In Ohio, 75 out of 88 counties are mental health shortage areas, according to new study

Out of Ohio’s 88 counties, 75 are mental health shortage areas, according to a recent study from the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. 

The only counties that are not shortage areas are Hancock County, Marion County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Butler County, Clermont County, Lorain County, Ashland County, Lake County, Geauga County, Portage County, Trumbull County, and Mahoning County, according to the study. 

Without access to timely care, people’s mental health can worsen, said Becky Carroll, the study’s author and director of policy research and analysis at Health Policy Institute of Ohio.   

“We also did some focus groups with parents and caregivers of children needing mental health services and just asked about their experiences and some of them talked about wait lists two years long to get into a certain provider,” she said. “It’s problematic and it’s widespread.” 

But there’s no data to show where those wait lists are the longest, Carroll said. 

There are only 11 facilities in Ohio that offer youth inpatient services, according to the study.

“Eleven around the state is just really not many, and when the workforce gets more specialized, the provider has to be more specialized,” Carroll said. “It makes sense that as you get more and more specialized, there are fewer providers that can provide that care.” 

There are 53 counties that do not have a child psychiatrist and only seven counties had more than 10, according to the study. 

Ohio had 365 child and adolescent psychiatrists in 2024, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 

Ohio had a 353% surge in demand for behavioral health services from 2013 to 2019, but the behavioral health workforce expanded only by 174% during that same time period, according to the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Services Providers. 

It’s a math problem, said Ohio Council CEO Teresa Lampl. 

“We just simply don’t have enough people to provide care for the people that need care,” she said. “When people have to wait, they do deteriorate. Sometimes they end up in the hospital. Sometimes they need a higher level of care, and then we end up treating them maybe longer.”

This may cause patients to be referred to their primary care provider as a short-term intervention until they can see a mental health professional, Lampl said.

There are workforce shortages among all levels of mental health care for kids and the worst shortages are for clinicians trained to care for children with the most intensive needs, Carroll said. 

“We’re seeing a lot of turnover in mental health professionals and burnout,” she said. 

That turnover can be especially hard on a child who has developed a relationship with a provider who leaves.  

“There’s also the aspect of when the child or the family starts with a new a new professional, they have to tell their story over again, which is problematic in terms of just taking the time to do that, and that may be traumatic to relive the story that they’re telling,” Carroll said. 

“It kind of takes a while to find a person that you click with sometimes, and if there are only a few options … then I think that can be pretty problematic.” 

Mental health reimbursement rates are lower than physical health practice areas, Carroll said. 

“That is a major deterrent for people going into the field when they’re not going to end up making much money,” she said. 

Ohio families looking for mental health services for children ages 6-11 report having a harder time than for older children, according to the study. 

Families with private insurance experience report having a harder time finding treatment for their children than families with public insurance, like Medicaid. 

“One of the key challenges ultimately ends up being an insurance parity issue,” Lampl said. “… It’s much harder if you have private insurance than it is if you have Medicaid, because Medicaid recognizes a wider range of professionals and recognizes a wider range of services.”

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