Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director of the NY Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services and Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association of NYS, discussed increasing wages for NYS mental health workers on Capital Tonight.
Harvey: “(Mental Health) Workforce is critical. If you don’t have relationships of trust and reliability with the people you serve, you don’t get the results.”
He’s absolutely correct. Staff turnover is 65-75% annually in some areas. Staff vacancy rates are 35%. Mental Health housing providers are tasked with taking care of people with multiple issues, including substance use and serious medical conditions. Without a solid workforce, our residents will not meet their recovery goals and may backslide needing even more expensive services.