The Rural Regional Behavioral Health Policy Board (Rural RBHPB, or “the Board”) was successful during the 81st Session of the Nevada Legislature with the passing of SB 44, aimed to improve paths to licensure for behavioral health providers. The purpose for this bill was to attempt to address the chronic provider shortages experienced by rural communities.
Through the exploration of data and feedback from stakeholders across the region, the Board developed the following priorities for 2022:

By taking a tiered approach in its priority setting, the Board has identified priorities upon which to focus that may affect and improve other issues identified. For further explanation of these priorities, please see page 15.
The Board has made recommendations to the Governor’s Commission on Behavioral Health (page 19) that align with these priorities and aim to resolve some of these issues to the extent possible at the state level.
The Board will continue to learn how to best address its priority issues and will be working throughout 2022 to advocate for programs and services to fill gaps, and to identify potential topics to address with its BDR for the 2023 legislative session.