Illinois is suffering from a lack of available behavioral health professionals, and it has been since before the pandemic.
Based on current metrics, the state needs to more than triple its current workforce to meet the mental health needs of residents, according to the Behavioral Health and Economic Network.
Most counties in the state are designated Mental Health Professional Shortage areas according to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) — including McLean County.
The county’s Mental Health Action Plan cites the state’s historic budget impasse of 2015 to 2017 as a possible start to the shortage. But the county is still suffering.
“This is something that is touching our community at every level,” said Kevin McCall, director of behavioral health coordination for McLean County.
McCall has led a working group for the past year within the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council dedicated to this issue. Community partners come together to discuss how to rectify the issue for McLean.
On the patient end, it's become difficult to find care.
Recruiting new workers
As with any workforce shortage — and the entire health care industry is struggling nationwide —there are a variety of compounding factors that providers are facing. There are growing employment needs and openings can affect client care.
In Bloomington-Normal, they also have to compete with markets like Chicago for recruitment.
McCall said looking toward surrounding counties for recruitment might be useful.
“There's still a need for us to continue to recruit individuals from other communities looking at places like Peoria and Champaign and central Illinois that have large student populations that we could possibly bring into Bloomington-Normal,” he said.
Local schools such as Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University draw students to the area, but they don’t always stay post-graduation. ISU Social Work associate professor Karen Stipp says this isn’t because they can’t get hired.
“Our students don't worry about finding jobs,” she said. “Maybe 10 years ago, ‘Oh, I hope somebody's going to hire me.' [Now,] they'll be hired in a minute because the need is so great.”
Giving students the resources they need
Director of Field Education for the ISU School of Social Work Ingrid Brown said making sure students are supported during their internships can encourage them to pursue full-time careers within the organization after graduation. It can also encourage them to apply for roles at a local organization they heard treated their peer well. Thus, keeping students in Bloomington-Normal.
But she said internships are suffering from the workforce shortage as well. Some organizations don’t have the staff to provide attentive oversight to the students.
“It's an awful cycle, a very vicious cycle, where they don't have the support during their internship because those people aren't available, then they go out, they don't feel comfortable or confident in what they're doing and their skills,” Brown said.
Both Brown and Stipp said they could think of social work alumni who stayed close by — including BHCC member Kevin McCall — but it’s not enough to meet provider demand.
The gaps that need to be filled
At the McLean County Center for Human Services (CHS), they have around 15 open positions, many of which are for candidates with bachelor's degrees. Areas of need include outreach counseling services, recovery support services and crisis services.
“We really would like these positions filled yesterday,” CHS CEO Joan Hartman said. “The sooner that we can recruit staff for those positions, just the better job we’ll do in providing care to people, the more robust our care will be.”
Hartman said CHS already conducted a salary survey and increased wages accordingly. There are also current efforts to promote work-life balance, which she says will hopefully encourage more applicants.
Over at Chestnut Health Systems, COO and General Counsel Puneet Leekha said around 20% of the company’s roughly 250 Bloomington-Normal roles are open. These roles also deal with clients.
“Admin doesn't really turn over very often, but it's clinical roles that do,” he said, adding that clinical roles likely account for the “vast majority” of the 20% openings.
Leekha estimates that most of the openings are clinical roles.
He also mentioned he is hopeful about some legislative initiatives for recruitment, including a state bill that would fund behavioral health degree seekers’ education, but there need to be more solutions.
“We really need to figure out what to do here,” he said.
Chestnut has raised salaries, as well as instituted sign-on bonuses, referral bonuses and retention bonuses. They are also doing increased marketing to get their name out.
Successful programs and a brighter future
Meanwhile, smaller educational programs in the community have proven successful in supporting the workforce in recent years.
ISU’s Mennonite College of Nursing introduced the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certificate a couple of years ago. Myranda Whitman, the newly appointed program lead, said she knows students have been staying in Bloomington-Normal.
“Our area is definitely benefiting from our program directly,” she said.
Many of the students are from the area, but the cohorts are small. There have been 15 graduates so far, and nine students are currently enrolled.
Whitman said the program is actively trying to get its name out there and recruit more students. In the meantime, she said the degree is versatile.
“[Our graduates can] fill this void in many different arenas, whether it be all-day, everyday psych or implementing into their kind of medical health, physical health practice.”
Students in the Heartland Community College Recovery Support Specialist program are also able to meet various community needs, said Heartland Dean of Health Sciences Kelly Pyle.
Heartland added the certificate program in 2020, and Pyle said the last two semesters' enrollments were full at 25 students.
“There are opportunities now to look at: Do we need to expand that to include more students? Are we meeting the target goal for the community of graduating and certifying enough recovery support specialists to be able to meet the workforce need?” she said are questions to consider.
Recovery Support Specialists help fill a more particular need as well, she said, as they are people who have lived experience with recovery. Pyle said having these specialists can be an asset to clients and patients.
“It more quickly helps connect them to resources, helps them feel more confident, helps them feel, you know, that they have somebody in their corner,” she said.
Ongoing local and state efforts for change
Despite all these efforts, there are no clear signs pointing to a way out of the shortage.
Behavioral Health Coordinating Council working group meetings regarding the worker shortage are ongoing.
The state is also working on its own efforts to mitigate pressures on providers including the recent announcement of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center. It will be housed in Southern Illinois University's School of Medicine.
A task force recommended the center in 2019. It will directly address the shortage by expanding services statewide.
