Lack of staff, unsafe conditions threaten Oregon’s behavioral health workforce

Every year about this time, Oregon labor unions honor colleagues who have lost their lives on the job. This year is especially poignant for members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or Oregon AFSCME, with the death late last year of Haley Rogers, a 26-year-old mental health worker.

She was stabbed to death on the job by a resident while working an overnight shift alone at a 10-bed behavioral health treatment facility in Gresham. Her death was preventable, and we must ensure that nothing like it happens again. 

There are issues both specific to this worksite and systemwide that must be addressed. The company was not following basic safety protocols. Knives were not adequately stored, people were working alone, workers were not provided tools such as walkie talkies and the facility lacked enough security cameras, according to an Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation that occurred before her death. 

The company was fined, but it was too late. Her family and our community needlessly lost a dedicated, kind and compassionate soul who should be with us today. 

Oregon’s mental health crisis means that too many people have not had access to adequate and appropriate care, through no fault of their own, and too many mental health professionals on the front lines shoulder the burden of decades of underinvestment. Professionals like Haley go into this work because they care deeply about providing Oregonians with the care they need to maximize their potential but things cannot go on this way. The state cannot hope to recruit and retain a desperately needed workforce if people are not safe on the job. 

Since that horrible night, raising the alarm about the risks of working alone in understaffed and unsafe workplaces has taken on new urgency for Oregon’s behavioral health workforce and our union. Haley’s experience of working in unsafe and alarming conditions is common, not unique. 

This past legislative session, AFSCME behavioral health workers shared their stories with lawmakers about what they are facing on the job. They report working in isolation and without adequate staffing, basic training or protocols. Behavioral health case workers report having to walk to home visits alone, never knowing what they will face when they knock on the door in the remotest parts of the state where there is no cell coverage and it can take between 45 minutes to an hour to respond to calls. Behavioral health professionals are often left on their own to manage as best they can in incredibly high-stress, high-risk and high-stakes situations. 

Oregon’s broken mental health system is well-known and well-documented. Instead of access to early interventions, people struggle to find care as their conditions escalate and once they get care, it can often be in a facility that is understaffed and unlikely to have culturally specific care for those who need it. 

Lack of staffing is also causing serious harm to Oregon’s youth. While hundreds wait for care, there are nearly 100 beds for people under 17 sitting empty because of lack of staffing. Families are finding themselves left with no other option than to send their children out of state for care, which makes a difficult situation even more painful and disrupts family bonds. 

Building new beds and new facilities is part of the solution. Increasing the number of workers in the pipeline is part of the answer. But neither of them alone can solve the problem. Oregon will never solve the mental health crisis that is impacting so many families until we ensure that the treatment people receive is adequate and safe for those who need it and for those who deliver it. 

Last session, at the urging of Oregon AFSCME members, state lawmakers created a Task Force on Improving the Safety of Behavioral Health Workers with recommendations to be passed in the 2025 Legislature. We also advocated and gained substantial investments in a union and employer apprenticeship program that will allow both current and prospective behavioral health workers to earn advanced credentials without having to invest the time or money into an advanced degree and even receive payment or financial assistance for basic needs while they are in the program. This innovative approach brings in new federal dollars to help expand the worker pipeline in our state by hundreds of people.

As we remember and honor Haley and all who lost their lives on the job this year, we will continue to fight for the safety of all workers and working families across Oregon.