Oregon’s medical and behavioral health professionals generally do not receive training in suicide assessment, treatment and management in their advanced degree programs. To address this, OHA proposed a bill to require physical and behavioral health professionals to take continuing education in suicide assessment, treatment and management in 2017.
Workforce development is a major initiative of the Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide (the Alliance). Members of the Alliance testified in favor of the bill. However, the final bill made continuing education optional. See below for the different components, or parts, of SB 48.
Parts of SB 48
Training Requirement
This bill requires professional behavioral health and healthcare licensing boards to require those licensed within the board to report completed continuing education units (CEUs) that train on suicide risk assessment, management, and treatment.
Licensee / Board Reporting
A licensee shall report the completion of any continuing education to their licensing board. Licensing boards, on or before March 1 of each even-numbered year, will to OHA on the CEUs taken by their licensees.
OHA Reporting
On or before August 1 of each even-numbered year, OHA will shall report to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly on what they received from the different licensing boards. OHA will include information about initiatives by boards to promote awareness about suicide risk assessment, treatment and management and information on how boards are promoting continuing education in the report.
OHA Reporting
OHA will develop a list of continuing education opportunities related to suicide risk assessment, treatment and management and make the
list available to each board. This list can also be found on OHA’s website here.