Increase DoH Staffing for mental health license applications in WA State

I’m writing today as someone who is increasingly concerned about mental health resources for residents of Washington State.  On August 17, 2025, the Seattle Times reported that “As of Aug. 8, nearly 3,600 potential mental health professionals — including recent graduates…trainee “associates” ready to pursue full licensure, and professionals licensed in other states — were awaiting final approval or to hear back about applications they’d submitted to Washington’s Department of Health.” Only one worker is available to review clinician applications in some cases. Waits for licensing run over four months and have been this slow for over a year, it was reported. This bottleneck means that patient care for all kinds of mental health and social work is being greatly impacted. Many clinicians are facing hiring delays, or are barred from getting reimbursed by insurance plans for seeing patients. New graduates can spend months waiting to be able to put their skills to work.  Meanwhile, there is a shortage of clinicians. The Times says the issue is so dire that the “…Washington State Health Care Authority decided [in 2021] to launch a still-ongoing campaign to recruit people into the state’s behavioral health workforce.” I urge you to take whatever steps are necessary to rectify this situation ASAP. Most urgently, please do whatever is needed to enable the Department of Health to increase license review capacity as soon as possible.  Thank you for your partnership in assuring the mental health, case management, and behavioral support for Washington’s residents.