Cicilline Urges Colleagues to Support Mental Health, Addiction Treatment

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, ahead of voting for H.R. 7666, Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, Congressman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) urged his colleagues to support the legislation which provides resources and support to address the mental health and substance use disorder crises facing millions of Americans.

A transcript of the Congressman's remarks is below.
Madam Speaker,
For too long, Americans - including children - struggling with mental illness and substance abuse have suffered in silence - intimidated by stigma and unable to access treatment.
The 2019 Rhode Island Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 15 percent of Rhode Island high school students reported attempting suicide one or more times in the previous 12 months.
That's 4 students in a class of 25.
There is a mental health crisis in Rhode Island and throughout our country and we have to address it now.
The Restoring Hope for Mental Health and [Well-Being] Act will save lives by expanding access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment through:

• establishing the Behavioral Health Crisis Coordination Office,
• reauthorizing critical public health programs to prevent suicide and expand access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, and
• eliminating unnecessary limits on providers' ability to prescribe treatments for opioid use disorder.

I urge my colleagues to join with me in support of this critical legislation, to save lives, and help us address addiction all across our country.
And with that, I yield back.
Background
H.R. 7666, Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act:

• Establishes a Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and requires the office to convene partners and provide technical assistance to enhance access to crisis care annually;
• Addresses the youth mental health crisis through the reauthorization of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances and the Youth and Family TREE treatment and recovery services programs;
• Reauthorizes critical public health programs to address the nation's mental health needs, prevent suicide, and support substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support services. This includes a reauthorization of:
  • Suicide Prevention programs to provide resources to states, tribes, and campuses to help prevent suicide, focusing on youth and young adults; CHECK
  • The Maternal Mental Health Screening and Treatment grant program to enhance maternal mental health and substance use disorder treatment;
  • Grants to support American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities with mental health and substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services; and
  • The Mental and Behavioral health Education and Training Grants, which prioritizes resources for the mental and behavioral health care workforce through training grants;
• Requires self-funded, non-federal governmental plans to comply with mental health parity laws;
• Improves the integration of evidence-based behavioral health care into primary care settings for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders;
• Reauthorizes the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access grant program to improve the integration of pediatric primary care providers with behavioral health providers via telehealth.
• Direct SAMHSA to assess flexibilities provided to Opioid Treatment Programs during the COVID-19 public health emergency and increase access to treatment services.

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