Reports & Publications

Montana Specific Community Health Worker Resources

Community Health Workers have been working in Montana for decades. This webpage compiles some of the Montana specific resources on CHW programs, toolkits and workforce development. There are numerous other resources on CHW programs across the United States, some you can find on our page MT CHW | National Reports and Toolkits.

In 2024, four organizations came together to create a one page brief that describes Community Health Workers in Montana. This is a great tool to use in introductory conversations with partners on who CHWs are in our state and why CHW roles are needed in our health systems.

What does a day in the life of a CHW look like? While it looks different for every CHW across every different organization, this document helps describe what a ‘regular’ day looks like for this workforce.

Video stories about CHW programs in Montana

The stories of CHW impact in Montana are deeply moving and powerful. The following collection of stories highlights the work of CHWs in Kalispell, Missoula, Helena, and Yellowstone County. These stories highlight the variety of populations that CHWs serve; individuals with disabilities, young families navigating complex health systems, people who live on the street and our aging population.

What does the CHW workforce look like in Montana?

In Montana, the first Community Health Worker program is the Community Health Representative Program established by the Indian Health Services in 1968. In 2017, through blending funding with federal grants and the Montana Healthcare Foundation, the first CHW training was developed by the Montana Office of Rural Health and Area Health Education Center (MT ORH/AHEC). Since then over 500 individuals have been trained by MT ORH/AHEC and the University of Montana’s CHW training through the Center for Children, Families and Workforce Development. CHW programs have popped up all over the state through mainly federal grants and a blend of payer, state and local funds. The following resources describe what the CHW workforce has looked like in Montana, using data, research + policy analysis.

2025 Community Health Workers Workforce Profiles. MTCHWA, with MORH/AHEC and the UM Center for Children, Families and Workforce Development, conducted a survey of CHWs to better understand the charactheristics of the workforce to guide training, policy and workforce development. 80 CHWs took the survey and the information was put into three briefs, provided below.