Rally & Press Conference for Safety, Staffing and Investment in Mental Health Services
Mental health workers at three major non-profit health organizations – Community Solutions, Gardner Health Services, Momentum for Health – and the County of Santa Clara sounded the alarm on August 31, 2021, that the mental health system is failing the community. Systemic understaffing, unrealistic workloads, inadequate training, and lack of funding are all making detrimental impacts on the quality of care as well as the safety of staff and patients.
Watch the video recording of the speaker program.
Due to a failure to invest appropriately, the County of Santa Clara is forcing mental health non-profit organizations to accept more referrals than they have been contracted and staffed for, with no additional funding. At Momentum, 7 of the 10 programs that receive county funding have more clients than are funded by their county contracts. As a result, many mental health patients are left without access to care from insufficient staff at local health non-profit organizations at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of residents who need access to mental health services. In addition, mental health workers are exposed to physical and sexual assaults. For instance, there were three separate instances of assaults over three months in 2021 at Momentum for Health.
“High caseloads lead to poor patient care and a higher turnover rate for providers further deteriorates our care for all families and providers. I have witnessed quality providers leave the field, families wait longer and longer for care, and I myself struggle to see all my families weekly.”
-Aroosha Sánchez, Mental Health Therapist at Gardner Health Services and SEIU 521 Steward
“The lack of training leads to understaffing. Without the required resources, talented staff leaves the field quickly. We are always grasping for straws. It feels like we are swimming with no lifeboat in sight. Inadequate staffing reinforces what patients fear and believe – that the system is broken and they are not going to get any real support to deal with their mental health issues.”
–Unussun Gadsden, Jail Diversion Program Coordinator at Community Solutions
“In May of 2021, my coworker and I were physically assaulted by a patient. Luckily we were able to prevent other patients from being hurt, but I had to go to the emergency room for head trauma and required two months of physical therapy. Managers were well-informed of the potential risk of admitting this patient as he had a recent history of assaultive behavior at two different agencies but admitted him anyway. We are providing intensive residential care to patients with severe mental illness and are not equipped to handle assaultive behavior. The County is pushing patients on our programs who are not appropriate for the level of care that we can provide. When will the health and safety of behavioral health workers be prioritized?”
-Manh Nguyen, Crisis Residential Specialist at Momentum for Health
“Momentum’s reluctance to prioritize staff safety was the driving factor in my decision to pursue employment at another agency. We deserve to feel safe coming to work, which is unfortunately not currently a reality at Momentum.”
-Jazmin Quintanilla-Gong, Former Crisis Residential Specialist at Momentum for Health
An audit performed by the firm Harvey Rose Associates for the Management Audit Division at Santa Clara County during the FY 2021-22 budget process found that the county had underspent its budgeted amount for contracted mental health services the last three fiscal years. The county had left at least $36 million in this line item each year since FY 2018-19 and had underspent by $57 million in FY 2020-21. Meanwhile, the county refuses to increase reimbursement rates and pay behavioral health nonprofits for taking on more referrals than they are contracted for. According to a state external quality review of the county Medi-Cal mental health plan, 84% of Medi-Cal recipients who receive behavioral health care in Santa Clara County get services through contracted providers*. Failing to adequately fund contracted behavioral health services forces the poorest members of our community to go without proper treatment for their mental health needs.
*Source: Medi-Cal Speciality Mental Health External Quality Review, Page 46
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Service Employees International Union, Local 521 represents 53,000+ public- and nonprofit, private-sector workers in California’s Bay Area, the Coast, and Central Valley. Under a Community First vision, we are committed to making sure the needs of our community, and the vital services we provide our community, come first. We believe our communities thrive when residents, elected leaders, and workers recognize that we are all in this together when it comes to our safety, health, and well-being.
