2023-2024 ALLIANCE ADVOCACY WORK
See our Mental Health Resiliency Package of bills here.
These bills were our focus for this legislative session, and we were successful in getting many of these initiatives into the supplemental budget to fill in gaps in the care continuum and invest in our behavioral health workforce!
OUR PRIORITIES:
- Invest in Behavioral Health Workforce. Maine has seen a critical workforce shortage for behavioral health services for many years. Without adequate resources for equitable pay, many agencies see turnover rates of 40-50% for direct care staff. This adversely impacts those in need of these services by creating instability in the care provided and in the quality of that care.
- Investment in front line direct service and clinical staff wages.
- Professionalize and enhance training opportunities for Maine’s direct service Behavioral Health Professionals.
- Streamline and reduce barriers to licensure for much needed direct care clinicians.
- Enhance Mental Health Services. Many of our mental health services have been cut back and altered due to stagnant rate investments over decades, and we have been left with some services that do not truly meet the needs of those struggling with mental health challenges.
- Restructure Assertive Community Treatment services for persons with Severe Mental Illness to more closely adhere to the fidelity of the evidence-based model of care. Assure access to care for those experiencing homelessness and or at risk of jail or hospitalization.
- Restructure aspects of Medication Management services for persons with Severe Mental Illness to provide timely access, and to accommodate the various levels of support needed to sustain independence in our communities.
- Invest in and restructure mental health services for youth to bring home youth being treated far from their family and community.
- Enhance Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Treatment Services. The need for SUD treatment continues to grow in Maine and COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problems, as access to housing, work, and basic community supports have disappeared. With generational substance use now being seen in families across Maine, there is also an increase in the number of those ever-younger presenting with an increased complexity.
- Establish services needed for the growing complexity of youth substance use, including residential treatment and detoxification.
- Expand Case Management services to all MaineCare members in substance use disorder treatment to assure access to the social determinants of health needed to support recovery.