Health Policy Commission presents behavioral health workforce studies and preliminary findings to disability commission subcommittee

Amy Doyle, director of the Behavioral Health Workforce Center at the Health Policy Commission, told members of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities’ workforce supports subcommittee that the center was created to coordinate statewide policy on behavioral health workforce shortages and was mandated in the fiscal year 2024 budget to complete three research studies.

The center, launched in September 2024, is preparing a rates analysis that Doyle said is nearly complete and aimed for release around January. “We officially launched in September 2024 in partnership with EOHHS with the mission to strengthen the state's capacity to identify and respond to the current and ongoing behavioral health workforce needs,” Doyle said.

Why it matters: Doyle cited data showing unmet need and capacity problems that affect access to services, including people who rely on publicly funded programs. She said roughly one in 10 Massachusetts residents reported unmet need for behavioral health care in 2023, and that 48 percent of mental-health related emergency department visits resulted in boarding stays of at least 12 hours — a 13 percentage‑point increase since 2019. The commission is expecting a forthcoming HPC report on ED boarding.

Doyle summarized the center’s three mandated studies: a rates analysis comparing commercial claims, MassHealth and Medicare fee schedules; a statewide workforce needs assessment (first focused on providers serving children and families); and an analysis of licensure and certification processes to identify barriers and inequities. The needs assessment will include qualitative interviews with organizational leadership, newer clinicians and students to better capture the non‑licensed workforce, she said.

On workforce composition, Doyle said the supply of workers declined most in lower‑paid sectors (home health and nursing facilities) and that behavioral health provider counts have not returned to pre‑pandemic levels. She cited licensure data showing a significant share of nurses trained in Massachusetts historically took jobs in other states and noted the state’s nursing workforce skews older, which suggests higher near‑term retirements.

Doyle also announced a data collection change intended to improve workforce visibility: beginning in 2025 the Department of Public Health will implement licensure‑renewal surveys for behavioral health and allied mental health professionals, with roll‑up data becoming substantially useful in 2027 as renewals are collected. “Beginning in 2027, this will be a huge value add to our workforce data,” she said.

Commission members pressed Doyle on whether Department of Developmental Services (DDS) residential programs and other IDD‑serving providers were included in CHIA data sets; Doyle said those provider types may not be fully captured and offered to meet with members and CHIA to clarify and fill gaps. Members also suggested the Association of Developmental Disability Providers’ (ADDP) biannual workforce survey as an additional data source.

Doyle closed by restating the center’s four policy pillars—recruitment and retention, capacity building, diversity/equity/inclusion, and sustainability—and said the rate study will be accompanied by a chart pack and policy recommendations developed with stakeholder input.

Next steps: the HPC expects to publish the rates analysis and chart pack within weeks, continue stakeholder convenings, and move forward on the needs assessment and licensure study; members requested follow‑up meetings to identify missing provider types and data sources.