Ballmer Group Launches Pilot with University of Oregon to Expand Children’s Behavioral Health Workforce

For years, Ballmer Group has invested in strengthening the behavioral health workforce through innovative partnerships that expand access to care and build sustainable systems. Today, we are taking the next step by supporting the University of Oregon as it launches the Catalyst Center, a pilot initiative to test a new model for growing the children’s behavioral health workforce across the country.

When young people have strong mental health, it provides the foundation for learning, succeeding in school, and reaching their full potential. By strengthening the systems that support children’s well-being, we can improve educational outcomes and expand pathways to economic opportunity. That starts with investing in the people who make those systems work—a skilled, sustainable behavioral health workforce equipped to support children and families.

Unfortunately, communities across the country continue to face a critical shortage of professionals equipped to support children’s behavioral health. While demand for services has grown dramatically, the workforce has not kept pace, leaving too many young people and families without the support they need.

The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health at the University of Oregon has already pioneered a first-of-its-kind bachelor’s degree in child behavioral health. The Ballmer Institute is not replacing master’s-level clinicians; it is creating a new, prevention-focused profession that complements them. Today, most behavioral health training prepares clinicians to diagnose and treat children after significant mental health needs emerge. In contrast, Ballmer Institute graduates complete more than 700 hours of supervised clinical training as undergraduates, equipping them to identify concerns early, deliver evidence-based prevention and brief interventions, and support children in the places they already spend their time. By creating a highly trained bachelor’s-level workforce focused on early intervention, the model allows master’s-level clinicians to concentrate on the youth with the most complex needs while dramatically expanding access to behavioral health support before problems escalate.

Graduates are already working in schools, community behavioral health centers, pediatric clinics, and other youth-serving organizations. In roles such as behavioral health specialists, family support practitioners, and youth intervention professionals, they help children build social-emotional skills, connect families to services, and provide early behavioral health support. Many graduates have been hired by the organizations where they completed their internships, demonstrating strong demand for their skills.

The Catalyst Center builds on this foundation. The pilot will begin with the University of Oregon and three partner universities that will launch undergraduate child behavioral health programs in their states. The University of Oregon will serve as the national hub, providing implementation support, evaluation, policy expertise, and technical assistance.

The goal is not simply to replicate a successful program, but to test whether the model can be adapted across different universities and state contexts while maintaining quality and producing measurable outcomes. Grants will support both program operations and student scholarships, helping attract and prepare the next generation of children’s behavioral health professionals.

Over the coming years, the participating universities will evaluate implementation, student outcomes, and early impact. Ballmer Group will use the findings to determine whether the model should expand to additional universities in the future.

This phased approach reflects our belief that meaningful systems change requires both ambition and evidence. By starting with a focused pilot, supporting the University of Oregon’s leadership, and rigorously evaluating what works, we hope to build a model that can be scaled thoughtfully and sustainably over time.

We believe this initiative has the potential to transform how the nation prepares the children’s behavioral health workforce, creating new pathways into the profession and helping ensure that more children and families have access to the care they need for generations to come.