Revolutionizing the mental health and substance use treatment workforce.
The mental health and substance use treatment workforce crisis is a healthcare crisis. Organizations are facing challenges with recruitment and retention, burnout and sustainable approaches to enhancing the workforce to meet the growing demand for mental health and substance use services. Developing new strategies to strengthen, diversify and expand the workforce will improve access at a time of historic demand for services.
More than 9 in 10 behavioral health workers (93%) said they have experienced burnout.
By 2025, the U.S. will be short about 31,000 full-time equivalent mental health practitioners, according to SAMHSA.
American Psychological Association reports that 86% of psychologists, 70% of social workers, and 88% of mental health counselors are white.
The workforce shortage is a national crisis and there is no simple solution. The Center for Workforce Solutions is convening the field to develop actionable ideas and strategies to meaningfully improve the workforce crisis.
Designed around case-based learning and mentorship, ECHO sessions engage participants from across the country in peer-to-peer discussions. This ECHO will focus on scalable solutions to help stakeholders work together to alleviate workforce challenges impacting community mental health provider organizations. This ECHO will bring together mental health and substance use provider organizations, state associations and other regional and national experts for a series of discussions that explore innovative and scalable workforce solutions addressing six core areas and support participating organizations as they implement solutions to address workforce challenges.
Expanding the workforce is critical to meeting the growing need for timely and effective behavioral health care. Workforce expansion can help improve accessibility to services and enhance the overall quality of care.
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing and Health Management Associates prepared this series of three briefs that offer states immediate policy actions to expand current capacity and build a more stable future workforce.
View ResourcesThe Center for Workforce Solutions compiled more than 400 recommendations for addressing the behavioral health workforce crisis.
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