A bill sponsored by two Rochester lawmakers, Assemblyman Harry Bronson and Senator Samra Brouk, will address the shortage of mental health professionals during a time when the need for mental health services is very high.

A6008/S5301 would require clinical experience for certain mental health practitioners in order to make diagnoses and create treatment plans. 

“This bill would authorize three mental health professions to diagnose and put together treatment plans for individuals, including children, who may need mental health services,” Bronson told Capital Tonight.

The need for mental health services among children has grown. 

“Compared to 2019, the number of mental health-related visits for children between the ages of 5 and 11 and those between the ages of 12 and 17 increased approximately 24% for the younger age group and 31% for the older ages,” he explained. 

COVID-19 has made the situation even more dire.

The categories affect mental health counselors; marriage and family therapists; and psychoanalysts.  

Under the bill, all three types of professionals will need to undergo mandatory continuing education. 

Bill Gettman, the president & CEO of Northern Rivers, explained to Capital Tonight that in 2002 these practitioners received a waiver allowing them to diagnose patients and create treatment plans.

That waiver sunsets in June. 

If this legislation doesn’t pass, Gettman said Northern Rivers will be in trouble.

“Our turnover rate is about 35%,” he said. “We have 125 people. If this bill doesn’t pass, then these people cannot be allowed to diagnose. In the course of three years, I will have basically eliminated 50% of my mental health programs.”

Currently, Northern Rivers has a waiting list of over 1,000 people looking to get into clinic.  

“If I could hire 50 more mental health counselors or social workers, psychiatrists and the like, I would,” Gettman said. “But they don’t exist out there.”