You are an assistant director of human resources at a community health center. Your patient volumes have grown due to the expansion of insurance and Medicaid coverage from the Affordable Care Act. You’ve successfully recruited several new nurse practitioners and physician assistants. However, you are having difficulty recruiting licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs), who are needed to provide mental health and substance use disorder counseling for patients.

One of the dieticians in your office says that her friends who are LCSWs say that there are many jobs available now, and her friends are all thinking about changing employers to get signing bonuses and higher pay.

Another clinic director has complained to you about the local university’s LCSW education program, saying that the university president has reduced the number of faculty positions for the program.

Given the facts presented, what are the possible causes of the short-term shortages? Please present your answer based on economic theory. You may use any words or diagrams as necessary to explain your answer.

What factors might make this short-term shortage persist over the long term? Again, please explain your answer in relation to economic theory.

What are potential remedies for the short-term shortages of LCSWs? How feasible are each of these options? Please explain.

What are potential remedies for long-term shortages of LCSWs? Which of these options do you think are more feasible than others? Why?