not rushing to solve, but helping others become better versions of themselves.”
Across all participating sites, cultural humility emerged as a foundational principle. Trainees adopted a “know‑nothing” mindset, approaching each interaction with openness and curiosity. One participant reflected on uncovering biases around food assistance rooted in childhood experiences, noting that the course reinforced how assumptions shape care and how self‑awareness is essential to effective behavioral health support.
Why This Matters for California
California faces a persistent behavioral health workforce shortage, rising demand for services, and deep inequities in access, particularly in community‑based and safety‑net settings. The LCA demonstrates a scalable approach to expanding behavioral health capacity by equipping trusted, nonlicensed frontline staff with practical, evidence‑based skills.
By strengthening confidence, clarifying roles and supporting integration within care teams, the LCA helps organizations respond to behavioral health needs without relying solely on licensed clinicians. This model aligns with California’s goals to improve access, advance equity and build a more sustainable behavioral health workforce, especially in underserved communities where trusted relationships are critical to engagement and outcomes.
Ingenuity Meets Impact: What Catalyst for Health 2026 Revealed About the Future of Health Care Transformation
May 13th, 2026
There are moments when a convening becomes more than an event. It becomes a signal.
At this year’s Catalyst for Health, a CQC Forum, in Sacramento, leaders from across California’s health care ecosystem came together at a time when uncertainty, complexity and competing pressures are reshaping the environment around us. Health plans, providers, purchasers, policymakers and community leaders all entered the room facing the same reality: expectations for health care continue to grow while the path forward becomes increasingly difficult to navigate.
Yet throughout the Forum, one message became clear: collaboration remains one of California’s greatest strengths.
What stood out most was not simply agreement around what needs to change. It was a shared commitment to operationalizing change together—aligning around practical solutions, implementation strategies and measurable improvement.
Moving Beyond Alignment Toward Action
Leaders explored how purchasers and health care organizations are advancing accountability for affordability, equity and system improvement during a panel session at Catalyst for Health.
One of the strongest themes to emerge from Catalyst was the growing recognition that alignment alone is no longer enough.
Real transformation happens when stakeholders not only share goals, but also build the infrastructure, workflows and accountability mechanisms necessary to move from insight to execution.
Across sessions and conversations, leaders discussed the importance of reducing fragmentation, minimizing administrative burden and creating more consistent pathways for implementation. Whether the focus was primary care transformation, behavioral health integration, affordability or quality improvement, the conversation repeatedly returned to the same challenge:
How do we make meaningful improvement achievable at the point of care?
The answer increasingly lies in shared implementation approaches that support providers while advancing systemwide goals.
The Power of the Collective
During Catalyst for Health’s participant-led unconference session, attendees collaborated on operational challenges, implementation strategies and next-step opportunities to advance health care transformation across California.
Another defining theme of the Forum was the strength of collective leadership.
The progress happening across California is not being driven by any single organization. It is the result of plans, providers, purchasers, patients and partners choosing to work together in ways that move beyond traditional silos.
That collaborative spirit has long been central to the California Quality Collaborative’s work, but this year’s Forum reinforced just how essential it has become.
At a time when the health care system faces mounting pressure, there is tremendous value in creating spaces where stakeholders can openly exchange ideas, surface challenges and build toward shared solutions.
Catalyst 2026 demonstrated that there remains a deep commitment across the field to improving outcomes without losing sight of equity, affordability or patient-centered care.
Innovation Under Pressure
Many discussions throughout the Forum also reflected the tension organizations are navigating today.
Primary care continues to absorb growing expectations. Behavioral health needs are increasing. Financial pressures remain significant. At the same time, organizations are being asked to deliver better outcomes, improve patient experience and advance equity—often without proportional increases in resources or infrastructure.
And yet, despite those realities, the conversations at Catalyst were notably pragmatic and forward-looking.
Leaders focused not only on the challenges facing the system, but on the ingenuity required to move through them. Transformation does not happen through isolated innovation alone. It happens through sustained collaboration, shared accountability and practical implementation.
Looking Ahead
As CQC looks toward its 20th anniversary next year, this year’s Catalyst for Health served as a powerful reminder of what is possible when organizations choose to align around action.
The work ahead will require continued partnership, continued innovation and continued focus. But if this year’s Forum demonstrated anything, it is that California’s health care leaders remain deeply committed to building a stronger, more connected and more equitable system together.
The conversations that began at Catalyst 2026 will continue in the months ahead—through new collaborations, shared initiatives and ongoing efforts to advance meaningful improvement across the state.
The work continues.
To continue exploring the themes and outcomes highlighted at Catalyst for Health 2026, view CQC’s 2025 Impact Report and stay connected as we continue advancing collaborative solutions to improve health care quality, affordability and outcomes across California.
Turning Alignment Into Action: CQC’s 2025 Impact
April 27th, 2026
Across California, the health care delivery system continues to face growing pressure to improve quality, advance equity, integrate care and manage cost—often all at once.
While alignment across these priorities is widely recognized as essential, it remains difficult to implement consistently at scale.
At the California Quality Collaborative (CQC), our focus is turning alignment into action.
For nearly two decades, CQC has served as the vehicle through which health plans, providers and purchasers come together to define shared priorities and implement them in real-world care settings. This means moving beyond agreement to the operational changes that improve care delivery for patients across California.
In 2025, CQC’s programs directly reached more than 900,000 Californians through coordinated improvement efforts, technical assistance and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Across initiatives, this work helped strengthen primary care, expand access to behavioral health services and embed equity into delivery system transformation.
2025 Highlights
- 900,000+ patients reached through CQC initiatives
- Three commercial health plans co-implemented a shared value-based payment model demonstration
- Five Medi-Cal health plans aligned around quality reporting and data infrastructure to reduce administrative burden
- 730,000+ patients served through CalHIVE Behavioral Health Integration provider organizations
- 25.1% relative improvement in depression screening and follow-up, resulting in more than 64,000 additional patients receiving care
- 31 independent practices achieved measurable improvements in blood pressure control, cancer screening and diabetes care
- 12 hospitals engaged in coordinated safety improvement through CQC’s hospital safety work
- Multiple publications and implementation resources released to support statewide learning and adoption
From Strategy to Implementation
CQC’s work in 2025 reflects a continued shift across the health care system—from defining shared goals to operationalizing them.
Across programs, this includes:
- Aligning payment models to support advanced primary care
- Expanding behavioral health integration within primary care settings
- Reducing variation and administrative burden through shared reporting approaches
- Supporting practices with coaching, data and implementation tools
- Advancing equity through targeted improvement strategies
These efforts are helping make alignment usable—creating clearer expectations, more consistent workflows and stronger support for care teams on the ground.
Building a More Connected, Equitable System
From statewide collaboratives to practice-level transformation, CQC’s work is designed to scale what works.
By bringing stakeholders together and supporting implementation at the point of care, CQC is helping build a more connected, equitable and effective health care system for Californians.
Explore the 2025 Impact Report