LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Local mental health officials are glad to see Ohio's governor proposing the resources to improve mental health services in the state.
In Mike DeWine's State of the State address last month, he talked about funding in the next budget for prevention, increased crisis response and for research and innovation in the mental health field. It also calls for provider rate changes which will increase the number of mental health providers across the state which is one thing that the CEO of the family resource center says is needed.
"We are as an industry, we are only meeting about 30% of the mental health needs across the State of Ohio and that is really due to the need for more providers in this service industry," says John Bindas, the CEO of Family Resource Center. "Getting people, young people interested in the field of mental health and moving that direction is key. But making sure the pay rates are correct for the education they have to get behind it, is a big part of maintaining what we are going to need in the future."
Bindas says the pandemic caused some mental health providers to leave the field, so the sooner that Ohio can act on this the better.
"I would like to see if go for the provider rate change immediately. I think that it is going to secure the current staff that all of us have across the state of Ohio in this service industry and I think it needs to go their first. But we also need to make that investment in the education and the push towards the draw to get young people into the field," adds Bindas.
Ohio lawmakers will have to approve the proposed mental health funding first before the governor can sign the budget bill into law.
