SJ County supervisors approve $5.2 million to increase number of mental health workers
San Joaquin County supervisors took a step toward addressing the local shortage of mental health workers on June 21 by unanimously approving $5.2 million in seed funding for a workforce pipeline program.
The program, while still in its infancy in scope and direction, aims to remove the barriers to education and clinician job placement — to be a mental health clinician generally requires a master’s degree — by offering tuition scholarships, student loan payoffs, stipends for books and materials, paid internships and externships and retention and recruitment bonuses.
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Christina Gilbert, director of the San Joaquin Children’s Alliance, said the program could ideally be used for both keeping clinicians in the area and helping master’s program students to come to San Joaquin County, where there’s a shortage of more than 200 mental health clinicians.
“It takes a broad look at where we need to stabilize this industry and provides debt relief for current staff,” Gilbert said. “Essentially, if we want staff who already have their masters to stay, we can stabilize them by saying, ‘Please stay put, we’ll pay off X amount of your debt if you make a commitment to us for this period of time. This is a benefit not just to the county but to the community. Nonprofit organizations will have an opportunity to participate in this program.”
Gilbert told the board, at the June 21 meeting, there was a consensus from the first meeting that the mental health impacts of the pandemic on youth was the largest priority to invest American Rescue Plan Act funds in, and to so, invest in strengthening pathways to clinical positions in San Joaquin County.
“Teachers will tell you it’s difficult to teach a child to read or catch up on those learning losses if they’re struggling internally or with their family situation,” Gilbert told the board June 21. “Our biggest challenge is that we do not have the staff to deliver the programs that currently exist.”
Gilbert said the $5.2 million allocation from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds was a culmination of 10 months of work with the Children and Youth Task Force — a multi-organization group convened by the county Board of Supervisors and open to anyone in the public — and community partners.
“This is a great example of solid collaboration. This is exactly what you hope task forces and commission do, is they engage community partners and county departments and come together to have a collaborative conversation for the benefit of the community, no matter where the funding goes or who gets the credit,” Gilbert said. “I’m really proud of this group for that. It’s a big deal.”
The proposed program would serve a minimum of fifty students over four years and a minimum of 70 current staff.
Record reporter Ben Irwin covers Stockton and San Joaquin County government. He can be reached at birwin@recordnet.com or on Twitter @B1rwin. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: San Joaquin County OKs $5.2 million for mental health workforce
