Futuro Health Secures $1.05M to Strengthen California’s Care Workforce Infrastructure

Futuro Health has secured $1.05 million in new funding to support expanded access to healthcare career pathways in California, with a focus on helping adult learners enter and advance in high-demand roles. The funding will support two initiatives aligned with broader state efforts to strengthen the behavioral health workforce and improve access to aging and disability support services.

Hear from our Scholars and Employers: Growing the Behavioral Health Workforce

After hearing about Futuro Health from a friend who was becoming Peer Support certified through Futuro Health, Jose decided he was ready to change his life and enrolled in Futuro Health’s Peer Support Specialist Program. The unique set of skills Jose developed through Futuro Health’s program helped him land a job at Horizon Treatment Services, where Jose helps others enter recovery and change their lives for the better. “I think the biggest change that this brings to my life is being stable and actually having a career. I want to be that hope for people now.”

She began sharing resources in her community and learned later that the role she was taking on has a title: Community Health Worker. 

Tasha came across Futuro Health in her research of programs that offer Community Health Worker Certification, and the flexibility, scholarships, and Scholar support team that Futuro Health offer made her choice easy. Now working as a Community Health Worker, Tasha feels prepared for the unpredictable nature of her role because of the training she received, which empowers her to continue to help others in her community. “Because of Futuro Health, I get to expand the work that I do, and I’m forever grateful.” 

Having experienced homelessness and depression, David has a passion for extending compassion and support that led him to research Peer Support Specialist programs. When David found Futuro Health’s program, he was excited by the program’s capacity to accommodate his schedule and the comprehensive support Futuro Health Scholars receive.

Our Latest Blog: Trust Is the Treatment

By: Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO, Futuro Health

At a recent "Human & Tech Week" event, I heard Apollo Neuroscience's Chief Medical Officer David Rabin make a striking claim: from a neuroscience standpoint, working together as human beings is our best coping strategy.

We are living through a mental health crisis that cannot be resolved through awareness alone. Nearly one in five U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year. Young people report record levels of persistent sadness and hopelessness. And yet access to timely, affordable support has not kept pace with demand.

Meet Two of Our Mental and Behavioral Health Team Members

Futuro Health’s Mental and Behavioral Health team plays a vital role in preparing Scholars for careers that make a meaningful difference in their communities. They create supportive, engaging learning environments that equip Scholars with skills and confidence to launch them in behavioral health roles.

Dr. Zakiya Ellis, Principal Consultant at EducationCounsel: Why Higher Ed Needs Firefighters and Architects in the Age of AI

Surveys of college faculty about the challenges posed by AI show their concerns, understandably, center on academic integrity, but today’s guest suggests the larger challenge to higher ed is happening outside the classroom: AI disruption in the workplace. "If entry-level jobs are being abruptly taken apart by AI, how do we think about what higher ed should be doing to integrate experiential learning into the curriculum so students get some knowledge base before graduating,” says Dr. Zakiya Ellis, whose experience in the field ranges from the White House to state government to K-12 schools. But, as she explains to Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, expanding experiential learning in higher ed will require incentives for employer participation and clarifying the sector’s mission as preparing students for success in work and in life, not just helping them earn credentials, both of which are tough assignments. This thoughtful discussion also covers what Ellis means by needing both "firefighters” and “architects" in higher education; her student-centered vision for what post-secondary access could look like; and the main public policy challenges facing college leaders.