FL among states with highest mental health labor shortage. Are financial incentives a solution?

Florida is facing workforce shortages across 161 facilities that provide mental health services and across 32 counties, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

The state needs more than 500 mental health professionals to alleviate the shortage, according to a 2022 analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Counties that the Health Resources and Services Administration designated as having a shortage include Gadsden, Hardee, Madison, Monroe and Okeechobee among others.

Overall, Florida has 237 mental health workforce shortage areas. Those include medical facilities, geographic areas and populations within geographic areas such as homeless people. Only California, Texas, Alaska, Michigan and Missouri have more shortage areas than Florida.

At the end of September, 30.1 percent of Floridians reported having symptoms of anxiety or depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national rate was 28.7.

To fill that demand, two Democrats filed bills to provide monetary incitements for mental health professionals to work in the regions the Health Resources and Services Administration deems as needy.

This is the second time Sen. Tina Polsky and Rep. Hillary Cassel, who both represent Broward County, have filed bills to provide scholarships and student loan debt forgiveness for mental health workers. However, last year their attempts failed.

Under the legislators’ proposals filed earlier this week, up to 5,000 graduate students working toward a degree in psychology, clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, or mental health counseling would be eligible to receive scholarships of up to $8,000 for two years. Additionally, mental health professionals would be eligible for up to $4,000 for their student loans for four years. However, recipients of the awards must work in a geographical area with a shortage of mental health professionals for a year.

“When I participated in a roundtable discussion on mental health alongside numerous medical professionals just a few months ago, every single one of them agreed that a bill like this was and is necessary,” Cassel said in a press release Thursday. “By increasing the number of qualified professionals working in this field, Florida will better position itself to provide critical support to countless residents and even save lives.”