AUGUSTA, Maine -- With about three weeks left in the legislative session, mental-health advocates want lawmakers to increase the funding for essential MaineCare services in order to attract more badly needed staff.

Experts contended long waiting lists often mean families can't get counseling and end up in crisis.

Amy Cohan, vice president of outpatient and community services for Spurwink Services and a licensed clinical social worker, said at times there have been as many as 500 families waiting for in-home counseling, especially people who live away from the I-95 corridor.

"Insufficient rates make it really impossible for providers to travel to families' homes, particularly in rural parts of the state, in a financially sustainable way," Cohan explained.

Cohan noted during the pandemic, calls to hotlines, rates of anxiety and depression, suicidal thinking and suicides all rose sharply. In addition, opioid overdoses increased to record levels, reversing progress made in recent years.

Multiple bills, including Legislative Document 432 and Legislative Document 1173, which are intended to address the situation, are waiting to get a vote. Lawmakers need to finalize the budget before the session ends on June 16.

Opponents objected to the cost of raising providers' pay, but supporters countered it's crucial in order to attract more people to the social-services profession.

Rep. Colleen Madigan, D-Waterville, co-sponsored several bills to help alleviate some pressure.

"There needs to be more money put into put state now so that kids can stay at home," Madigan asserted. "They can be treated in their communities, and they can get the behavioral health care they need before they wind up in an emergency room or needing inpatient hospitalization or residential care."

Madigan pointed out many programs have been forced to cut services for lack of staff, leaving families no option but to send their children out of state to find a residential placement.

David McCluskey, executive director of Community Care, a nonprofit that treats people with mental illness, said the staff shortages translate into a broken system that causes real suffering for families.

"So there's people who are waiting to leave psychiatric hospitals because there's no place for them to step down to," McCluskey stressed. "And then there's also people waiting to get into hospitals. And so the system is sort of frozen."

Budding flowers, warmer temperatures and longer days are welcome signs to many in Maryland after the long, dark months of winter. Some people might believe warmer weather improves mental health after seasonal depression in the winter months, but that's not always the case. Many people experience increased mental-health struggles as spring rolls around.

When people's feeling in the springtime doesn't meet their expectations, said Cynthia Cubbage, director of family and post-adopt service for the Barker Adoption Foundation, it can make mental-health issues worse.

"When people are looking forward to spring because it's a time of renewal, and those expectations don't happen, and then nothing gets better for them because it's deeper than that," she said, "then they get really stressed and depression can really set in. And it's because of the expectations."

Suicide rates rise in the spring and not winter, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Researchers find that seasonal allergies play a role. A person with rhinitis, which causes allergy symptoms, is more than 40% more likely to be depressed.

Cubbage said there are many ways people can combat those feelings: Get outdoors as much as possible and get out socially as well. But she reminded folks that sleep is vital.

"Definitely prioritize sleep, even though we're having more daylight," she said. "It makes people want to stay up longer - that they should be doing things - and to remember that's a big transition for your body. They should still prioritize their sleep. If they were still going to sleep at eight or they were putting their kids down at eight, that should continue."

Cubbage added that, if you continue to feel depressed or down even after trying those suggestions, it's best to seek out professional mental-health help.

A bill headed to the Montana governor's desk would qualify post-traumatic stress disorder under workers' compensation for the state's first responders.

PTSD is a mental-health condition that someone may develop after a traumatic event. It can result in a range of symptoms from a negative mood and reactivity to flashbacks and difficulty sleeping. First responders report experiencing PTSD at about five times the rate of the general population, according to Relief Mental Health.

George Richards, who serves as president of both the Montana State Firefighters' Association and the Montana State Council of Professional Firefighters, said suicide is one of the top two leading causes of death among firefighters.

"Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMTs, experience - working on a gunshot victim or a fatality wreck or a kid death - major trauma-critical calls that really affect the brain," he said.

Richards said the bill had bipartisan support, although some opponents were concerned with the costs. The bill passed a House vote Friday, just before today's observance of Workers Memorial Day.

Until now, Montana was one of roughly a dozen states without a PTSD-related workers comp policy for first responders. Richards said treatment for PTSD will also help with worker retention.

"We want it recognized so they can get the treatment and return to work as a healthy individual with a clear mind," he said.

Treatment can take different forms, Richards noted, from peer-to-peer support to residential treatment programs.


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A new report finds that Maryland has made progress in providing school mental health services to its students but work still remains. The report by the national mental health advocacy organization, Inseparable, measures states based on 13 policy targets.

Maryland has improved its ratio of social workers to students. There is one social worker for every 620 students - a decline from more than 2,300 students in previous years. But the state has not implemented, or only partially implemented, five policies, such as expanding Medicaid coverage to include school-based mental health services.

Caitlin Hochul, vice president of public policy with Inseparable, said providing mental health services in schools has major impacts on students and parents alike.

"You're reducing the financial strain on parents," she explained. "You're reducing the need for reliable transportation. You don't need to be taking a lot of time off of school to go travel to an appointment, so it really helps give kids the resources and tools they need to get back in the classroom and learn."

Maryland also lacks mental health screenings of students, a tool that advocates say is critical to identify potential mental health issues.

The Maryland state legislature recently passed laws geared toward bolstering the behavioral health workforce. One law made school mental health professionals eligible for the state's loan repayment plan, and another created a state workforce development program for mental health professionals.

Sen. Malcolm Augustine, D-Prince George's County, said a focus of the state legislature has been working to bring - and keep - mental health professionals in the state.

"It's challenging right now for us to attract and retain these folks," he said. "It's a global issue, so we are trying to do our very best to create opportunities for them to have their loans repaid, opportunities for them to grow professionally, in the hopes that we'll be able to retain and grow our own."

Maryland lawmakers also passed laws requiring education and health agencies to provide guidelines for student telehealth appointments on school days.