National Association of Counties
For county governments, a strong and fully staffed behavioral health workforce is key to supporting people living with behavioral health conditions. Like other sectors, county governments are experiencing a shortage in local behavioral health workforce. Roughly one third of the U.S. population lives in a county with a shortage of mental health professionals.
Some challenges for recruiting and maintaining county behavioral health professionals include:
In response to the workforce shortage, county governments are deploying innovative plans to recruit and retain local behavioral health workers. These solutions include formalizing the process to certify peers and volunteers to become full-time staff, offering bonuses and competitive salaries, leveraging federal training and fellowship opportunities, partnering with local community colleges and institutions of higher education to create workforce pipelines and supporting staff’s mental health needs to decrease stress and burnout. Counties can leverage federal opportunities including the SAMHSA minority fellowship program, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) and national standards on task shifting and peers.
Will County, Ill. (Pop. 696,355)
In partnership with 10 local universities, Will County offers internships, doctoral programs and nurse practitioner programs to establish a talent pipeline. The programs provide people with the experience to seek full-time employment in the community. In addition, Will County developed a Recovery Support Specialist Labor Program. The program recruits individuals with lived or living experience to work as peer support specialists in a paraprofessional capacity.
King County, Wash. (Pop. 2,269,675)
Recognizing the need to build a sustainable behavioral health workforce pipeline, King County leaders are reimaging ways to support long-term success by viewing workforce investments as a capital cost rather than operational cost. County leadership aims to develop longer term strategies to increase direct wages by rightsizing organizational costs. King County, alongside other funders, supports an apprenticeship program to train behavioral health technicians, peer counselors and substance use disorder professionals. The county is also proposing a crisis care centers levy that will fund facility construction, support more apprenticeships and provide competitive wages for behavioral health professionals.
Chaffee County, Colo. (Pop. 19,476)
Chaffee County created a fund to address the high cost of living in the area by offering $6,000 a year to individual behavioral health professionals. The fund eases the burden of the cost of living and enables workers to remain in and serve the county.
Covington County, Miss. (Pop. 18,340)
The Covington County Hospital, supported by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration and in partnership with the Sheriff’s Office and local stakeholders, will employ mental health counselors. The hospital will also establish an internship program with the University of Southern Mississippi to develop a talent pipeline.
San Diego County, Calif. (Pop. 3,298,634)
San Diego County is using $15 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Recovery Funds to support the Workforce Partnership, a program to recruit and train psychologists, social workers, counselors and other behavioral health specialists. The Partnership supports on-the-job training programs, career centers and services and resources for local businesses.
<p><strong>Note: This convening will focus on strategies for rural and smaller suburban counties.
<p><strong>Note: This convening will focus on strategies for urban and larger suburban counties.
<p>Post-secondary education can be a pathway to gaining the degrees, credentials and skills needed for family-sustaining employment.
<p>Responsible for all matters pertaining to housing, community and economic development, public works, and workforce development including the creation of affordable housing and housing options for different populations, residential,
<p>NACo's Opioid Solutions Center empowers local leaders to invest resources in effective treatment, recovery, prevention and harm reduction practices that save lives and address the underlying causes of substance use disorder.
With American Rescue Plan funds, counties are strengthening America’s workforce, addressing the nation’s behavioral health crisis, expanding broadband access, improving housing affordability and building prosperous communities for the next generation.
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