Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has introduced the Mental Health in Schools Act to ensure that schools provide access to critical mental health treatment for kids who need and deserve these services.
The bill would authorize funding for grants to schools and community mental health centers to work with community-based organizations to expand access to mental health services for students. A House companion bill will soon be introduced by Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.).
An omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last week (H.R. 205) includes increases for mental health and addiction services, as well as for biomedical research.
In honor of Veterans Day (Friday, Nov. 11), let’s come together to pay tribute to the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces; patriots who have risked their lives in service to their country and the families who support them.
Mental Health America has joined with a number of organizations in expressing support for the Positive Aging Act, which will be introduced by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
On Thursday, February 17, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano and a panel of mental health advocates and experts, including LA Laker Ron Artest and champion boxer Mia St. John, will examine the Mental Health in Schools Act, a bill authored by Napolitano to allocate federal grant funding for mental health services in schools. One in five children and adolescents in the United States currently suffers from a mental illness, and most will have shown their first symptoms by age 14. Professional treatment can prevent depression, crime, imprisonment and suicide later in life, but lack of support for mental health services has left many youth without help. By putting more licensed professionals on-site and in the schools, the Mental Health in Schools Act will help detect mental illness early and assist youth before their problems grow worse. The briefing will examine the potential effect of the Mental Health in Schools Act and hear from advocates who have personally been affected by mental health programs in their own lives.
More information available at www.napolitano.house.gov/mhsa.shtml
Coping with plenty of leisure activities and sense of purpose in life
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