Labor shortage in the mental health profession

Posted on October 25, 2021
Job application
Lauren Wright, who is in charge of Illinois Partners for Human Service, said there are no quick fixes to this labor shortage. (Facebook/IDES)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Behavioral health. Addiction treatment. Professionals in these fields are harder to find.

“Historically, when we have lost staff, we have lost staff to our partners in the law enforcement realm,” Joel Johnson, CEO of Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC), told a Senate committee. “Typically, we lose staff to better-paying state jobs.”

In addition to low pay, there’s burnout. Another provider says newer hires only stay two or three years — and that follows a wave of early retirements.

Lauren Wright, who is in charge of Illinois Partners for Human Service, said there are no quick fixes to this labor shortage. “Twenty years of systemic disinvestment and a global pandemic brought us to this moment,” said Wright, “and it will take a fundamental paradigm shift to emerge successfully and prove that we value our communities by fully investing in their well-being.

“And I think there is no better time to re-commit to that work than now.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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