Americans for Autism Advocacy Calls on Utah Governor Cox and Legislature to Make Mental Health Access a Priority

The Deseret News, one of Utah’s highly respected newspapers, reported in its January 14th edition about Utahans facing months-long waitlist for outpatient mental health care.  This waiting game is detrimental to the nearly 750,000 Utahns according to The Deseret News that are in need of basic mental health services. The same report also mentioned that untreated mental health conditions in Utah costs The Beehive State $2 billion in reduced economic output, increased criminal justice costs, and health care costs that are becoming unaffordable for average Utahans.

The Utah Department of Commerce which oversees professional licensing is currently reviewing the licensure framework for mental health professionals.  Over 70 percent of the behavioral health workforce in Utah requires a master’s degree or higher. The state lacks the licensing framework for the 30 percent of the workforce that requires only a bachelor’s degree.  A state professional licensing department that lacks efficiency hurts all who need mental health services including neurodiverse Uthans.  Although Utah has taken the first step to reform its system by joining The Counseling Compact, more needs to be done.

Americans for Autism Advocacy calls on Governor Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and the Utah Legislature to enact the following professional licensure reforms in the 2025 Legislative session including:

1. Create licensing options for behavioral health technicians and nurses focused on mental health.
2. Ensuring the Department of Commerce has the necessary funding and technology to efficiently process licensure applications and adjudicate complaints in a timely manner.
3. Update the law for health services licensing to ensure that all licensing applications are processed and decisions are made in 30 days or less.
4. Ensure licensed out of state providers in neighboring states like Colorado and New Mexico are allowed to provide telehealth services to Utahans to increase access.