We are building the Behavioral Health Workforce our region needs.
The need to address disparities in access and coverage through innovative workforce strategies is more important now than ever.
Our region includes urban, suburban, rural, and Appalachian areas of Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky.
About Us
We are a community-driven cross-sector collaboration to address short-term and long-term behavioral health workforce development barriers. The coalition's goals are to increase support, build evidence, and lead the scale-up of best practices that build the behavioral health workforce that our region needs.
The Problem We’re Solving
Shortages in mental health services are widespread across the U.S., and these shortages impact an estimated 132 million Americans. More than 6,600 mental health practitioners are needed to fill vacancies. Even before the pandemic, a years-long contraction of services due to budget cuts and turnover was creating a crisis.
353% increase in demand for behavioral health treatment in Ohio between 2013 and 2019. Demand rose sharply in 2020-21 and is anticipated to rise further by 2030.
380:1 - The ratio of Ohioians who need behavioral health services to available mental health and substance use disorder professionals.
More than 60% of Ohio behavioral health providers reported longer wait times for adults and youth mental health services from August to October 2021, and more than 50% reported longer waits for adult substance use disorder treatment.
Get Involved
Ready to take action? We have a variety of opportunities for you to get involved from becoming a coalition member to sponsoring our work.