CHARLESTON, SC — Speaking from the first conference of the National Mental Health Task Force in Charleston on Jan. 27, state Sen. John Velis said he is honored to have been chosen as one of 40 lawmakers from across the country to participate, in recognition of his leadership and work as vice chair of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Committee last session.

Velis, who represents his hometown of Westfield and eight other cities and towns in the state Senate, said the national task force was convened by two organizations, the Council of State Governments and the National Conference of State Legislatures, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor’s State Exchange on Employment and Disability.

According to a press release, the goal of the task force is to identify, discuss, and develop a policy framework to support job seekers and employees with mental health conditions, as well as address the behavioral health care workforce shortage.

The state exchange will produce a series of policy briefs based on the task force’s work to be circulated to states and cities. Areas of focus for the task force include nondiscrimination in care, workplace supports, underserved racial and ethnic and rural communities, behavioral health workforce shortages, and state behavioral health resource systems.

Velis said that substance use disorder is a big part of the conference.

“A lot of us were saying that the reality of the situation in today’s day and age, if somebody presents with a behavioral health issue, the majority have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder,” he said on Jan. 27.

He spoke about one of the biggest takeaways for him: “There is this tendency in America, in other places as well, where we treat people in separate silos.” He said often the doctor or provider treats alcohol use disorder or anxiety or depression, one thing only, instead of asking the patient what is going on in his life.

“Many times, these are symptoms of underlying issues,” Velis said, adding as a state and a nation, we need to get better at addressing issues of housing and transportation as well as addressing mental health and substance use.

“They’re really trying to push integrated care and move away from treatment in separate silos,” Velis said.

There was also a lot of discussion at the conference about the workforce shortage in the mental health field, which Velis called “a real, real problem.”  He said people talk about the need to create more beds, especially for people going to emergency rooms, and for pediatric psychiatric care.

“We stop right there. Let’s assume if we have those beds, do we have the staff,” Velis asked, adding that the answer is “a resounding ‘no.’”

There are “a lot of people who are otherwise interested in going into psychiatric fields, but the pay is horrendous,” Velis said. He said at a recent tour of a nonprofit organization, he was told about a woman the organization had tried to recruit who was interested in working in the substance abuse realm. The woman told him she couldn’t do it, because she makes twice as much as a waitress.

“It’s not enough to say [there are] not enough beds; but do we have the staff to fill this. There is a long history in the U.S. of mental health providers not getting enough compensation.”

Velis said conference attendees talked about some of the things Massachusetts has done in terms of student loan forgiveness, through the recent “Mental Health ABC” law that Gov. Charlie Baker signed in 2022. 

“It was a source of pride when they talked about Massachusetts and what we did to encourage people to go into those fields,” Velis said.

Velis said he and a colleague from Illinois at the conference were talking about how the term “mental health” is used so broadly in their respective states. He said the broad term can refer to illnesses that are serious, or moderate, or less likely to recur.

“A lot of policy has been directed at the most serious illnesses. The majority of people who fall into the category of mental health are not in that category. It might be a form of depression or anxiety that has skyrocketed. We have to be more specific,” Velis said. 

“There are skyrocketing numbers of mental health issues with adolescents. What we know is that with early interventions, if we address those really early, there are large payoffs. If you don’t address it early, you will have a lifetime of having to deal with this,” Velis said, adding, “The mental health crisis right now among our kids is unprecedented, which is a focus of mine. What are we doing to intervene early with kids?”

Another area discussed at the conference that resonated with Velis was how the mental health crisis in America particularly affects rural communities. In addition to some of the largest cities of the Pioneer Valley, Velis’ district also includes the Hilltowns of Montgomery and Russell.

“I represent rural communities, where there are transportation issues. Most mental health surveys, a lot of time, those are based on urban populations. The speakers yesterday talked about the crisis within the crisis: the mental health crisis in rural communities.”

Velis said there are different ways to be creative in addressing the issues, “which is why I love and am so honored to be on this task force. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, just go up to the most creative people and grab a card. A big part of this is relationship building,” he said, giving as an example the speaker talking about the rural mental health crisis. “I grabbed the card, and will be setting up a meeting next week,” he said.

Velis said the next meeting of the conference will be in April, and he anticipates after that meeting two to three times a year.

“The whole thought process is to have legislators meet each other, then go back to their separate states and check in on what they are doing,” he said.