Over 250 people in Missouri are currently waiting in jails to be transferred to mental health treatment facilities. The delays within the state’s mental health system have also affected individuals in the Division of Developmental Disabilities who are waiting to access residential care. The shortage of workers in the Department of Mental Health is a major challenge, causing many Missourians to wait months to receive services.
The department has taken steps to address workforce shortages, including an 8.7% raise earlier this year and a meaningful shift differential for workers between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. While progress has been made in hiring, the department still has around 500 vacancies. The lack of staff is particularly noticeable in healthcare fields such as licensed clinical social workers, psychiatrists, and psychologists.
Currently, 259 individuals are waiting in county jails for mental health hospital beds. The General Assembly has approved a “jail-based competency restoration” program to treat arrested individuals while incarcerated or on an outpatient basis if they can be safely released.
In the budget for this year, $2.5 million is allocated to provide mental health treatment services and case management for competency restoration at jails in select counties. Lawmakers have also approved spending $300 million to build a new mental health hospital in Kansas City in the next four years. While some worry about staffing the new facility, the director of the Department of Mental Health stated that they don’t struggle with staffing in the Kansas City area.
Licensed clinical social workers, nurse psychologists, and psychiatrists are the professions with the most open positions in the department, with nearly 70% of licensed clinical social worker positions either vacant or filled with non-licensed mental health professionals.
The shortage of mental health resources also affects children, and supporting families that are caring for children with mental health issues is crucial to identifying mental illness early and providing meaningful support for children with developmental disabilities.
Addressing the workforce shortage and expanding resources are essential to ensuring timely access to mental health services in Missouri.
