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Mental Health Mondays: Mental health providers in short supply

By Karen Mansfield 5 min read
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Editor’s note: This is the second in a monthlong weekly series about mental health in the region.

About 1 in 5 adults in the United States – 21% of the population – is living with a mental illness.

And mental health issues among children and adolescents have skyrocketed in recent years, with an estimated 1 in 6 children annually experiencing a mental health disorder.

But there is a growing crisis: While the demand for mental health treatment is on an upward trajectory, there is a shortage of mental health care providers.

“I’d say, in general, there’s a shortage in all fields of mental health – psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, every position,” said Jennifer Scott, behavioral health and developmental services administrator for Washington County Behavioral Health & Development Services (WCBHDS). “There are wait lists for almost all of our services. Washington County prides (itself) on the number of services and variety of services we offer, but all have wait lists, some weeks, some up to a year.”

Simply put, the need for mental health services far outweighs the availability.

The National Council for Behavioral Health reports that 77% of counties across the country have severe shortages of behavioral health professionals, leaving many who need support left out in the cold.

Pennsylvania ranks among the top states for mental health care, according to Mental Health America, but approximately 2 million people live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals.

A comprehensive report by Pennsylvania’s Joint State Government Commission showed the commonwealth has a below-average number of mental health care providers per capita, and noted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report that the mental health field will be 250,000 professionals short of the demand projected for the year 2025.

This results in backlogs that strain the entire health care system – emergency rooms have been flooded with people experiencing a mental health crisis – and forces many Pennsylvanians to wait to access the care they need.

Pennsylvania’s mental health crisis is complex. But the shortage of mental health professionals across the state is a significant obstacle to expanding services.

As a result of years of underfunding for behavioral and mental health services, low pay, and the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers have either burned out or moved on to better-paying jobs at private agencies where the patients often have simpler diagnoses rather than layers of illness, trauma and addiction.

“Sometimes, people don’t want to work in the public mental health field because it’s more financially strained, and people are going where there are higher pay rates and sign-on bonuses,” said Scott.

Mental health professionals say solving the challenges will require long-term efforts addressing, among other things, how behavioral health care is paid for, and as a result, what resources providers have to attract and retain staff.

In April, state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Royersford, introduced House Bills 725 and 726, which aim to widen the pool of mental health care workers in Pennsylvania to address lacking youth services (57% of youths 12 to 17 who have depression did not receive any care in the last year, according to Pennsylvania’s National Alliance on Mental Illness) and low enrollment and retention rates at state-run universities.

“Especially as the need for mental health services challenges the system’s capacity, we need to address the profession’s recruitment and burnout,” Ciresi said last month. “My two bills would help retain and recruit highly qualified individuals into the mental health field and ensure that our children receive the quality care they need.”

David W. Rider, administrator of Fayette County Behavioral Health Administration, advocates for additional federal and state funding aimed at recruitment and retention initiatives to attract qualified professionals to the field and assist those who do the job so they are not overly stressed and burning out.

“We hope human services is an appealing career path for our young people. There’s great satisfaction that comes from helping your neighbor,” said Rider. “We absolutely support any initiative, legislative or community-driven, to bring people to work in this field.”

Brean Fuller, mental health administrator for Greene County, said the county has not seen a bump in state-based funding for mental health services for about 15 years, and in 2012, funding was reduced.

“So, we’re not even back to what funding was in 2008. In the areas we’re working with, we’re working with far more complex cases, less staff, combatting all these barriers, and with less funding to do so, so it’s hard to navigate,” said Fuller. We’re just really trying to figure out what we can do to in the mental health system to have competent, caring, qualified individuals wanting to come and provide services to the residents in Greene County.”

Among the efforts to attract people to the behavioral and mental health field is a Behavioral Health Alliance of Rural Pennsylvania program that offers three students from each of the 24 counties in the alliance (including Greene County) a $20,000 tuition reimbursement for their senior year of college in return for an internship and a two-year commitment to work in the behavioral and mental health field in that county.

WCBHDS’ Scott encouraged people struggling to get an appointment not to give up, and to contact the mental health crisis line 877-225-3567, or the Behavioral Health and Developmental Services at 724-228-6832.

“Don’t let the word ‘wait list’ scare you away. We will find a way to get you the help you need. We will help you any way we can,” said Scott. “Our crisis service is available 24/7, 365 days a year. If someone’s worried about a mental health crisis, they don’t have to wait until the next business day. We are there for you.”

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