By State Rep. Aerion A. Abney, D-Allegheny

It can be hard for people to ask for help when they need it, especially with their mental health. Finding help? Equally difficult.

The average wait time nationally for behavioral health services is 48 days, according to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing . In 2023, nearly half of the 59 million adults with a mental illness in the U.S. received no treatment, according to federal data.

Those numbers reveal a serious supply-and-demand problem in the behavioral health industry: Demand for mental health services is on the rise, driven by factors such as increased depression and anxiety during the opioid epidemic and after the COVID pandemic. But the supply of workers can’t keep pace.

In Pennsylvania, the shortage of mental health workers i

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