The Georgia House gave final approval Monday to legislation that would give money to some mental health and substance use counselors to repay student loans.
Senate Bill 480 would let mental health care professionals apply to the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce to get money to pay off their student loans, so long as they are providing care in Georgia in underserved geographic areas or treating “underserved youth.”
The legislation is an effort to recruit and retain more professionals to treat mental health and substance use disorders, especially as overdose deaths rise.
“One of the problems that we’re having in our state in getting more care to people who have mental health issues is we ... don’t have the people to take care of them,” said state Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Republican from Marietta who carried the bill in the Georgia House.
Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Democrat from Duluth, praised the measure as a means to support professionals who need advanced degrees to provide care but struggle to pay back their loans with what their jobs pay.
“An organization simply cannot afford to increase pay even if they want to,” she said. “Programs like this allow them to provide a benefit that is as close to payment as possible.”
Applicants seeking loan support must be legal residents of the state and have existing student debt that is not in default. How much money applicants could receive would be determined by the workforce board.
“We all know that mental health and substance use disorder is a priority for this House,” House Speaker Jon Burns said. “We’re glad the Senate is joining in and moving this issue forward.”
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