State Legislative Approach to Enumerating Behavioral Health Workforce Shortages: Lessons Learned in New Mexico.

Unlabelled: Nationally, the behavioral health workforce is in crisis because of a lack of resources, culturally responsive services, quality clinical supervision, sufficient training in evidence-based practices, and targeted recruitment and retention. Disparities in access to behavioral health care are particularly significant in New Mexico, where 25% of the population live in rural areas, and behavioral health shortages are among the highest in the nation. Additionally, as a Medicaid expansion state, New Mexico providers experience increased demand for services at a time when the state is challenged with limited workforce capacity.

Family risk as a predictor of initial engagement and follow-through in a universal nurse home visiting program to prevent child maltreatment.

Objective: As nurse home visiting to prevent child maltreatment grows in popularity with both program administrators and legislators, it is important to understand engagement in such programs in order to improve their community-wide effects. This report examines family demographic and infant health risk factors that predict engagement and follow-through in a universal home-based maltreatment prevention program for new mothers in Durham County, North Carolina.

Methods: Trained staff members attempted to schedule home visits for all new mothers during the birthing hospital stay, and then nurses completed scheduled visits three to five weeks later.