Experts explain why it may be more difficult to find mental health professionals in Bay Area

the pandemic hit which caused Great trauma across the community and needs skyrocketed at the same time we had more folks leaving just because they were getting very burnt out it's a serious problem plaguing the Bay Area more people needing help with their mental health and not enough professionals to go around to provide it experts say the situation is now really at a crisis level uh that shortage of mental health professionals is affecting schools hospitals and nonprofits all over the Bay Area

ABC7 news reporter loose Peña spoke to experts who say this is the worst shortage they've seen in decades loose that's right mental health professionals are reaching a Breaking Point experts were sounding the alarm before the pandemic but now the need is even greater and the shortage is only increasing the exitus and lack of mental health professionals is alarming experts throughout the Bay Area the most difficult Workforce shortage that I've seen in 30 plus years in this field David Mina is a C

EO of momentum for health they serve more than 4,000 individuals experiencing behavioral health challenges in Silicon Valley every year Mina's team is seeing the challenges to attract and retain mental health professionals firstand it takes us a longer time to hire a licensed clinician in that extra time that means the existing staff have to see more people their data shows communities of color are experiencing the big shortage what led to this you know a lot of things it's uh as we know it's ve

ry difficult I mean it's a very high cost of living area a lot of the graduate schools got smaller so the pool just got smaller and now you see with the Baby Boomers they're all retiring a report by the Silicon Valley Institute for regional studies found that approximately 25% of students earning degrees in behavioral health plan to stay in Santa Clara County and another 25% say they may remain in the Bay Area the biggest roadblock is the cost of living what we need are higher competitive rates

we knew we had a problem before the pandemic there were more therapists and substance use counselors and psychiatrists and peer counselors that were retiring or leaving the profession then we're coming into it the shortage of mental health professionals is also impacting the legal system we have uh clients who are spending sometimes months longer than the need to in mental health facilities locked uh psychiatric facilities and Hospital Wards because the doctors agree they could be safely in the

community with adequate support but there aren't the mental health professionals available to work with them experts are now urging the government to intervene turning their attention to this issue is that's how this gets solved and the federal government is working on incentivizing future mental health professionals with loan payment programs and stiens for internships if you go into the behavioral health system but experts say that's still not enough the need is great lose Pena ABC7 News remar

kable how widespread the impact of this is absolutely yeah thanks so much you can find help for mental health and other issues online we put together a list of local resources at abc7news.com takeaction