Issue Position: Mental Health

Issue Position

Mental health issues affect millions of Americans and create challenges for families and communities all over the country. Kelly has introduced or cosponsored several bills that would strengthen our nation's mental health system, including legislation that would help the public better identify early warning signs of mental health crises and dedicate greater resources to support and improve treatment. As part of her efforts to address mental health, she worked with Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) to successfully include $15 million in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) budget for mental health first aid training in schools. She will continue to work with her colleagues across the aisle to help those in crisis get access to critical care.

For her leadership on mental health legislation, Kelly has been honored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Council for Behavioral Health.

KELLY'S INITIATIVES TO STRENGTHEN THE NATION'S MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM:

The Mental Health First Aid Act (S. 153) - Senator Ayotte and Senator Begich introduced the Mental Health First Aid Act, which would provide support for training programs to help the public identify, understand, and address crisis situations safely. It would train first responders, police officers, K-12 and college educators, behavioral health and primary care professionals and others in the community to better recognize the warning signs of an individual in mental health crisis and direct them to available resources in the community.

Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (S. 116) - Senator Ayotte is backing bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, which would help support critical suicide prevention efforts.

Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act (S. 689) - Senator Ayotte has cosponsored the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act, which includes modified provisions of the Mental Health First Aid Act and the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act as well as other important mental health initiatives. When the bill came before the Senate as an amendment last year, it was approved by a vote of 95-2.

Justice and Mental Health Collaboration (S. 162) - Senator Ayotte is also a cosponsor of the bipartisan Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act, legislation focused on providing training and resources for law enforcement and other community partners to help them identify individuals with mental health issues and make sure they receive proper treatment. The bill also continues support for mental health courts.

Caring for America's Heroes Act (S. 2276) - Senator Ayotte is cosponsoring this bipartisan bill to improve mental health care for military dependents and retirees. Currently, there are statutory caps on the number of days military dependents (such as a child or spouse) and military retirees with 20 years of service can receive inpatient mental health services under TRICARE. This bill removes the inpatient limits to promote access to medically necessary and appropriate mental health services, helping ensure that military dependents and retirees covered under TRICARE are treated in the same manner for inpatient mental health services as they would be for treatment of physical injuries. Provisions along these lines were included in the committee-passed 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.

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