>>Opinion: Mental health workforce for RI’s children short-staffed, underfunded. How long can this go on?

Beth A. Bixby is the chief executive officer of Tides Family Services, a community-based social services provider for young Rhode Islanders.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Rhode Islanders united to celebrate workforce heroes who don’t wear capes. Armed with masks and hand sanitizer, the behavioral health workers at Tides Family Services — members of our home-based treatment teams — went into people’s homes to battle another, less-visible pandemic: the children’s behavioral health crisis in our state. When a child or family needs us, our staff meet them where they are, reducing barriers to care, building trust and serving clients where they are most comfortable.

This flexible, personalized urgent care has become critical as Rhode Island has seen nearly double increases in the number of children awaiting psychiatric hospitalization while the wait for community-based treatment rose from days to weeks to months. While respiratory viruses like RSV and flu are dominating headlines, Emergency Department visits for children experiencing a behavioral health crisis increased by 92% from 2019 to 2022, according to RI Kids Count — and this need shows no signs of slowing.

This behavioral health crisis is as dangerous to our children as COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses; in fact, for some, this is life or death. In 2020, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to14. A child in a Tides program shared: “I hit an all-time low … I’m talking worse suicidal period I have experienced …working with Tides quite literally saved my life.” A parent told us, “Our family was in peril … no one could help us; he was too young to be arrested, and the hospital always sent him home. Tides was a last resort and is the only reason our son is still living with us.”

Families come to Tides experiencing a range of crises with the common theme of feeling hopeless and scared. They share stories of seeking help and being turned away repeatedly before finding us, often scared to ask for help for fear of stigma and judgment. Our team’s involvement shifts these stories from hopelessness to resilience: “This resource gave us the confidence and skills as a family to overcome any obstacles our child will face in these next critical teen years.” Simply put, our services are a lifeline for families.

These successes would not be possible without our dedicated staff of trained professionals who embrace our motto of “never giving up on a kid … never.” The road to healing for many families is long and we are privileged to walk with them for part of their journey. Staff don’t always have an opportunity to celebrate a full recovery with these children, yet they still show up every day, fully invested in the work.

One of the biggest challenges our team faces is workforce related. We are short-staffed and over-extended, working around the clock to be there for children and families. This is not sustainable. Our state’s behavioral health workforce has shrunk over several years, primarily due to chronically low wages. Reimbursement rates allow Tides to hire entry-level staff (with a college degree) at $16 an hour. One employee recently shared how challenging it was to teach financial literacy to an adolescent client (with a job at a fast-food restaurant) who was earning more than she did.

Gov. Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio must act now to invest in the children’s behavioral health workforce. Reimbursement rates from the Department of Children, Youth & Families and insurance plans like Neighborhood Health Plan and Blue Cross of Rhode Island need an immediate increase to stabilize the existing workforce and create opportunities to expand so we can better serve the needs of families.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Mental health workforce for RI’s children short-staffed, underfunded | Opinion Column