The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) contracted with Michigan Health Council’s MHC Insight team to produce the Behavioral Healthcare Career and Technical Education National Comparison Report. This report presents a comprehensive national scan of Behavioral Health (BH) Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs/pathways, courses, and credentials offered in 50 states and the District of Columbia, to identify opportunities Michigan can learn from, adapt, and implement. The report also highlights promising practices and supplementary strategies that, when paired with new BH CTE opportunities, can further enrich students’ pathways into BH careers.

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Key Findings:

1. States vary widely in how they structure and name BH-related CTE programs/pathways. Those with clearly defined, separate BH programs/pathways offer greater visibility and accessibility to BH career opportunities. Michigan ranks among the five states with the fewest BH-related programs/pathways, and houses its BH courses and credentials under general program/ pathway names that obscure BH-specific options.

2. There is an opportunity for Michigan to offer more specialized BH courses found in other states, such as Careers in Mental Health, Social Work Workplace Experience, and Child Development and Psychology.

3. Nationally, BH-Career Credentials (81 instances) are more common than BH-Theory credentials (64 instances). Michigan offers only seven largely uniform BH-Career credentials, limiting the opportunities for students to earn credentials that prepare them for a variety of BH professions. The low number and diversity of Michigan’s BH credentials place the state at a disadvantage to other states, especially those in the Midwest, whose diverse credentialing opportunities include Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Certified Prevention Specialist Assistant, School Mental Health Certification, and Human Development.​