MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
The president is (1) creating a new initiative to train teachers and other adults to recognize and deal with mental illness, (2) asking Congress to fund several programs that would provide support and training, and (3) attempting to ensure coverage of mental health treatment.
Project AWARE
President Obama is asking Congress for $55 million for a new initiative, Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education) to reach 750,000 young people. Project AWARE will train teachers and other adults who regularly interact with students to recognize who needs help and ensure they are referred to mental health services.
Fifteen million of this grant would go towards training these teachers and other adults to detect and respond to mental illness in children and young adults. It would include training on how to encourage adolescents and families experiencing these problems to seek treatment.
The remaining $40 million would go to help school districts work with law enforcement, mental health agencies, and other local organizations to make sure students with mental health issues are referred to the services they need.
Support for Individuals Age 16 to 25
The administration is asking Congress for $25 million for innovative state-based strategies supporting individuals age 16 to 25 with mental health or substance abuse issues.
Pervasive Violence
The administration believes that exposure to community violence can impact a child's mental health and development and increase the likelihood he or she will later commit a violent act. To combat this, the president is asking Congress for $25 million to offer students mental health services for trauma or anxiety, conflict resolution programs, and other school-based violence prevention strategies.
Additional Mental Health Professionals
President Obama is asking Congress for $50 million to train more social workers, counselors, psychologists, and other mental health professionals. This money would provide stipends and tuition reimbursements to train more than 5,000 mental health professionals serving young people.
National Dialogue
The president is directing the secretaries of HHS and DOE to start a national dialogue about mental illness with young people who experienced mental illness, members of the faith community, foundations, and school and business leaders.
Mental Health Treatment
The administration will finalize regulations requiring existing group health plans that offer mental health services to cover them at parity under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. The act states that if a group health plan covers the treatment of mental illness or drug or alcohol abuse, it cannot charge higher co-payments, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses for those services than for treatment of physical illnesses.
In addition, the Affordable Care Act requires all new small group and individual plans to cover ten essential health benefit categories, including mental health and substance abuse services.
The administration will also issue a letter to state health officials making it clear that Medicaid plans must comply with mental health parity requirements.
