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Scavello bill forgives student loans for mental health workers

Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, PA) - 3/30/2015

March 30--A bill he hopes will make it easier to recruit and retain workers in the mental health field was introduced Thursday by state Sen. Mario Scavello, R-40.

College graduates who work in community-based programs for people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities or substance abuse addictions would qualify for having their college loans forgiven.

"This is a field that normally doesn't pay well," Scavello said. "We need to get more people into it."

To qualify, graduates would have to work for a provider agency in Pennsylvania. A percentage of their loans would be forgiven each year. Those who work in the field for five years would have their entire loans paid off by the state.

"I just think it will bring qualified people to the table, dedicated people," Scavello said.

Sheila Theodorou, the administrator at Carbon, Monroe, Pike Mental Health-Developmental Services, agrees that loan forgiveness will make it easier to keep employees.

"It's difficult when you're only paying $30,000 to $32,000 for caseworkers and they have those loans," Theodorou said.

Job turnover is high at MH-DS, she said. Many people hired here eventually commute to similar jobs in New Jersey, which pay higher salaries, Theodorou said.

Scavello sponsored similar legislation when he served in the state House. He believes chances for enactment are better now, with an improving economy expected to boost state revenues.

The bill also benefits from 2015 being the beginning of the two-year legislative session, giving the bill more time to win support, he said.

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(c)2015 the Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, Pa.

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