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How to Hire 10,000 Clinicians for California’s Schools

Dan Thorne • Jan 13, 2022

According to a press release from the California Department of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond plans to recruit 10,000 clinicians to fill the mental health needs of California students. The plan calls for investing up to $25,000 per applicant in scholarships for future clinicians.



Locating 10,000 clinicians in mental health in California alone is a tall task, let alone hiring them to work in the public schools. Recent internet articles have indicated that a shortage already exists for mental health professionals. And this shortage doesn’t take into account how the Great Recession affected mental health workers already. According to a recent article from LinkedIn, the existing risk of secondary trauma, burnout, and other factors lead to mental health workers leaving their jobs. “When normal coping mechanisms break down, mental health workers (just like all human beings) often experience a “fight or flight” response. Simply stated, some may stay on the job and “fight” it out. Others shut down, burn out, and take “flight” by looking for less stressful employment.”


Hiring 10,000 clinicians is a positive yet challenging project. But it can be accomplished over time, using the following strategies:


1)     Make schools a productive place for mental health clinicians to work. From my 20 years of experience in working with school-based mental health, I know that schools are a tough place for a counselor. They can be overworked, drawn into crisis management more than therapy, and lack support from school personnel. The school district and the Department of Education need a grassroots approach at the school level. This approach achieves buy-in from staff that the clinician is there to advance mental health. Moreover, resistance from teachers in having students taking out of class to receive therapy needs to be resolved. The benefit of healthy students needs to be prioritized over missing class time.


2)     Use existing mental health agencies to provide school-based care. Historically, school districts with students having Medi-Cal referred students to the nearest county or county-contracted agency for services. But if the school districts fund the mental health agencies with Educationally Related Mental Health Services (ERMHS)  for these students (since many of them qualify for special education), the shortage can be quickly resolved now while hiring continues. 


3)     Build in a system of pre-clinicians to assist in the workload. To achieve the 10,000 clinicians, the school needs a tiered approach. First, hire as many clinicians as possible (without draining other community programs). Second, develop relationships with Master’s level graduate programs to sponsor and supervise student interns. Graduate students can provide behavioral management services on their own and counseling under supervision. These students then learn the system and later can become future clinicians. Including psychiatric nursing programs in this phase can also help.


4)     Use parent advocates as part of the “10,000 clinicians”. School-based mental health is only as good as the support and education the student receives at home. Clinicians can work with the student, but they still will face problems and barriers with their families. Parents are resistant to participate but can be encouraged through parent advocates or parent partners. Having these paraprofessionals with lived experience improves parent engagement and outcomes for the children.


Hiring 10,000 clinicians won’t be easy, but it can be done, with enough knowledge, planning, and community involvement.


Praxes provides consulting in school-based mental health programs. For more information, please contact us.  

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