Workforce Solutions Jam | H.R. 1 and the Future of Behavioral Health: What Leaders Need to Know Now
This webinar is hosted as a partnership between the College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL), The National Council for Mental Wellbeing, and Health Management Associates (HMA).
Series Overview: H.R.1 introduces significant changes to Medicaid that will shape the behavioral health landscape in the years ahead. As states begin implementing new requirements and organizations prepare for evolving operational and workforce considerations, behavioral health leaders will need practical strategies to support access to care, strengthen organizational readiness, and sustain their workforce.
This four-part webinar series will help behavioral health providers, association leaders, and workforce stakeholders understand key provisions of H.R.1, prepare for implementation, and develop approaches for leading through change.
Participants will gain insights, practical tools, and real-world examples to help their organizations adapt while remaining focused on their mission and the communities they serve.
Webinar description: As the final session in our H.R.1 series, this webinar turns to the people carrying this change forward. Staff and budgets are stretched, and as H.R.1’s Medicaid work requirements and eligibility redetermination processes add new documentation and verification burdens, organizations are being asked to navigate constant and unpredictable change with no clear playbook. Burnout is showing up across the workforce as a result. At the individual level, it looks like exhaustion and moral distress; at the organizational level, it looks like turnover and strained capacity. This session offers strategies providers and leaders can draw on to protect both their people and their organizations, from individual approaches to managing burnout to organizational practices that support a more resilient workforce amid ongoing uncertainty.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify strategies providers can use to manage burnout and moral distress amid rising documentation and eligibility-verification demands tied to H.R.1.
- Explore organizational practices, such as workload redesign and peer support, that offset the administrative load of H.R.1 while supporting financial sustainability.
- Build a culture of well-being that strengthens retention and continued access to care as H.R.1’s Medicaid provisions continue to unfold.
Audience: We welcome all who are interested in key provisions of H.R.1. The material is primarily structured to provide maximum value to behavioral health providers, association leaders, and workforce stakeholders.
Catch up on previous Jam sessions from this series:
- H.R.1 and the Future of Behavioral Health: What Leaders Need to Know Now ( Session 1: July 2026)
- H.R.1 From Policy to Practice: Preparing Providers for Implementation ( Session 2: August 2026)
- H.R.1 Leading Through Change: Protecting the Workforce, Mission, and Organization (Session 3: September 2026)
Resources:
- H.R.1 Implementation and Journey Map (The National Council for Mental Wellbeing)
- Medicaid Community Engagement Interim Final Rule (Health Management Associates)
- Medicaid/CHIP Monthly Enrollment Tracker (KFF)
- H.R.1. Resource Hub (National Council for Wellbeing)
- The Behavioral Health Workforce Pipeline: Where it Stands and Where its Headed
Speaker Information
Kara Guerriero, MPH, INCITE Consulting Founder and CEO.
Kara has over 25 years of experience in alliance and business development, nonprofit and association management, community engagement, and leadership development. Having worked with organizations across the healthcare sector – including state and federal agencies, nonprofits, hospitals, health systems, and community organizations – she utilizes her multi-disciplinary experience to operationalize ideas, make connections, and incite change. She founded INCITE Consulting Solutions in 2016 to bring consultation, subject matter expertise, and operational support to community health and human service providers serving individuals with differing abilities, behavioral healthcare challenges, and those most disadvantaged with fewer means, to ensure individuals served are able to live a life with meaning with the people they love.
Kara received her Master’s of Public Health from the Boston University School of Public Health, and serves on the Board of Directors of Monarch, a community behavioral healthcare organization in Albemarle, NC.
Tony Zipple, SCD, MBA, Senior Consultant & Talent Optimization, INCITE Consulting
Tony is a Senior Consultant with INCITE Consulting Solutions and an expert in improving individual, team, and organizational performance in social services and healthcare organizations. During his 45-year career, Tony has served as a senior executive for three nationally recognized organizations and held positions as a full-time professor, senior academic researcher, accreditation surveyor, and public administrator.
Tony received his Doctorate in Rehabilitation Counseling from Boston University, his MBA from the University of New Hampshire, and his Master’s of Science in Environmental Design and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame. He is a licensed psychologist with multiple certifications in coaching, positive psychology, happiness studies, positive neuroplasticity training, and cognitive behavioral treatment. Dr. Zipple has published more than 65 articles, monographs, and book chapters and is the lead author of the Happier Manual, recently published by Rutgers University.
Background
The Workforce Solutions Jam is a monthly webinar to build national momentum and encourage collaboration through the Workforce Solutions Partnership. The partnership is leveraging Collective Impact to address the workforce crisis, and using a cross-sector approach to address the long-standing challenges for expanding and solidifying the behavioral health workforce.
The Workforce Solutions Partnership is the partnership between the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Health Management Associates and the College for Behavioral Health Leadership. The Center for Workforce Solutions continues to operate as an initiative of the National Council.