The head of the Oregon Health Authority’s behavioral health division said the state is making progress toward providing enough beds to house mentally ill Oregonians who are unable to live independently.
Ebony Clark, director of the department, said the biggest challenge is finding employees to take care of them.
“What we know is the money is there,” Clark told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “But we don’t have the human resources to create new programs.”
The state has allocated more than $230 million allocated for behavioral health housing in the last legislative session, adding more than 1,100 much-needed units to licensed housing facilities across the state by June 2025. That is promised.
But as The Oregonian/OregonLive reported last month, nearly a quarter of Oregon’s mental health clinic jobs were unfilled, and six Oregon counties had no psychologists last year. . Those most affected by the shortage of mental health workers are people of color, children, and rural Oregonians.
Clark, a licensed clinical social worker, took the helm of Oregon’s behavioral health department eight months ago. Prior to that, he worked for more than 10 years at the Multnomah County Health Department, including as director.
She said state officials are looking for ways to bring health care workers to rural areas and encourage more students to pursue careers in behavioral health.
He said the state last year increased reimbursement rates for rural and culturally specific behavioral health providers by 30% as a way to increase pay for these workers.
The agency also said it would prioritize student loan repayment grants to rural health care providers and fund clinical supervision, an expensive training requirement for students. The state also offers sign-on bonuses and grants to help house and retain local providers.
“OHA will continue to advocate for funding creative solutions to address workforce issues,” Clark said in a follow-up email.
Clark said the agency also approved rate increases for coordinating care organizations, the health networks that manage care for people on Medicaid. Her goal is to offer more behavioral health services and hire more health care providers, she said. Medicaid covers low-income Oregonians and people with disabilities.
He said OHA is allocating $80 million to recruit and retain more behavioral health providers, prioritizing rural and historically underserved communities. .
Clark acknowledged that the state’s efforts face significant obstacles. Recruiting qualified mental health providers remains difficult, especially in rural areas. They have to travel long distances, and housing is often in short supply in remote areas.
But states are struggling with how to recruit and retain staff and are trying to develop long-term plans to solve the behavioral health crisis.
Gov. Tina Kotek ordered a capacity analysis of the state’s mental health facilities. By the end of the year, the state will have a complete understanding of the number of treatment beds, including secure residential treatment facilities and substance abuse housing.
Clark said the report will help drive a five-year plan, allocate funding and identify what the state needs to build.
Clark said he wants to draw on the lived experiences of individuals and communities across the state as he works to stabilize Oregon’s behavioral health system.
She noted that the staff of the health authority’s Office of Recovery and Resilience, created in 2021, includes nine people who have experienced behavioral health issues. These staff are tasked with going into local communities and engaging people with behavioral health issues in discussions that inform national policy.
“I believe that individuals and communities actually have the answers,” Clark said. “We can have the courage to say we are not experts on all things behavioral health. And when we identify ourselves as experts, we get better results.” How are we going to try something different?”
Nicole Hayden contributed to this report.
– Jayati Ramakrishnan. [email protected]
