Essex Co. Mental Health looks for solutions to increased need for services

ELIZABETHTOWN | In 2019, the Essex County Department of Mental Health served 1,159 unique individuals (an individual who received services from ECMH because of a referral, crisis services or was admitted). In 2022, that number was up by 303, with 1,462 unique individuals served. So far in 2023, 926 have been served. In that time, Essex County Mental Health's staff has not grown. "They're getting burned out; we are in crisis," ECMH Director Terri Morse said at the Essex County Board of Supervisors meeting May 8. She explained how the Building Resilience in Essex Families (BRIEF) Coalition is working desperately to strengthen the communities, providers, and school systems to be able to respond to mental health situations so that ECMH isn't the only resource individuals come to. She said that there are situations in which they receive referrals that wouldn't be necessary if the individual had a good friend, a caring adult, or a mentor they could talk with. "BRIEF is trying to do just that," Morse said. "To strengthen our services, strengthen the communities to be more of what we thought of communities back decades ago when neighbors were helping neighbors. When people accessed help from my church. We need to get back to that." There are currently schools asking for a five-days-a-week therapist. The mental health department is only able to provide one day a week. Wilmington Supervisor Roy Holzer asked how the board could go about creating more positions and how much that would cost. "If I could find six therapists to hire that will take the pay that we offer, then that would probably help us breathe a little and meet the need in a greater way," Morse said. However, she said the challenge is there are not a lot of available, licensed mental health providers in Essex County. When it comes to individuals who fit that description and live in Essex County but work in other counties, she worries what they pay can't compare to what those individuals are being paid elsewhere. "Right now, a frontline therapist that I hire at the current rate is $54,760," Morse said. "When I do the math, after five years, and assuming a 2.5, COLA (cost of living adjustment), that number goes to $68,854. So when they stay with us, that number goes up. It's attracting them away from a job that they're getting paid 70-something thousand from that's difficult." Lewis Supervisor James Monty brought up the benefits that come along with that salary, but recognized that may not matter to a young professional looking for the highest salary. Morse believes that a newer job title in the mental health field called a "peer" could help. A peer is someone with a lived experience. They go through a training called The Academy of Peers, which trains them to be supportive and to use their lived experiences to help others. A peer job posting has been up for almost a year with few applications. "One of the things I hope we can do is think of maybe somebody in our community; we are certainly thinking of people who have been through our organization that have come out with a successful discharge," Morse said. "DSS can think of people that they've been working with. We can look at some of the natural resources that we have within our communities, have them go through that Academy of peers, and work for us, because what they can do is they can help stabilize that person that comes in the door that we can't get to right away."

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Essex Co. Mental Health looks for solutions to increased need for services

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