New Reports on State Behavioral Health Agency Activities Supporting Crisis Services, Addressing Workforce Shortages, and Providing Housing Released by NRI

Guided by a Steering Committee of State Behavioral Health Agency (SBHA) Leaders (co-Chaired by Wendy Morris, Kentucky and Dena Stoner, Texas), NRI gathered and analyzed information about priority issues from all SBHAs. We greatly appreciate the support from SBHAs that have been generous in supplying information and reviewing drafts of reports.
 
The first 10 public reports using the 2022 State Profiles Information are now available on NRI’s website at www.nri-inc.org/profiles. Each of these reports is based on information supplied by SBHAs and they highlight priority areas identified by states. Accompanying each public report, the NRI Restricted-Access website (available to designated SBHA staff) provides state-by-state detailed information related to the public reports in a set of spreadsheets.

The initial 10 reports cover SMHA-supported Behavioral Health Crisis Services, Workforce Shortages, and Housing Initiatives:

Behavioral Health Crisis Services 

1. Mobile Crisis Teams This report focuses on the number of MCTs in a state (and plans to open additional MCTs), the number of clients served, what organizations operate them, how they are funded, workforce issues, and outcomes measured.
2. Crisis workforce (also listed under workforce reports): This report focuses on workforce shortages by professional discipline and Crisis System component, and initiatives of states to address workforce shortages.
3. Financing Crisis Services This report focuses on how much SMHAs spend on crisis services (over $1 billion in FY 2022), and what the major funding sources are for each of the Crisis Now components.
4. Crisis Services Use of Technology and Outcome Measurement This report focuses on the use of software/data dashboards to monitor crisis services and key outcomes being reported to SMHAs.
5. Crisis Transportation This report addresses what groups are responsible for transporting individuals in crisis and the development of alternatives to Law Enforcement in mental health service transportation. 

Behavioral Health Workforce

1. Workforce Shortages and Initiatives This report looks at workforce shortages by professional discipline at state hospitals, residential settings, community mental health providers, and crisis providers, and at state initiatives to address workforce shortages.
2. Workforce Diversity Initiatives This report focuses on State behavioral health initiatives to address the diversity and cultural competence of the behavioral health workforce.
3. Peer Specialists This report focuses on how states are working with Peer Specialists, including information about peer recruitment, training, credentialing, working in crisis services, reimbursement, and initiatives to increase rates.
4. Workforce and Use of Technology This report focuses on SMHAs’ use of technology to enhance their behavioral health workforce, including telehealth, using technology for training, and learning management systems.
5. SMHA Support for Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness Developed in coordination with NASMHPD’s Housing Task Force, this report reviews the roles of SBHAs in supporting housing services for individuals with mental illness, the types of housing services and supports supplied, and major funding sources used for housing.

 NRI staff are also preparing additional 2022 Profiles Highlights on topics prioritized by the Steering Committee. Future report topics include:

1. State Mental Health Agency Summary of their Crisis Services Continuum
2. State Mental Health Agency Support for Behavioral Health Crisis Call Centers
3. State Mental Health Agency Support for Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Facilities
4. Reorganization of State Mental Health Agencies within State Government
5. FY 2021 State MH Agency Expenditures and Funding Sources, and Trends in Expenditures Over the Past 10 Years
6. Organization and Funding of Community Mental Health Services: How do SMHAs organize community Mental Health services?
7. Use of Medicaid to Fund MH Services:  Waivers and Options Used by States

Please contact NRI at [email protected] with any questions about the Profiles project.