Center for
Integrative Neuroscience

The Behavioral Health Workforce Observatory · August 2026

We can count the workforce. We don't know what it takes to keep it working.

License and enrollment records can tell us who holds a credential. They cannot tell us who can find supervision, who gets hired, how long enrollment takes, what happens after a referral, or whether a new care model can actually be staffed.

The Observatory reads license records across eighteen states, then asks the people doing the work what those records cannot answer. If one of these questions is yours, answer it in five to ten minutes. Respondents receive the findings first.

Six studies of what the records leave out.

National questions. State-specific rules. Evidence built state by state.

Medicare can be studied nationally. Licensure, Medicaid, commercial payer policy, and local workforce conditions usually cannot, so those studies begin with a defined first fielding and expand from there.

Where do you sit in the workforce?

Choose your seat and the studies below reorder around you. Nothing is hidden; choose again to undo.

I study or shape the system Researchers · professional associations · policymakers · payers · workforce planners Follow the findings →

Different seats. One system. The six studies below ask what the administrative records cannot.

The method

What the record knows

License status
Credential type
Geography
Medicare enrollment

License records read across eighteen states.

What the record cannot know

Who is available to supervise
Who is actually hiring
What enrollment costs in staff hours
What happens after a referral
Whether a new care model can be staffed

That is where the studies begin.

The record cannot tell us. The people doing the work can.

Center for Integrative Neuroscience · the Observatory

The six studies

The practice study

About ten minutes · first fielding: Michigan · expanding by state
What the record can't tell us What happens to positions, hours, and roles when reimbursement changes? If reimbursement changes are causing you to pause hiring, reduce hours, or rethink limited-license positions, this is the study asking what is happening to your practice. Start with the document: The BHCM Pivot Playbook, free and ungated. Then, if you have ten minutes: tell the Observatory what the record cannot.

The integration study

About seven minutes · first fielding: Michigan · expanding by state
What the record can't tell us What happens after the referral leaves the record? Start with the document: The CoCM Startup Brief, free and ungated. Then, if you have seven minutes: tell the Observatory what the record cannot.

The credentialing study

About five minutes · first fielding: Michigan · expanding by state
What the record can't tell us How many staff hours does one enrollment consume? Start with the document: The Credentialing Cheat-Sheet, free and ungated. Then, if you have five minutes: tell the Observatory what the record cannot.

The supervision study

About six minutes · first fielding: Michigan · expanding by state
What the record can't tell us How many eligible supervisors are actually taking supervisees? Start with the document: The Supervisor Eligibility Checker, free and ungated. Then, if you have six minutes: tell the Observatory what the record cannot.

The trainee study

About five minutes · first fielding: Michigan · expanding by state
What the record can't tell us Where do clinicians get lost between graduation and full licensure? Start with the document: The Career Path Guide, free and ungated. Then, if you have five minutes: tell the Observatory what the record cannot.

The Medicare study

About five minutes · national
What the record can't tell us What stops an allowable model from becoming an operating one? Start with the document: The Medicare Enrollment Cheat-Sheet, free and ungated. Then, if you have five minutes: tell the Observatory what the record cannot.

Every study leads with its document, free and ungated, and the surveys open as each study is released. Findings go to respondents first. If you want the findings without taking a survey, because you research, represent, fund, or plan this workforce, one line to info@integrative-neuroscience.com is enough.

The exchange

Five to ten minutes in. Findings back first.

THE PUBLIC RECORD THE MISSING QUESTION THE PEOPLE DOING THE WORK THE FINDINGS BETTER PUBLIC GUIDANCE what exists today what it cannot answer answer it back to respondents first guides get sharper What the field answers shapes the next question, and the next edition.
Center for Integrative Neuroscience · the Observatory

The ObservatoryThe record cannot tell us. You can.Findings go to respondents first.