ArticleHealth affairs scholar2026
A patchwork workforce: state variation in behavioral health paraprofessional regulation.
Article in Health affairs scholar, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Increasing availability and wide geographic distribution of a skilled behavioral health/substance use (BH/SU) workforce is key to ensuring access to treatment for millions of individuals with BH/SU disorders. In many other healthcare sectors, there are state-regulated paraprofessional roles (ie, roles that require a bachelor's degree or less). Yet, the BH/SU field has historically lacked state-regulated paraprofessional roles, limiting workforce entry pathways. Methods: The purpose of this study was to examine policy provisions that states have adopted to formalize BH/SU paraprofessional roles using a formal legal mapping methodology. Results: As of September 2025, we identified a total of 94 BH/SU paraprofessional roles regulated by 36 states. Certification was the dominant level of regulation, and a majority of the BH/SUs certificates had a nondegree training pathway. From a financing perspective, explicit reimbursement references were common, with certification showing the clearest billing pathway. Conclusion: As the first systematic national legal mapping of state-regulated BH/SU paraprofessional roles, these insights can assist states considering the adoption or expansion of BH/SU paraprofessional roles.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.