California celebrated the second anniversary of the new Certified Wellness Coach (CWC) profession during an uplifting event in February 2026 filled with inspirational stories, testimonials and impressive progress relating to how Wellness Coaches are making a difference in the lives of children and youth statewide.
In February 2024, the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) introduced the new Wellness Coach state certification program, which was created to increase California’s overall capacity to support the growing behavioral health needs of the state’s children and youth.
There are now more than 4,000 Certified Wellness Coaches throughout California who are trained to support existing care teams in tackling the growing behavioral health challenges of children and youth. And that number is growing, thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health and the state’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), which provided funding to HCAI to develop, implement, and administer this profession.
Nearly 1,000 people across the state contributed to or participated in the “Certified Wellness Coach 2-Year Anniversary Celebration Event,” which took place on February 19 both in Sacramento and virtually. Keynote speakers included California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom; Kim Johnson, Secretary of California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS); Dr. Sohil Sud, Director of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI); HCAI Director Elizabeth Landsberg and Libby Abbott, Deputy Director of Health Workforce at HCAI.
Dr. Sharmil Shah, HCAI’s Branch Chief of Behavioral Health and Policy, served as the event’s emcee. The event also included guest speakers and videos featuring Certified Wellness Coaches, employers, educators, and students.
“I believe that every child deserves access to integrated health and behavioral health services that meet families where they’re at. As a mom of four, protecting our kids’ well-being is the most important thing in my life. Like so many parents and caregivers, Gavin and I try to intentionally bring a sense of stability and security to their daily lives in this world that feels out of control. At the end of the day, if we’re going to raise a generation of children who are healthy in mind, body, and spirit, we have to ensure that the world around them supports that. To the Certified Wellness Coaches, thank you so much. Your work matters,” said California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
“Every year, we interview teens in schools through the California Healthy Kids Survey. One of the questions is, ‘In the past 12 months, have you seriously considered attempting suicide?’ In 2022, that number was 17% and 1 out of every 5 high school juniors answered yes to that question. In 2025, that number is now 9%. That is the lowest number in the recorded history of that survey. It’s an exciting milestone and a testament to the work that’s happening here with Certified Wellness Coaches and other CYBHI programs,” said Dr. Sohil Sud, CYBHI Director.
“When looking at how children and youth access mental health services, we realized there was a missing piece in the behavioral health workforce ladder. We had lots of amazing, licensed master’s level professionals and peer support specialists with lived experiences, and those are all so important, but we didn’t have a lot of professionals at the associate and bachelor’s level. The Wellness Coach seeks to fill in that gap to provide services that are really focused on prevention and wellness,” said HCAI Director Elizabeth Landsberg.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT: The state continues to make significant investments in youth mental health, recognizing that nearly half of the state’s adolescents struggle with mental health challenges. To support California’s children and youth, Certified Wellness Coaches are helping to build a larger and more diverse behavioral health workforce with the training and supervision needed to engage directly with young people in a wide variety of settings, such as schools and community-based organizations.
Certified Wellness Coaches provide non-clinical services that support the behavioral health and well-being of young people, including wellness promotion and education, screening, care coordination, individual and group support, and crisis referral. They are part of the care teams in schools and with community-based organizations and work under the guidance of credentialed school personnel and clinicians.
MEDI-CAL REIMBURSEMENT FOR EMPLOYERS: In June 2025, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) State Plan Amendment (SPA) 25-0014 (previously SPA 24-0032). This means that California’s Certified Wellness Coach role is now eligible for Medi-Cal reimbursement. Employers can now bill Medi-Cal to help offset the costs of employing and retaining Certified Wellness Coaches.
HOW TO BECOME CERTIFIED: The Wellness Coach certificate is free. Interested CWC applicants and employers can learn more about the California Certified Wellness Coach profession at https://cawellnesscoach.org.
HCAI-Designated Education Programs are state-partnered colleges and universities whose curricula meet all the requirements for students to apply for a Wellness Coach certification upon graduation. These programs are playing a big role in shaping the future of behavioral health in California. To learn more, visit https://cawellnesscoach.org/for-education-programs/.
A recording of the Celebration event can be found here.